The 16th Student Leaders Convention took place from the 1st to 4th June this year. The Student Leaders Convention (SLC) is a platform in which student leaders from the Asia-Pacific region come together to discuss recent issues that are happening around the world today. This year, 16th SLC seeks to address problems youth face due to the prevalence of Social Media. Hence, this will equip Youth Leaders with the knowledge, skills and foresight to face the problems of today, nurturing leaders of tomorrow. The convention is jointly organised by Hwa Chong Institution and Nanyang Girls High and the Guest of Honour is Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office, Mr. Heng Chee How.
This year, I had the opportunity to be part of the organising team of 16th SLC. It certainly has been a wonderful and enriching experience. I have benefited a lot from it and have gained exposure on things that I have not yet experience for myself in ProEd Council.
In ProEd Council, one does not really have much contact with outside organisations and through this convention, I have learnt how to interact with them. Firstly, I have learnt to work with student leaders from other schools. An example would be Nanyang Girls High School. Working with Nanyang Girls' student leaders is a new experience for me. This is because they are of a different gender and thus the tone and way that one speaks to them is quite different as compared to the tone that we use to speak to our friends. There may be some slangs that Hwa Chong students use when communicating with each other and some short forms of locations that the NYGH Student Leaders may not understand. So adjustments to how we communicate with them have to be made.
Secondly, as the printing of booklets, shirts and notepads require the help of companies, the Organising Team has to obtain quotations and source for them. Also, we have to explain our plans and designs to these companies and through this, I was exposed to working with external companies. This is something that I have not experienced before as these arrangements were usually done by teachers.In ProEd Council, one does not really have much contact with outside organisations and through this convention, I have learnt how to interact with them. Firstly, I have learnt to work with student leaders from other schools. An example would be Nanyang Girls High School. Working with Nanyang Girls' student leaders is a new experience for me. This is because they are of a different gender and thus the tone and way that one speaks to them is quite different as compared to the tone that we use to speak to our friends. There may be some slangs that Hwa Chong students use when communicating with each other and some short forms of locations that the NYGH Student Leaders may not understand. So adjustments to how we communicate with them have to be made.
Rejection was a common thing in the 6 months long planning stage. Many proposals that one came up with were rejected and I am no exception. However, each rejection was a learning opportunity and we worked on our proposals after knowing what is wrong. A lot of perserverance is needed especially when rejections can be quite demoralising.
On the day of the event day itself, I saw many participants actively participating in the games and discussions. Their smiles were what brought the Organising Team assurance that things were going fine and that they were enjoying themselves.
The sense of satisfaction was priceless.
However, the best thing about 16th SLC was the friendships forged. Each of us were there for each other whenever anyone met with difficulties. We walked through the tough and tiring journey together and that fostered a strong bond between us. We all had a common identity : Organising Team of the 16th Student Leaders Convention and I believe that all of us would remember that for life.
The tedious 6 months of planning was put into place in four days. In four days, it was over. All that hardwork was executed extremely succesfully and that was probably why everyone was so emotional after the event. All of us felt empty after the event, free from all the work that we once had to complete by deadlines. Oh how I wish I could turn back the clock to the start of 16th SLC.......
16th Student Leaders Convention, you certainly added a lot of colours to my life! Thank You!
You may visit this website for more information regarding 16th Student Leaders Convention : http://www.hci.sg/hci_slc/