3 months of planning and after 3 days, everything is over. What’s Next Camp 2012 – Bizarre couldn’t have been successful without all of your help. I’m really thankful and grateful to my fellow subcomm for being co-operative with me and tolerating my irritating and annoying texts/whatsapp/spamming of fb group. Everyone did their part and I’m really proud of you guys. Especially CC and ACC – Ben and Bev, for guiding me all these while and talking some sense into me. Not to forget the FAs and GLs for guiding me as well, and always asking me not to feel so stress. No words could describe how thankful I am to all of you and I’m glad to see that the campers really enjoyed the camp a lot. :’)
In August, the subcomm thing was announced to us secretly and since then, I’ve been looking forward to WNC 2012 which will be 3 months later. 3 months flew past and WNC Day 0 is finally here. I was really excited as all of us really put in a lot of hardwork and effort in planning this camp, so that to ensure that the campers will have a really enjoyable time and making sure that this camp is worth their time and money. Did some last minute preparation and checking of the stuffs that we needed for the camp and had a meeting later in the night. Really wanted to say thank you to everyone for trying their best to pay attention to me during the meeting as the meeting lasted for quite some time. Day 0 ended with all of us going out to shop for food and the night was awesome with my fellow subcomms. Did some last minute checking of my program lineup for Day 1, and I finally went to bed and getting excited for Day 1.
Before the start of WNC 2012, there was a presentation by the OBS cutter sailors and the Mardi Himal Team. Both teams did a great presentation, and the Mardi Himal Team’s presentation really inspired me. Was very glad that I attended the presentation as I learned a lot from both teams, and afterwards, Junli and I sneaked off secretly to proceed to clubhouse to prepare for the start of WNC 2012. Conducted a really short meeting and I almost broke down because I was way too nervous and worried, but I’m glad I managed to hold everything back because I know this is not the right time to tear up. Afterwards, all of us proceeded to Between Chapters, where the campers were waiting for us. This marks the start of WNC 2012, the day I’ve been waiting for since 3 months ago.
Everything went smoothly for Day 1, and at night when the campers were having their freetime and lights out in loft, the camp comm had a meeting for a short while, before the subcomms had a meeting with CC and ACC. Talked about our feelings individually now that the camp has officially started, and this is when I broke down for the first time ever since I’m part of the subcomm. Day 2 was food hunt, and it was also the day which I’m worried about the most and was hoping that there weren’t any major hiccups along the way. I was really afraid that I will screw up Day 2 and I guess I was too stressed up about it. Composed myself and sort out my thoughts, and I’m really thankful to Bev and Ben for talking sense into me. After meeting, went back to our room to shower and double check my program for Day 2 (and making the necessary changes if any), which is a routine that I will do every night during the camp before I sleep and without fail, Bev will definitely come in and “confiscate” my stuffs but I understand why she did that because I know she wants to make sure I sleep early.
Day 2, which is food hunt day, finally arrives. Was very satisfied with everyone in the morning because everyone was on time, and most of the groups were having a lot of fun playing icebreakers. Joined in a random group and played the mrt game with them, and of course, I kena whack damn a lot of times and my right thigh is just WOW. LOL. Okay at least I had some fun:p Food hunt started soon, and off I went to the safety car. Everything was proceeding smoothly, until we had to find white rice for the sushi station. Searched the whole market and no stall was selling white rice. In the end, we chanced upon this duck rice stall and the stall owner was willing to sell us the black duck rice. But, the owner cheated our feelings! She told us $9 for 3 packet of rice, and we were stunned. But it turns out that she sold us the rice with the duck meat, but then actually we only wanted the rice. LOL. In the end, me and Bev had to eat away the duck meat and chilli sauce at Botanic Garden before giving the rice to the groups. The rest of the stations were smooth flowing, including the 2nd last station, which is the ice cream station because the ice cream station had a last minute change in location, but it turns out fine. (: Got forced to eat the salted egg yolk ice cream, but I managed to escape the lavender one >:) The lavender ice cream seriously taste like air freshener! The last station was at Arab Street, and its super epic there. As the street is a one way road, the safety car had to keep going round and round in order not to block other cars if there is any behind us. And in total, I think we make more than 6 rounds? Then suddenly at 1+ pm, we were given information that all the campsites in Pulau Ubin were FULL. At that point of time, I was totally speechless and my mind was blank. The worst case scenario that I’ve thought of which does not allow us to go ubin during planning, is cause of really bad weather. Full campsites did not cross my mind at all. I was super stunned and did not know what will happen at night. Bev handled the situation well, and the safety car went off to give instructions to all the groups, especially those groups who were already on their way to Changi Jetty and were stranded at bus stops/hospital (LOL). Had a really last minute change in location, and all of us proceeded to Clementi Woods to have our outdoor cooking, and instead of campfire night, we had campnight with lightsticks as decoration. Once all the groups bought their outdoor cooking stuffs and arrived at Clementi Woods, everyone proceeded with their outdoor cooking. Sat down at one corner and quickly come up with the program flow for the night, as well as for the next day (Day 3). Was too busy with program flow until I forget to eat until Bev took away my stuffs and “forced” me to eat. Really thankful to the seniors, especially Bev and Ben, for taking great care of me because I will always forget to eat once I’m busy with stuffs, oops :x
