ATC y1 n 2

Hi guides, below are the posts about ATC by a y1 and y2:

y1:

On 29th November, it’s time for Pre-Camp Inspection. As a Year One, we could not imagine what inspection would be like, how it would be carried out, yet we knew that it would be a serious event, thus making us feel more nervous, excited, but more of the spirit to help the seniors. We knew we have to be very prepared for this event. Through this Pre-camp Inspection, it let us, juniors who are new to ATC, to get how ATC would be like, and how important it is to prepare everything. Also, we knew that we have to keep up our patrol’s spirit throughout the whole ATC, because ATC would be a whole lot tougher than the Inspection, but we knew with constant cheering, we could persevere even more, through these hard times.

Day1
Finally, the big day had arrived. We jihed at 7.30a.m. Everyone was very excited on the way there.

The first event was Camp D. Each patrol was supposed to pitch 2 tents. Many of us were clueless as to what to do when we had to pitch tents, we should work on this skill. However, we still helped the seniors carry the canvas sheets etc. After that, we started pitching the tents or building their kitchen shelter. As a Year One, we are quite unsure of how to build all these structures, but I realized it was also important that we should never stand around and do nothing. We can always help our seniors by asking them what to do, and also helping them tie simple lashes. We can also help bao-shi and cheer.

Through Camp D, I realized that time management and man power allocation is a very important for camp D. We should also always move and act fast.

After dinner, we had Night PT. Although it was tough, we tried our best and persevered till the end. Although we were tired out after Camp D, we tried our best so it was something encouraging.

Day 2
On the second day, we had our flag raising ceremony. After that was inspection. Inspection was a rush and we exceeded time limit, because we were a bit slow in laying out our items. The Year Ones struggled with it too because we were new to in camp inspection. But the seniors gave us instruction and we managed to pass through the inspection! Through this, I learnt that inspection is also about communicating within your patrol and others.

After inspection, we cleared up and it was time for outdoor cooking. We first prepared the food at the dining hall while the others start the fire. Starting and sustaining fire are skills that we have yet to master, but I learnt a lot from my seniors through this outdoor cooking. We settled down and enjoyed the food that we had cooked ourselves! It was indeed a fun experience.

Finally, it was time for OJ. The OJ was rather different from what we had experienced in school. Thus, we got to encounter different kinds of situation that we would face in the campsite that were not possible to carry out in school. Also, this OJ required not only our physical ability but also our ability to adapt to changes and using your knowledge and apply it into good use. For example, one of the station required us to transport our items across the imaginary river using the A jia that was provided for us. We thus needed to use our knowledge of using lashes to secure our item and transporting them. We also must be practical and the methods used must be feasible. It often requires us to think through and plan properly, before we proceed into carrying out anything. Hence, we could say that it was a brand new experience, with a lot of valuable lessons learnt.

After all the activities, it was the long awaited Campfire. Te song leaders led the songs and we followed in a merry and joyous mood, while the campfire was burning. We watched different patrols displayed the campfire item that they had prepared for a long time and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. Campfire was indeed an event for us to relax and also to bond as a company.

After the campfire, it was supper time! We had barbecue. After that, it was time to sleep. At around 1 plus, there was a Fire drill. Many of us were caught unprepared and some of us were flustered. Hence, we got a scolding and had to pump. However, this taught us a lesson to always stay alert to your surroundings. Also, in times of emergency, always help the people in need instead of just caring about yourself. We should always help the patrol mates who were injured because they indeed need more help than us. Through this, we would be more alert.

Day 3

The last day of the camp. We woke up early for breakfast and strike camp. After that, it was time for company games! That was a time to relax and really have fun. The fun we had chased away the tired feeling we had. After company games, it was time to head back to school.

Through this ATC, it definitely trained me to be a faster, stronger person, and also to adapt to the different problems faced. I learnt that the patrol spirit is everything. With a good and high patrol spirit, everything would be all right after all. Last but not least, thank you counselors, thank you Guiders, for the incessant support and encouragement you all had given us in the 3 days. Even though this was the first year that I had attended ATC, but it brought back good memories.


y2:

Pre-camp inspection
On 29th of November, we had pre-camp inspection. The year one and year two guides had a rehearsal on the day before to prepare for the inspection. We had to lay out all of our items that we needed to bring to camp for our seniors to check. This is to ensure that we were ready for camp and that all items were present. The inspection turned out to be quite smooth because we managed to stick to the time our seniors gave us and we had most of the items needed for camp. After inspection, the seniors briefed us about our overall performance on that day and told us to be prepared for ATC.

