“When opportunity presents itself, grab it”. I’ve always followed this mantra, so when I learned about a second SPOT LEAP held in October 2024, I immediately signed up.
This year’s second SPOT LEAP camp was held at Indonesia, KTM Batam Resorts. The 4D3N camp included fun-filled activities from team-based & problem-based solving activities (e.g. Mangrove tree planting, paintball, water-crossing, etc.) to reflection exercises and motivational talks from experienced facilitators. Through this experiential journey, I learned and reflected much. I also experienced first-hand how important it is to stay engaged, to contribute more effectively to the team. Some of the key highlights of this camp include:
Teamwork makes the dream work
Among the many team-based activities, the “Cross the River” activity was my favourite as it was designed to be an impossible challenge unless one thinks win-win and collaborates across teams (Interdisciplinary teamwork!) to develop creative solutions. So, teaming up with new friends and solving problems together was awesome. Experiential learning at its best!
Nightly reflections
At the end of each evening, there was a sharing session skilfully facilitated by our mentors. During which, all of us reflected on ourselves as a person and as a leader. Some of us came to tears, others gained an epiphany. Everyone got something out of this meaningful night-sharing activity. It's the main reason why I had the impetus to do a reflective blog post, as well as a condensed version of this shared via Linkedin.
Bonding with fellow SP students
Although I may look like an extrovert, I am an introvert at heart. So, it usually takes a while before I can interact freely with someone new I’ve met. However, during this camp, I did not feel any initial awkwardness at all.
I made many new friends including Bryan, Daniel, Dion, Dennis, Darren, Xin Jun, Haiqal, Angie, Cheng Ning, Wing Chi, Yanshi, Jocelyn, Jesni, and Jodie. These peeps from Group 1 brought so much energy and fun to the camp, I am glad that I was assigned to Group 1. In addition, sharing a room with 5 other SP students also gave me a chance to network, connect, and build deeper commorade with people from different disciplines.
It's no surprise that everyone in SPOT is academically brilliant, but I was taken aback (in a good way) by how relaxed everyone was after hours, but so laser-focused when it came to working together and solving problems earlier during the day. They epitomise Mr. Shah Rukh Khan’s “Study hard, work hard, play harder.” quote. Bonding with all these new friends was a good enough incentive to make this trip!
Flash back to day 1… as I boarded the ferry at Tanah Merah ferry terminal, I had a sense of Déjà vu and recalled LeX's SP-HUCE trip to Hanoi. During which, I created a video summary of the entire trip. So, I quickly crafted a simple proposal and sent it to Ms Nadine (accompanying lecturer for this trip) offering to create a similar video for SP’s LEAP camp. She approved my proposal!
Fast forward 3 weeks, and the video is completed! To my friends who were at SPOT Leap camp, enjoy the recap! To newbies joining SPOT, here’s what you stand to gain in the near future (This video was also shared on SP's SPOT Linkedin page on 05 Nov 2024).
What ignites the flames in your heart?
As a Singaporean pre-NS city boy, I have not yet experienced a real bonfire. So, I was intrigued by how they set it up and was mesmerised by its comforting glow when the sky got dark.
Staring at the large flames dancing rhythmically in the darkness, I thought it symbolises well that for someone to shine so brightly, he/she will need to have a strong passion (flame), which requires a strong base with a steady supply of new materials (new knowledge) to feed off.
In today’s society, knowledge is like firewood, its value diminishes greatly once it's burnt. Especially in my field of Digital Media and Communications, we need to constantly seek new “fuel” (knowledge & skills) to keep our passion going or risk being left behind. While the bonfire was meant as a nice way to close out the camp, it ended up inspiring me to work harder in the coming school term.
I'm grateful to Singapore Polytechnic Outstanding Talent (SPOT) Programme for this camp, as well as the All Hearts Pte. Ltd. team for their excellent planning and facilitation. Special shout out to Ms Nadine for supporting our learning and being game enough to join our activities! Who says educators can’t be fun? 🙂
Chia Howie
29 October 2024
TLDR
Signed up for leadership camp (again), made new friends, learned more about different leadership approaches & played hard!
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