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31 January 2016

YA Leadership Training, 29 January 2016

Hello Guides! For this 集合, the Young Adults (YA) had planned the respective activities and we had no prior notice of what was in line for us! We 集合-ed as per normal at 2:45 and after an attire check, the YAs took over. They split us up into our batches and told us that the following activities will be done as a batch. Here are the respective accounts:

Year 2s Batch Activity
For the Year 2s, we were give 7 minutes to get our logistics from that were needed to build a baggage rack, a kitchen dresser, a fire altar and a shoe rack. I felt that we were rather disorganised despite managing to get the logistics needed within the given time, as we were not very sure of the needed to build the standard structures and were rather confused.

We were then given 3 ½ minutes to each tie a square lash and another 4 minutes to tie a diagonal lash. However, some of us were not too sure about the diagonal lash and only managed to finish with a time extension of 1 minute. After that, one of our batchmates demonstrated and explained the diagonal lash to us, ensuring that all of us understood. We were then told to retie our diagonal lashes within 4 ½ minutes. Through the first part of the activity, I felt that we should better familiarise ourselves with both our lashes, as well as the standard structures. Besides that, I feel that we should clarify with our seniors when we are unsure of anything and not just keep quiet.
After which, we were given 40 minutes to build a baggage rack, an indoor fire altar and a kitchen dresser, which we then split ourselves into 3 groups so as to be more efficient. Approximately 5 minutes later, we realised that we had insufficient to build all three structures. At that point in time, we were given 2 minutes to look at the proposals and to figure out the amount of we were short of and then given 7 minutes to get whatever we needed.

After 2 of us from each group got all the necessary logistics, we quickly continued with the building of our various structures. I felt that throughout that time, we all learnt to work together and to have effective communication so as to ensure that the structures are built accordingly. What made me feel motivated was that we all helped each other out and we stepped out of our comfort zones and attempted in asking when we were lost, instead of silently doing what we thought was right.

However, I feel that we could have worked with a higher sense of urgency as we had to ask for a time extension of 7 minutes to finish up our structures. Fortunately, our structures were rather stable and turned out rather well! Lastly, I better understood the various standard structures as well as their uses through understanding the building process and the common mistakes made that we should take note so as to avoid them the next time round, such as the rationale behind tying the square lashes up to down or down to up so as to avoid overlapping them. Overall, I believe that we all learnt a lot be it communication skills, or the rationale of the lashes!
 

 
Year 3s Batch Activity

All of us felt a little afraid and worried about what was going to happen during this year's leadership training, as we knew that the YAs would be judging our performance based on it. At the start of j集合, the YAs told us to separate into our batches. I was quite surprised that we were going to do the activity in our own batch, as previous leadership trainings had been by patrol and usually been either OJ (obstacle journey) or Physical Training (PT) etc. 

Firstly, we were tasked to bring down a specific amount of mu which the YAs read out to us. After bringing down the mu, the YAs passed a proposal to one of the Y3s, and instructed us to build a mini kitchen using gadget poles in 40minutes. We were also allowed to make amendments to the proposal so as to improve the structure.  At first, all of us were at a loss and the entire situation was very chaotic. All of us were trying our best to take a look at the proposal and we spent the first few minutes shouting at one another to take a specific number of mu to build the main frame. 

After calming down and being more familiar with the proposal, we started work on the main frame. A few of us stepped back to take a look at the structure as a whole and to give the necessary comments to the rest of our batchmates. We then 起-ed the main frames and started to build the 顶脚s to the structure. However, many of us had different opinions and views as to how we should tie the 顶脚s and we all tried to voice out our thoughts. Personally, after thinking back on this, i feel that although it was good of us to step up, we should not all have been so focused on voicing out our views without listening to each other's opinions as well. This made the situation very messy and noisy as all of us were literally just shouting at one another and trying to rebut each other's suggestions. 

Although we went through many challenges in the building of our structure, we finally managed to finish building it successfully. The YAs then gave us feedback and comments and gave us 20minutes to rebuild the structure again, but this time with more improvements based on their suggestions previously. 

