Hi Guides!
We had our first PA of the year last Monday! Here are some reflections from the Year 3s :)
Reflection from a Year 3 of Patrol 1:
For Monday’s PA, my patrol had a mini Obstacle Journey (OJ) along with Patrol 4. There were only three stations, which tested us on our First Aid knowledge, as well as inspection and mass change. Like the other OJs, this was still physically draining, even though the stations were easier than that of normal OJs. However, I found out that even as a Year 3, there is still much room for improvement, such as our abilities to be able to cheer constantly and 报时, ensuring communication throughout the patrol and developing quicker decision making skills. I feel that working together as a patrol is very important during OJs as well as cooperation between the people. This mini OJ was just a small exercise to prepare us for the bigger challenges ahead.
Reflection from a Year 3 of Patrol 2:
Our patrol had PA with Patrol 3. We were first tasked to play a game called "Left or Right", where we had to toss 2 白绳s at the same time, in the direction our seniors told us to toss it. Each time, if one of us dropped a 白绳, we had to go and search levels 1 and 2 of the GSL, for a post-it. In the end, we were unable to find all the post-its. We were then tasked to collect all the logistics stated on the post-its before going to 集合 outside the hostel canteen. There, we had to build a creative gadget without any tripods and include netting or rafting, while completing the tasks on the post-its. Our patrol had worked rather slowly, causing us to had to ask for multiple time extensions. In the end, we ran out of time and could not complete our structure. We then played Captain's Ball with Patrol 3 and lost by 6 points. We were then tasked to piece a puzzle together and in addition, complete tasks to get puzzle pieces. However, due to time constraints, we were unable to complete it as well. I feel that our performance was not up to standard and that we could have had a better sense of urgency and time management.
Reflection from a Year 3 of Patrol 3:
On Monday, we had Patrol Activity and the first thing we did was play a game involving 白绳, where we had to stand in a circle to throw the 白绳 to the next person beside us, all at the same time while catching the 白绳 from the person on our other side. If we did not catch the 白绳, we were to find post-its that were hidden around GSL level 2. This game tested our knowledge on trekking signs, as we had to determine which trekking signs were considered “safe”, before we could take the post-it. After retrieving the logistics and doing Physical Training (PT), which was the price we had to pay to collect the logistics, we were tasked to build a gadget that represented our patrol. We thought about it and decided to build a cube with a storage function, as our very first PA and 集合 with the 49th Batch was spent building cubes. After that, we played Captain’s Ball and put together puzzle pieces to form a picture displaying a jasmine flower. The piecing together of the puzzle was challenging, as only the blindfolded people could touch the puzzle pieces and the rest of us were supposed to instruct and guide them. This tested our communication skills. Overall, I think this PA was quite meaningful as we got to test our knowledge on the trekking signs and communication skills, as well as think about what our patrol represented.
On Monday, we had Patrol Activity and the first thing we did was play a game involving 白绳, where we had to stand in a circle to throw the 白绳 to the next person beside us, all at the same time while catching the 白绳 from the person on our other side. If we did not catch the 白绳, we were to find post-its that were hidden around GSL level 2. This game tested our knowledge on trekking signs, as we had to determine which trekking signs were considered “safe”, before we could take the post-it. After retrieving the logistics and doing Physical Training (PT), which was the price we had to pay to collect the logistics, we were tasked to build a gadget that represented our patrol. We thought about it and decided to build a cube with a storage function, as our very first PA and 集合 with the 49th Batch was spent building cubes. After that, we played Captain’s Ball and put together puzzle pieces to form a picture displaying a jasmine flower. The piecing together of the puzzle was challenging, as only the blindfolded people could touch the puzzle pieces and the rest of us were supposed to instruct and guide them. This tested our communication skills. Overall, I think this PA was quite meaningful as we got to test our knowledge on the trekking signs and communication skills, as well as think about what our patrol represented.
