DHS-psyCOYlogy!

Hello Guides(:

Be Prepared Quest, or BP Quest for short, is suitable for any Girl Guide/ Girl Scout in Singapore, the Asia Pacific Region and beyond who is looking for a challenge. It is a biennial event organized by the International Committee of Girl Guides Singapore and aims to promote the knowledge and spirit of international Girl Guiding/ Girl Scouting on the following aspects:

• WAGGGS and the United Nations
• Girl Guiding/ Girl Scouting in the Asia Pacific Region
• Girl Guiding in Singapore
• Knowledge in Girl Guiding/ Girl Scouting skills such as first-aid, flora and fauna, knots, etc.

On 26 November, 4 teams consisting of 3 members and 1 reserve participated in the preliminary round of the BP Quest at Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Secondary School, just a stone's throw away from the Girl Guide HQ. Every member, including the reserve, is required to complete a set of 60 MCQs in a time span of 1hr (exam conditions apply). The scores of each and every member will be added up and averaged. The top 5 teams (among over 40 teams) with the highest team average will get to proceed to the finals, so every member's effort is important.

Although none of the teams from our school made it to the finals, it was still exciting to watch the teams from other schools compete with each other in the final round. The finalists were:

• Girl Scouts from the Philippines
• Raffles Girls' School
• Cedar Girls' School
• Henderson Secondary School
• Crescent Girls' School

[The above mentioned schools are listed in order of team average, from the highest to the lowest.]

The first round of the finals, held on 29 November at Girl Guide HQ, was like this:

Every team member had to answer 2 MCQ questions with no help from anyone. There were 2 cycles, so each team member had a question to answer, per round. 2 marks were be added for any correct answer, no marks deducted for any wrong answer.

The second round:

The practical round where teams were tested on their memory, knots and lashes, among other aspects.

The third round:

The buzzer round where for the first attempt, 5 marks were awarded for a correct answer, 2 marks were deducted for a wrong answer. For a second attempt, 3 marks if correct, minus 2 marks if incorrect.

Though we did not manage to make it into the finals, we learnt that teamwork and remaining calm in a stressful situation are the crucial keys for a team to go a long way.