Reflections on SST Journey Jan-May 2010 (Michelle Dapito)

When I entered SST, the only person I knew was Naveena. Therefore, I did not feel very good as like everybody was stranger to me, even the teachers. On the first day, we did the MacBridge Activity and that made me closer to my group, but not yet the class. Through the following days, I got to know my other classmates and became closer to them. Since then, I found SST a very enjoyable school especially the 2 day 1 night team-building camp. During the camp, my class did not really bond that much unlike the other class, but nonetheless, we got closer anyway, especially during the group/class activities.

Here are some of my Reflections on the first week of school.

At the beginning I was a bit shy as I did not know most of the students. However, after being together for a whole morning, I overcomed my "shyness". How I overcame it? I just mustered up my courage and talk to the other students in the group.

When we were building the bridge, I was not sure what to do as most of the jobs were taken. Somehow, I managed to help. I help to put the "fence" around the bridge and also used the green sticky tape to paste them on the bridge. I also helped to put an ice-cream stick between the two towers. Oh ya! I also helped to paste the "weird" tree. haha! (:

I think it is important to participate in projects as we can communicate more with the other members in the group and we can experience a broader world.

One important skill I learnt is teamwork. However, I think cooperation is more important. When a few people are in a group and are required to do a project, everybody should cooperate. If even only ONE person does not cooperate, the group will not work out as well as another group where every single person is cooperating. Also, if ONE person does not cooperate and gets angry, arguments will occur. If the argument is too big, the project will most likely be uncompleted. How I apply cooperation in class? When a teacher asks me to do something, I will do it without hesitation. I will also listen to other people's opinions during group work. (:

I feel okay with it, but when we just started, it was quite weird as I am not used to working with boys. But at the end it was okay. We talk a lot, haha, but when we need to do work, we do them, but with talking, haha. We do jobs separately, and join them at the end(: I learnt that I can actually build a bridge model. I have not tried doing that before. In future group activities, I would be more active and participate more than this time.

When we just started the project, like what I said, I was not comfortable with working with boys, but at the end it was okay anyway. I was also scared at first that we may not finish doing the bridge on time, but surprisingly, we finished it early and the bridge looked really good. How I overcame them? I just told myself that I should just participate actively, and work with the people in my group, no matter if they are male or female. I also mustered up my courage and told myself that the bridge would work, and with the active members of my group, the bridge would work well and we will be able to finish it on time. (:

"Forging Excellence" means having the will to win, having the desire to succeed, etc . You should have the "burning desire" in you to learn. When you learn, the outcome will be EXCELLENCE. You have to have the "burning desire" to forge Excellence.

The 2 day 1 night camp was exciting ! I think the overnight camp helped the class to know each other more , and helped us to bond more. I knew more people's names during the camp. The camp also taught me how to overcome my fear of heights. The activities were so fun that I want to do them again ! I also learnt that we should continue trying, do our best even though we fail in doing something right, but if we do our best and not stop trying , we will accomplish it no matter what happens. We should also understand more of our classmates to accomplish group works. We should always cooperate and participate to accomplish teamwork. Overall, I enjoyed the camp.

The following weeks in SST are very enjoyable and finally S1-09 was like a real class that really worked together in projects and activities.

During lessons, we would try to make the class fun but not overdo it, so we had fun classes and not boring ones. The teachers also helped to make the classes fun and not too dry.

Some things I learnt about the use of the learning device is that we should not misuse it in school, like playing games or socializing during classes.

We also had fun animation classes that helped me to find out the true meaning of cooperating and collaborating. When my group finished and saw the end product, we were delighted that our efforts paid off.

My overall reflection on the five months in SST is that SST is an enjoyable place and that it cheers me up. It is the prefect school for me.

-Michelle Dapito