My Sharing Session to all Councillors

Hello to all my beloved Student Councillors!

Can’t believe this but I missed all of you already, regardless whether you went for Cairns trip or not. Really, Cairns trip is super fun so thank you to all of you guys who have made it possible! Without you there, this trip would not have been so memorable. Yup, glad that some seniors (Ben, Mabel, Cherie, Yu Ru, Dinah, June, Zhi Xin, Zara & Ming Quan) are able to make it there too and a big thank you to all teachers (Mr Low, Mr Yeo, Ms Yeo, Mdm Loh, Ms Tiong and Ms Chua) who made this trip even more exciting!

Haha it is now time for me to post whatever thoughts I have in mind. This was supposed to be shared during the debrief on the last night but we don’t have much time, and when we rescheduled it to the transit period on the 8th we ended up rushing for the SYD-SIN flight instead. (Though the flight was delayed soon after we board the plane -.- What shame haha!)

I was actually happy that most of you enjoyed this trip, especially when you all got closer to one another In fact, as a student leader one should be happy carrying out his/her duties and responsibilities, which is why I hope this trip can recharge you and make you readily face the challenges of a new year ahead with confidence.

For the past few months, I have seen many of you Year 2 Councillors getting better at event planning skills, proposal making skills, etc. So well done for the hard work this year and thanks to you Year 3 Councillors who have guided them well! But really, I cannot disagree that completing tasks is just one small component of leadership. There are also other things, which are vital to leaders like us.

As leaders we must constantly care, give and serve those around us. In short, a leader is love. A Student Councillor is love.

Remember how we discussed during SC camp, that we wanted a new kind of response from the Student Body? Instead of being viewed as just event planners, we are looking for ways in which SC can be something more, that we are truly people who build bridges between the School and Student Body.

Oh that reminds me of something. Do you recall when Mr Yeo wanted each group to present an item with a mystery theme, but ended up not doing so because of time shortage? Well, here you go, the theme is “Building Bridges”! And then I was supposed to round up the performances with whatever I’m typing now. Haha but it doesn’t really matter anyway. If sharing it this way allows those who missed the trip to be connected as well, so be it.

How to go about building the bridges then? Well, the key to this is to maintain a stable relationship with the Student Body, right from the FOUNDATION. I know that we ever touched the topic on holding mass dialogue sessions with the Student Body, in order to get to know them. However, it has come to a realization that this measure is redundant since we foresee that students will not speak up in front of a big group and so defeats the purpose of all your efforts.

On the other hand, we ARE continuing the “Adopt-A-Class” regime starting from next year’s orientation. There are going to be several events down the year that reconnect the facilitators to their Orientation class, so that the relationship forged will not be lost.
I do understand some of your concerns of not having enough time to spend with you juniors. But in order to achieve the vision of connecting the students to us and then to the school, we have to sacrifice ourselves. Look at it this way, start by spending some recess periods eating together with them. Believe it or not, it breaks the ice.

See, it is not the big things in life that causes changes to happen. Sometimes it’s the little things you contribute one way or another. Even by meeting the needs of your peers and juniors or being there in times of help, you gain that trust from them. After all, we encompass love within, don’t we?

If you still don’t get my meaning so far, the point I’m trying to make is: Making our presence known by making a difference. When we really go down to their level and help them out, they will know what kind of people we really are and the main reason we exist.
Taking a step further, I need all of you to uphold personhood leadership within you. Personhood leadership is when people follow you not because of rank or position, but because of who you really are inside.

Starting from next year, the EXCO (including Jia Hui, Xing Qi and myself) are going to split ourselves and mentor a group of you, in order to monitor your progress as well as building further relationship with you all! Yay! No worries, we will make sure that we are there to motivate and empower you along. But also bear in mind all of you play an important part to get the crowd moving. We are Student Councillors, this is what we do.

Let me sidetrack for a while by debriefing you on the Amazing Race we had during the Trip. Remember the Anchor? Shu Jun, Charmaine and I were supposed to find it together but realized we followed wrong directions from an old man who claimed he was 99% sure, and even took much of our time by insisting that Captain Cook lived on the island across once. Hahaha! Super no link -.- Well, so we ended up following a direction that is different from the rest. Though we found the wrong anchor we still enjoyed the long walk very much simply by admiring the scenery of the sea overlooking the esplanade.

In the same light, do not be afraid of facing changes in the direction we are heading. After all, it is the process and experiences gained that matters. Most importantly, do not let your confidence and morale leave you even for a second. We as leaders should never fear of challenging the process, because we never know how far we can go until we stretched the limit. I know that change in relationship between the Student Body and us is not an overnight thing, but even a small change in a few years is better than nothing right? When we go up in level, I suppose this is something to be proud of, knowing that we have made the effort the change people’s mindsets and all that.

Let’s start from here, and let your influence spread out like a ripple effect. Remember, influence can be good or bad. A bridge built in years can be destroyed in seconds. So let’s maintain a stable relationship and be careful on the things we hear or do.

To those who went for Cairns, share your experiences to the rest of the SCs because as leaders we need to let our voices be heard. Let us envision ourselves again, to be them who shows the way, goes the way and eventually becomes the way.

Display it guys, not just talk about it. Be that agent of change.

Enjoy the remaining of you holidays!
Love, by Siswo on 9 Dec 2007

That was really inspirational siswo

so longgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

Wow..everyone in SC seems so inspirational,well..they are!