Obstacle Journey

A post by a y2 about last week's OJ:

Hi Guides!

Last Friday, we had our first OJ where the year twos will lead the year ones before ATC.

We exceeded the 13minutes allocated to us for mass change. This is a reminder to us all that we should take note of the time limit and not exceed it. A time limit is there for a purpose, it is there to make sure that everything goes on smoothly according to the timetable on proposal, so there will not be delays in the planned activities. One for all and all for one. Should one guide be late, everyone will also be detained.

For my patrol, our first station was at the red tile area. We were instructed to set up as many emergency shelters as possible in 3 minutes. We spent a lot of time discussing what to do. In the end, we hurriedly draped our ponchos over benches. It was not ideal, because rain still can enter it, and that will defeat the purpose of a shelter. We should learn to communicate faster the next time, and have constant baoshi. Next we did caterpillar walk with alternate people blindfolded. We were supposed to follow the trekking signs around. Although I was blindfolded, I felt that I could have helped to raise the morale by cheering. Also, being blindfolded also let me learn to trust in my patrol mates in leading us along.

Then, we proceeded to the second station – electric fence and fire lighting. One of the main problems we encountered was trying to bring our stuff along across without getting kupped. This taught us to be always on constant vigilance of our surroundings, and our belongings. For the firelighting, though we managed to set up a fire quickly, we forgot to wrap the handle with wet newspaper. This might lead to burns on our hands should we grab the metal handle after firelighting. This precaution is necessary and we must never repeat the mistake again.

The third station was along the linkway between the senior high and junior high blocks. Here, the focus was on first aid. Many of us could not build a standard stretcher and I feel that this is something we should work on before camp.

The fourth station was the pt station. Here, one main thing I realized was the power of cheering. In future when we are feeling down and tired, we should start cheering to raise our morale and spirit to urge us on.

This OJ gave us year twos a chance to lead the year ones before ATC. We hope that we will be able to lead the year ones better and make sure everyone is involved during ATC.

Jiayous!