orientation

Although there is no need to apologise, I would like to extend my deepest condolence to my raging writing self who has been locked away for far too long.

After my exams, we had a two day weekend (normal stuff) and immediately proceeded to having the orientation. Although it was only four days, the facilitators and organizing committee had to come earlier for training and preparations to ensure a smooth sailing orientation.

As the secretary, there was initially not much action work to do; but a lot of paperwork - writing letters, reports, minutes etc. But since I was part of the organizing committee, we were always on 'standby' and can be dispatched to replace anyone anytime.

So during the first day, I had to aid the accommodations department who were short of manpower. Since I was in charge of a house, I had to note down any defects observed and help the new students settle in right at home. However, I encountered a most unexpected remark in the form of a parent complaining about "the state of the apartment and that his daughter had a better offer elsewhere but he sacrificed and sent his daughter here instead." It would have been helpful had I even known how to answer (I was caught in a bind since I had only just entered the house and did not expect any of this)- but it was even more traumatizing for me since everything was in Malay. Thanks to the chief of accommodation who was swift enough to come to my rescue and reply smoothly.

Moving on, there wre no other dramas which left detrimental effects on my well-being. Except planning for the SCTL Presentation. I had to present to about 100+ students a 15 minute presentation on one of the unique components of learning in our college- the Student Centered Team-based Learning. With only two days to prepare the slides, 10 minutes to rehearse my presentation, it was a miracle I could pull it off.

That's me standing at the front there presenting!
Picture courtesy of Wan Safiyyah Nurnajah (for taking the pic) and Amal (for uploading it)

Thanks to the Chief of facilitators who looked throughout my slides and told me which points to focus. And mostly to my benchmarker- Alina Khadijah for sitting patiently with me while I rantingly rehearsed and gave me constructive criticism and post-mortems. You are a wonder, my dear:)

One of the aspects I had to talk about how to present- that is public speaking. I would have promoted Toastmasters and injected into their minds but then again, probably I'll promote it to them soon enough.

One of the slides I did was "Speaking is an art". I'm not so sure if they read through it since I could only stay on this slide for a few seconds. When the Head of Faci Dept looked through, he didn't say anything and none from the audience remarked anything. So yes, It does make me feel like I'm on the way to becoming a top-notch speaker. In due time~

All in all, a pretty fulfilling week - though slightly outdated.

Everyday so far has something on. Phew. It's going to be one productive holiday.