We were surer of ourselves this time and the process was smoother than before. However, like previously, we were all very rash and wanted to get the structure done without thinking carefully about how we were going to go about doing it. We thus made many mistakes and had to 拆掉 some of the things which we had already built. We still managed to add some improvements to the structure though. Overall, I think this activity was a very enriching experience for me as I not only learnt how to step up, but also to think carefully about how to build the structure before just diving head first into it. 

Year 2s & 3s Combined Activity

For the second part of the YA leadership training, the Year 2s and 3s had to work together to build various structures. The purpose of this was to train our communication skills as well as train the Year 3s to be able to lead the Year 2s.
We were given a total time of 7 minutes to check that we had the required gadget poles and to go to 团部 to retrieve the necessary items from our 小队箱. Through cooperation and teamwork, we managed to finish checking the logistics before the time was up. Thereafter, the YAs instructed us to build a fire altar, kitchen dresser, clothes line and baggage rack all linked together. In addition, we also had to build three emergency shelters. We were then given 5 minutes to discuss our strategy.

In the 5 minutes, we decided that P1 and 2 work together to build the baggage rack and clothes line, P3, 4 and 5 work together to build the fire altar and the kitchen dresser, whereas P6 build the three emergency shelters.

We were then given 40 minutes to build the various structures. However, as we were too engrossed in building, we forgot to constantly cheer and 报时. Our overall sense of urgency was also very slow and could definitely be improved on. After 10 minutes, the YAs called us to 集合 and pointed these things out. Our time was then cut short and we had until 35 minutes to complete everything. The YAs also told us to two flagpoles and a dome tent. After break off, P6 who was done with the three emergency shelters, helped to the flagpole and tent while the rest of us carried on with our assigned tasks. Our sense of urgency and morale were greatly improved.

Halfway through, the YAs called three people, including myself out and told us that we could not talk and could only cheer, 报时 and tell others that we could not talk. This was a difficult task as we had to control ourselves from talking and at the same time, lead and give instructions to the rest.

When 35 minutes was up, we all 集合-ed even though certain things were not yet completed. I feel that instead of doing so, we should have asked for time extension and not give up by leaving things uncompleted. We were then given an extra 5 minutes to finish the structures up, which we managed to do so. We were then given time to 拆掉 everything and return all logistics to 团部.

Overall, I feel that our sense of urgency could be improved and our morale could be higher. As Year 3s, we should also take note to not leave the Year 2s alone to do things but should always be there to take charge and lead them. Through this activity, I learnt that communication at the very beginning is very important and we should not blindly jump into completing the assigned task.


Year 4 Batch Activity

For YA leadership training, our batch had attire check at first. If the person on our right was told that their attire was not standard, we had to pump for them. I think that this activity was quite meaningful as our batchmates will learn how to take responsibility to wear standard attire and feel bad for the people pumping for them. After that, we went to 集合 outside 团部. We were then given 5 min to label everything in our 小队箱。 We found out that many of the logistics in our 小队箱  was not labeled so we had to ask for time extension. We asked for time extension twice and we also helped other patrols to label their stuff. After that, we were told to shift all our stuff in our 小队箱 to other 小队箱 s according to the layout the YAs told us. We were given 20min and as we had extra time after that, we thought that the YAs gave us so much time for a reason. So we went to memorise the layout of our 小队箱 and even did a stock check. We later found out that it was redundant as the YAs gave us so much time for us to make everything look neater. Then, they told us a layout to put our stuff. So we had to take out everything again and rearrange our stuff. We also tried to standardise among all the patrols. However, it was not very neat and standardised as the shelves of our 小队箱  are of different levels and thus, some patrols have not enough space to put their stuff. Then, we are asked to level all the shelves in 小队箱 and were made to pack wisely and make it neater. After which, we 集合-ed in 团部 and had a really long debrief on the rationales of why the YAs made us do such an unconventional activity to train our communication skills and teamwork. This activity was very different from what we usually do and we did not expect to do this for YA training. All in all, we still learned the importance of teamwork in a batch even though we would have preferred to have more physical activities.




https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gifThis week’s 集合was indeed something unexpected and different the usuals! We still hope that everyone was able to benefit in one way or another!

Cheers,
Michelle
47th Batch Secretary

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