After outdoor cooking, it was campnight activites. Was quite a successful one as everyone were smiling and laughing away happily. Friendship dance and OB’s tradition – Billy Banja, were the night’s finale, and I’m sure everyone had fun because I did. Took the safety car back to school with seniors, and we were laughing away crazily because of the song which the lyrics were damn weird. HAHAHAHAHAH! Reached loft, and slack a while with them and even played chubby bunny. Couldn’t stop laughing with my mouth full of marshmallows and I spitted out after stuffing my mouth with only 4 marshmallows. Campers didn’t have lights out for the night, and once everyone arrived at loft, its meeting again. Talked about our feelings about the sudden change in plan individually, and only a few drop of tears rolled down my cheeks. I feel really sorry for the comm guys who carried the firewood all the way to ubin, and around ubin looking for campsite at 1+ pm, but it turns out that all campsites are full. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that the campsites were full, but I’m just way too disappointed at myself for not being able to carry out the whole program flow smoothly as I want the best for the campers and letting them experience campfire at ubin. Meeting ended at 1+am, and luckily, I managed to shower before meeting, so me and a few subcomm girls went to the campers’ room and joined them. To be exact, we went there to kope their food because we were very hungry. Oops :x Joined them in their games until 2am, before we head back to our room. Saw my program stuffs in our room and I suddenly remembered that I have yet to finalize Day 3’s program. So as usual, I sat down at one corner and do my program stuffs, while the rest of the subcomm were talking while some had already went to sleep. After some time, Bev came in, as usual again, took away my program stuffs in order to make sure I sleep early. I was really tired, so I went to bed immediately after she ‘confiscated’ my program stuffs, and I instant KO once I lie on my bed.
Day 3, the last day of camp arrived. Pushed back the reporting time to quite late as we do not need to travel back to school from ubin, and do not need to wash the tents and logistics as well. After breakfast, the campers went back to their loft to clear up, as well as packing their stuffs. Didn’t eat my breakfast because I really don’t feel like eating, even after all the seniors ‘forced’ me to eat, oops:x Just before me and the subcomms leave loft to go and prepare for Mission Bells, I suddenly remembered that I didn’t take the logistics needed for the mini game for Mission Bells. I panicked, and rushed up to the 7th floor, and keep going to and fro the logistics room and our subcomm room to find the items. Realised that all the straws weren’t cut and there wasn’t any whistles, and I could have avoided all these if I’ve been more meticulous about all these small details. Unknowingly, tears just started to roll down my cheeks because I was running out to prepare for the game as all the clues were not at their location yet, and Mission Bells was the program that I’ve been looking forward to the most as I really spent a lot of time planning this game. I quickly composed myself because I know that I need to carry out my duty properly and not just giving up halfway. Ran off to put all the clues quickly and allocating the locations for the GLs and Fas, and we did everything before the campers came. Explained the ground rules for Mission Bells, and after preparation, the game commences.
I ran around the playing area to make sure that everything was going smoothly, but 10 minutes into the game, there’s a major problem. The Running Man (RM) eliminated the Mission Team (MT) too quickly, and the MT had a very difficult time in finding their icecream sticks. The first thing that came to my mind, was that I definitely need to make some changes to my game rules, so I quickly gathered the RM at atrium, the MT at ideawerkz, and at the same time, I was thinking of new game rules. Contacted my fellow gamemaster, Junli, and I had to keep running to and fro atrium and ideawerkz. Few minutes later, new rules were implemented and the game continued. But even after the new rules were implemented, there were still some major problems with the game. Quite a number of people had mild abrasions, and there were violence everywhere. Wherever I ran, there will certainly be a group of people at one area signaling for me to go over to settle their ‘disputes’ because of the game rules. After settling like idk how many ‘disputes’, I called Junli and over the phone, we implemented new rules again. So I ran around telling everyone about the new rules, but there are still major problems.
Went to a group of people, more than 6 people there, and I sprint all the way there. Could barely catch my breath and everyone just bombarded me with questions. Told them about the new rules and I’m still flooded with questions. At this time, 1 phone call came and I was notified that the other side had problems and at this time, another phone call came in as well. Couldn’t hold back my emotions anymore and I broke down damn badly, in front of campers somemore which I do not wish it to happen at all. Hang up the previous phone call and answered the incoming one, but I couldn’t talk as my tears were choking me. Passed my phone to Ben who answered the call, and I totally lost control of myself. Everything inside me from the past few months and days was sort of complied and stacked together, and now, to add on to the fact that Mission Bells was the program that I’ve planned for a long time, the stress level inside me have already exceeded way beyond my limits and I just lost it. Mission Bells was the program that I make sure everything was alright, and was not expecting something big to happen, but in fact, everything isn’t alright and there were many more problems than I’ve expected. At that point of time, everything in my mind was messed up and my mind was only filled with many whys. Really want to thank Weehong and Jianhowe for talking lots of sense into me and clearing my head, I finally managed to compose myself and continue with handling the current situation. Soon, the game ended and I’ really glad that despite all the confusion and violence, everyone enjoyed the game and was talking about it all along. Gathered at grandstand and after changing into our camp tee, it was phototaking time. Afterwards, was our very last meeting together.