Reflection from a Year 3 of Patrol 4:
During the Patrol Activity on 22 January, my patrol, Patrol 4, collaborated with Patrol 1 for a combined Patrol Activity. There were four stations — the first being inspection, the second based on First Aid, the third being building a specific structure out of gadget poles and lastly, a game of Captain’s Ball. The first station, inspection, and the fourth station, Captain’s Ball, were both done together with the other patrol. During inspection, we were tasked with laying out our 配备’s logistics as per the layout given and changing into our OJ kits. This was meant to test our sense of urgency, manpower allocation, the overall neatness of the layout and the IC’s ability to step out and direct the patrols to laying out the logistics properly. However, for the first round, we spent more time than expected and we ended up 过时-ing. In addition, there were times when the ICs could not be heard and some of the patrol members took a lot of time changing into their OJ kits. During the second round, the inspection was better than before, but the packing up of the logistics was rushed and we barely scraped through the time limit, which could be improved. For the second station, First Aid, not only were we tested on our abilities to treat injuries and wounds, our final score was also based on our manpower allocation and our sense of urgency, as we were judged on the number of people we were able to save within the time limit. In the end, my patrol ended up doing worse than we would have liked to, as even though our manpower allocation was still decent, we took too much time locating the casualties and treating their injuries, and in some cases we could not locate them in time and failed to save them. For the third station, the building of a specific structure, we were tasked with building a bridge that was hanging from two structures. At first, we had built a stationary bridge, which did not follow the requirements for the structure. When we realised this, we immediately changed it into a hanging bridge by connecting the footholds to the base tripods with strings of 白绳, instead of tying them to each other with square lashes. While the first part could have been avoided had we been more attentive, I feel that we did well for the second part, as instead of trying to tie a brand new structure, we instead modified what we already had to save time, which is important to our patrol’s ability to work together and come up with new ideas on the fly even in the face of difficulties. For the last station, Captain’s Ball, although it was slightly tiring, we all still had a lot of fun. This sport emphasises teamwork, as each patrol member had to work together to get past the opponent’s defenses and score a goal, which I think is fundamental to building a good patrol. In conclusion of the Patrol Activity, I think what both patrols have to work on is our sense of urgency, manpower allocation as well as reduce the time needed to mass change. The first is important as we cannot afford to spend more time than we were given as the timings are usually the standard for each activity, which means that each person’s time management has to be trained further. The manpower allocation is vital as focusing every patrol member at one spot and letting some stand around doing nothing is a waste of time and resources. The manpower available has to be used to the fullest so as to save as much time as possible. Lastly, the latter is important as in some cases, mass change is done concurrently with another activity, so one has to change quickly to take over another person’s task so that the person can also go and change within the time limit. If too much time is spent on oneself, it will only be detrimental to others and at the end, to oneself. As such, we cannot afford to be selfish and use most of the time given just for mass changing.
During the Patrol Activity on 22 January, my patrol, Patrol 4, collaborated with Patrol 1 for a combined Patrol Activity. There were four stations — the first being inspection, the second based on First Aid, the third being building a specific structure out of gadget poles and lastly, a game of Captain’s Ball. The first station, inspection, and the fourth station, Captain’s Ball, were both done together with the other patrol. During inspection, we were tasked with laying out our 配备’s logistics as per the layout given and changing into our OJ kits. This was meant to test our sense of urgency, manpower allocation, the overall neatness of the layout and the IC’s ability to step out and direct the patrols to laying out the logistics properly. However, for the first round, we spent more time than expected and we ended up 过时-ing. In addition, there were times when the ICs could not be heard and some of the patrol members took a lot of time changing into their OJ kits. During the second round, the inspection was better than before, but the packing up of the logistics was rushed and we barely scraped through the time limit, which could be improved. For the second station, First Aid, not only were we tested on our abilities to treat injuries and wounds, our final score was also based on our manpower allocation and our sense of urgency, as we were judged on the number of people we were able to save within the time limit. In the end, my patrol ended up doing worse than we would have liked to, as even though our manpower allocation was still decent, we took too much time locating the casualties and treating their injuries, and in some cases we could not locate them in time and failed to save them. For the third station, the building of a specific structure, we were tasked with building a bridge that was hanging from two structures. At first, we had built a stationary bridge, which did not follow the requirements for the structure. When we realised this, we immediately changed it into a hanging bridge by connecting the footholds to the base tripods with strings of 白绳, instead of tying them to each other with square lashes. While the first part could have been avoided had we been more attentive, I feel that we did well for the second part, as instead of trying to tie a brand new structure, we instead modified what we already had to save time, which is important to our patrol’s ability to work together and come up with new ideas on the fly even in the face of difficulties. For the last station, Captain’s Ball, although it was slightly tiring, we all still had a lot of fun. This sport emphasises teamwork, as each patrol member had to work together to get past the opponent’s defenses and score a goal, which I think is fundamental to building a good patrol. In conclusion of the Patrol Activity, I think what both patrols have to work on is our sense of urgency, manpower allocation as well as reduce the time needed to mass change. The first is important as we cannot afford to spend more time than we were given as the timings are usually the standard for each activity, which means that each person’s time management has to be trained further. The manpower allocation is vital as focusing every patrol member at one spot and letting some stand around doing nothing is a waste of time and resources. The manpower available has to be used to the fullest so as to save as much time as possible. Lastly, the latter is important as in some cases, mass change is done concurrently with another activity, so one has to change quickly to take over another person’s task so that the person can also go and change within the time limit. If too much time is spent on oneself, it will only be detrimental to others and at the end, to oneself. As such, we cannot afford to be selfish and use most of the time given just for mass changing.
Reflection from a Year 3 of Patrol 5:
Our patrol was split into 2 different groups and each group had to go to a different station and switch with the other group, after we had completed the station. For the first station that my group went to, we were tested on the tightness of our lashes and the speed at which we tied them. After tying each lash, we would do PT and the seniors would give us comments on the lashes we had tied. After hearing the seniors’ comments, I realised that even though I could tie the lashes within the time limit, they were still slightly loose. We were told on how to make our lashes tighter and we then tied it again. This time, our lashes were considerably tighter, so this station was helpful for me in making sure that every lash I tie is tight. For the next station, we played a game where we were standing in a straight line, facing each other's backs and we had to to draw out a structure and let the last person guess the structure, as well as the procedure on the building of the structure. We managed to get most of the structure right but we were not sure about the building procedures of some of the structures. I was able to get more familiarised with the building procedure on a structure that I didn't know how to tie. We also had to describe a phrase or word that was related to Guides and the others were supposed to guess the words. We managed to get all the words correct in a short amount of time. After the 2 stations, the 2 groups had to complete another station together and we would have to answer questions in the Guides notes to get the logistics needed to tie our structure. However, most of us were not familiar with the Guides notes.
Reflection from a Year 3 of Patrol 6:
For Monday’s PA,we practised tying our lashes, and we were tasked to tie square lashes, diagonal lashes as well as a tripod. However, even though most of us knew our lashes well, some of our lashes were still loose as we did not 抽 tightly. This was rather disappointing as the new batch of Year 1s will be joining Guides soon and judging from the poor standard of our lashes, it would be quite embarrassing to guide and lead them. The Year 1s may also learn these poor skills from us. Additionally, while tying these structures, some of us, myself included, did not have a sense of urgency. While I was tying the tripod, I was still chatting with my batch mate, which was unacceptable. As a result, my tripod turned out to be rather substandard, as I had made a mistake while tying, due to the distraction. Next, we were tasked to tie 2 structures, one of which was a baggage rack, as well as a structure for us to hang our clothes. While tying the structures, we did not cheer and 报时 much. Our 白绳 also got “kupped” and we were left with insufficient 白绳 to tie our remaining lashes. As a result, our seniors were rather disappointed in us as our patrol morale was very low and we did not take good care of our logistics, especially the 白绳 which was essential for us to tie our structures. Apart from that, the structure for us to hang our clothes did not really serve its purpose as from the way we built it, it would still allow rainwater to drip onto the clothes, if we were to use it in a real scenario. Therefore, I felt that we should have looked at the structure through a bigger picture.
Published By:
Arielle
49th Batch Secretary