Annual Training Camp

Day 1
We reported to school at 7.30am and set off to Sarimbun Camp not long after. We started the day with Camp Development, and we were given 45 minutes to build a tent as well as a kitchen shelter, to be shared among 2 patrols. The tent was different from what we built in last year’s ATC, hence we were required to improvise and figure out on how to build the tent. Unfortunately, we were unable to finish it in time and thus, we had to ask for time extension. Through the first part of Camp D, we learnt that having a sense of urgency is important and also, teamwork and cooperation is required to work well with our patrol mates too.

After that, we had our lunch before continuing on the second part of Camp D, which is building our gadgets.

The second part of Camp D required us to build shoe racks, a baggage rack and a dustbin. It tested on our lashes as they had to be tight in order for the gadgets to be stable. Again, we had to constantly 报时 to ensure that we were in time. We had to work as quickly as possible in order to finish all the gadgets.

Camp D lasted until dinner time and I believe all of the trainees had benefitted a lot from it. It taught us to have a sense of urgency and to listen to the PL’s instructions clearly. Communication within the patrol is also a vital point that we learnt during Camp D too.

After we had our dinner, it was night PT. There were a total of 6 stations, and through night PT, we improved our perseverance level. All of us also cheered loudly to keep the patrol morale high. As the night PT was tough, each of us needed to spur our patrol mates on in order to get through the night PT. From this, we improved our mental and physical ability. It was certainly an enriching experience for the trainees.

As it started to rain heavily after that, we were unable to carry out the night games. We had been looking forward to it throughout the whole day and it was quite a pity that we could not carry it out. We went to sleep at the multi-purpose hall instead.


Day 2

We had morning warmup and then we went to have our breakfast. After that, we had inspection. This time, we had to bring all of our baggage as well as our Styrofoam boxes to lay out. Again, we had to act fast and lay out our items as neat as possible. Then, we proceeded to outdoor cooking.

Starting the fire was not easy because many of us had to try multiple times in order to sustain the fire. Outdoor cooking was fun because we get to cook our own food. We were given chicken, mushrooms and soup to cook for our own patrol, which would be our lunch. It turned out to be extremely delicious and we all ate our lunch heartily.

In the afternoon, we had OJ. This OJ we had was very different from the normal OJs as it required us to think more and make use of whatever we had with us. Once again, to carry out the task, we were required to communicate within the patrol and listen to our patrol mates’ suggestions. This OJ was a very memorable one because the situations we faced were totally unexpected and hence, we had to be prepared and work together as a patrol. The PL’s instructions were also very important as they had to be clear so that the patrol mates could carry them out. Thus, this OJ was very beneficial to the trainees.

At night, we had the most exciting event in the camp, which was Campfire! It was the time for us to relax and enjoy ourselves thoroughly after all the strenuous activities. Campfire was very fun and interesting because the songleaders were very entertaining, singing many songs for the audience. Some of us were also given the chance to participate in the campfire. It was a wonderful night because we sang our hearts out and felt very happy during the campfire.

After that, we had barbeque for supper. We had marshmallows, hot dogs and crabmeat to eat. We enjoyed a scrumptious supper before going to sleep.

About 1am in the morning, there was a sudden firedrill. It was assumed that there was a fire and hence, all the trainees had to run away from the fire, as far as possible. We were not supposed to take any of our baggage because in case of an actual fire, we had to ensure that safety comes first. Through this firedrill, we learnt that knowing how to act fast in emergency situations is important. Also, we need to stay calm and not panic as we need to be in a clear state of mind should there be any problems we need to deal with.


Day 3
It was the last day of our camp and in the morning, all we did was to strike camp. We brought down our tents and took everything back to the back store. Then we had our final clean-up on the campsite to ensure that the campsite was clean, without any litter on the floor. After that, we had company games. It was very exciting because we played many games and we could bond with our company too. Then, we left the campsite in the afternoon to return back to school. We had the prize presentation. Even though some of us did not manage to get into the top 3 positions, I believe that all of us had done well in the camp and through it, we have certainly become a better guide. For the year ones, they had learnt many new skills and at the same time, they improved themselves too. For the year twos, we learnt how to lead our patrol better and also, take care of them. This camp experience is an unforgettable one and I believe that what we have learnt during camp would stay with us forever.