Thought that the meeting will be very long like the previous meetings at night, so all of us prepared food as we were all starving. The meeting only last for like 15 minutes and all of us were shocked. But Jianhowe took over, and continued with the debriefing session. We were told to acknowledge something about ourselves, and acknowledge someone else as well, and talked about our individually feelings now that the camp which we had planned for 3 months, is over in 3 days. As usual, I broke down again for the 5th time in 3 days. After meeting, went to kfc for dinner then play pool then go homeee!
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Although all the efforts put in were not recognized, and even small details might require lots of effort, I’m just glad and thankful that all the campers enjoyed the camp a lot. I don’t see the need in acknowledging myself because all that matters is the smile on everyone’s faces throughout the camp. This, itself, is enough to warm my heart and I know that whatever I’ve done, how much effort I put in, how much stress I’m enduring, by the end of the day, I know that everything is worth it and all the efforts that I’ve put in, were not wasted.
Although the whole planning process was tedious and tiring, I still enjoyed it a lot because I’ve learned a lot of things from this experience and I’m doing something which I like. Doing something which I enjoy a lot, gives me the motivation in wanting to do my best and putting in as much effort as I could so that I will minimize the chances of having hiccups along the way. Although some unforeseen circumstances are unavoidable, I will minimize the chance of it happening.
I really achieved a lot from being part of this subcomm, and I’ve learned a lot of new things during the whole process and this chance doesn’t come by often. Friends often asked me: “You’re the OPC, aren’t you suppose to ask your subcomm to do the work instead of doing everything yourself? Why like become you do all the ‘saikang’ one? OPC job supposed to be relax one leh!” At that point of time, I only smiled and chuckled. No one will understand how I feel because you have to be in my shoes to feel it. All these efforts and time I put in to planning this camp, I don’t need them to be recognize, I don’t need them to be acknowledge, all I want, is just everyone to be happy and enjoying themselves during the 3 days in camp. It doesn’t matter who did the work. Not that I did not ask my subcomm to do the job, I did. For those who did what I told them to do, I’m really thankful to all of you for obeying my instructions and getting the necessary stuffs done before the deadline. All the little efforts that you guys put in, really mean a lot to me.
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To the sub-committee including CC and ACC, GLs and FAs and everyone who played a part:
A big thank you to CC and ACC for guiding me throughout the whole planning process, and your guidance has certainly helped me a lot in planning the camp well. Sorry for spamming you with lots of questions and thank you for answering all my questions patiently. Thank you for talking sense into me all the time as well!
Really thank you to the subcomms for co-operating with me since the start of the whole planning! Sorry for being so annoying and irritating by spamming you guys on whatsapp/text/FB group. Hope you guys understand why I did that, because those are really important messages! Thank you for all the hardwork that you’ve put in, and I’m very sure all your efforts have paid off! Was really nice knowing and working together with everyone for the past 3 months, and the 4 days spent together was certainly memorable, especially at night in loft. No words could describe how thankful I am to every single one of you, because all of you did a great job on your part, especially being a GL. Let’s meet up soon and relive those memories again!
Very thankful to all the GLs and FAs for co-operating with me as well as constantly reminding me not to be too stress up. Thank you for guiding me and giving me advices throughout the camp as well!
Lastly, I’m really thankful to all of you for taking care of me, especially when I forget to eat. :x From the bottom of my heart, thank you to every single one of you. :’)
(Was contemplating whether to post this section on the What’s Next Camp Comm group or just leave it here, hmm.)
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Now that What’s Next Camp 2012 is over, my life became dull again and something seems to be missing from my life. If I were to rewind time, I would still want to be part of this subcomm and hopefully, there will be more chances like this in the future. I really gained a lot from planning this camp, and I never regretted joining as subcomm. These 3 months were one of the best period of time I ever had because I really enjoy the process a lot.
“Things end, but memory last forever.”
- NPOB, the reason behind my smiles, laughter, and tears. ♥♥♥♥♥
Hopefully my efforts will not go down the drain. I mean, like seriously, did I not put in enough effort? At times I feel like giving up, but I know I can’t cause success is near. Just hope nothing will screw up :/
Trying so hard to achieve my goals. Will I be able to get it? I’m really afraid of disappointments after having such high expectations of myself. Will I be strong enough to take it?
Opportunities are there for a reason. (:
