Here's the long awaited post about YLTC 2012, in particular the campfire night.

Back to the point! Before I write, or rather type, about how the campfire night went, I think it is very important for me to share how the 4 of us came up with our plan and why we did things this way. There were several viewpoints we considered, with input from different people. I tried contacting Derrick prior to the night, but I couldn't get to him because he was in field camp. In spite of this, I took some time to recall our conversation about the purpose of the campfire night one year ago, so yes Derrick, we did consider your views. Szeyuan and Sarah also gave us their opinions, and we even thought of 35th's stand. To cut the long story short, here are the objectives behind the campfire night:

To meet these objectives, we decided to be nice to 37th. Of course they had to maintain a certain standard when they were doing their roll calls, but we also wanted them to be a positive example to 38th. Basically, we were trying to strike a balance between all the different objectives.

How 37th was:

We scolded them at the start, just to keep up the standard. At the end of the group roll call, I asked 37th how they think they did, and they said they did badly (at least they were not ignorant!). I told them we didn't have time for them to do it again, but they can redeem themselves by doing their batch song and pledge properly. Of course, we technically have time for them to re-do their roll call, but I felt that they were too nervous then to do it properly. I did not want to jeopardize 37th's image in front of 38th further, and hence let them sing their batch song and recite their batch pledge (which were extremely difficult for them to screw up). We then told them to do dragon roll call, which was fortunately well done (of course we weren't particularly strict too - think last year)! :D

After their dragon call, they were asked to get back to the group roll call position. We believe the key learning point we wanted them to take away from last year's YLTC was that there is a purpose behind everything we do. Thus, we emphasised this point, and asked 37th for the reason we are doing this. 37th truly impressed and touched me with their responses, as many of them spoke up immediately and gave very good answers. Some of the answers were "to tell the trainees that we have been through what they are facing now" and "even though we make mistakes too, at least we encouraged one another and remained positive". I asked Zhan Teng after the campfire if their batch had thought of the reasons together, and he said no. It was comforting to know that 37th had been thinking of the meaning of this activity even without being prompted to. I concluded this reflection-of-meaning-behind-activity thing by first asking 37th what YLTC stands for, which they of course answered correctly. I then went on to explain that YLTC is not just a camp for trainees, but also for instructors, and as instructors, they need to lead by example. Lastly, I told them that I hope that they can remember the reasons why they are doing this, and asked them if they wanted to do their group roll call again. Their answer was a resounding yes, again something good!

Unfortunately, their second roll call was not well done too, probably due to their anxiety. We tried to help them in many ways, such as letting another group start first if we see that one group is struggling and being less strict. Finally, their roll call was done and we told them to fall out. They then left to keep their caps and scarves, while the 4 of us and Sean talked to 38th. We asked 38th what they felt about the "performance", and to sum it up nicely, they thought that what 36th did to 37th was a mirror image of what they have been going through, but 37th were much more positive and they really encouraged one another to push on (something which was very commendable on the part of 37th). 37th came to join us and I ended this by praising 37th's positive attitude in front of 38th. No doubt, there were many errors 37th made which we could have picked on, but I did not wish to tarnish their image in front of 38th, and more importantly, I wanted to allow them to be a good role model and source of inspiration for 38th.

We needed to also remind 37th not to slack off and maintain a certain standard of roll call. To reach these objectives, we decided to talk to 37th in private about the campfire night and YLTC in general. They were first asked to reflect upon and share what they thought they did well and what they didn't, and we then added on. In short, the point is to not let them have the false impression that they did very well, and for them to remember that they still have much room for improvement. We also spent a long time talking about the juniors and YLTC in general, but that's for another day! You can always ask 37th or any of the 4 of us if you are interested.

OK that's all for the campfire night; I hoped that we have chosen the best way to meet the objectives! Of course, if you have any opinions about how the thing could have been done better, feel free to share, so that the juniors can benefit as well! :)

Love,

Xiao Qi

P.S. I'm very tired and ill now so pardon me for any grammatical error and for not making this more exciting/funny (in my defence, this is a serious topic so I should not make facetious remarks).

Here's the long awaited post about YLTC 2012, in particular the campfire night.

Back to the point! Before I write, or rather type, about how the campfire night went, I think it is very important for me to share how the 4 of us came up with our plan and why we did things this way. There were several viewpoints we considered, with input from different people. I tried contacting Derrick prior to the night, but I couldn't get to him because he was in field camp. In spite of this, I took some time to recall our conversation about the purpose of the campfire night one year ago, so yes Derrick, we did consider your views. Szeyuan and Sarah also gave us their opinions, and we even thought of 35th's stand. To cut the long story short, here are the objectives behind the campfire night:

To meet these objectives, we decided to be nice to 37th. Of course they had to maintain a certain standard when they were doing their roll calls, but we also wanted them to be a positive example to 38th. Basically, we were trying to strike a balance between all the different objectives.

How 37th was:

We scolded them at the start, just to keep up the standard. At the end of the group roll call, I asked 37th how they think they did, and they said they did badly (at least they were not ignorant!). I told them we didn't have time for them to do it again, but they can redeem themselves by doing their batch song and pledge properly. Of course, we technically have time for them to re-do their roll call, but I felt that they were too nervous then to do it properly. I did not want to jeopardize 37th's image in front of 38th further, and hence let them sing their batch song and recite their batch pledge (which were extremely difficult for them to screw up). We then told them to do dragon roll call, which was fortunately well done (of course we weren't particularly strict too - think last year)! :D

After their dragon call, they were asked to get back to the group roll call position. We believe the key learning point we wanted them to take away from last year's YLTC was that there is a purpose behind everything we do. Thus, we emphasised this point, and asked 37th for the reason we are doing this. 37th truly impressed and touched me with their responses, as many of them spoke up immediately and gave very good answers. Some of the answers were "to tell the trainees that we have been through what they are facing now" and "even though we make mistakes too, at least we encouraged one another and remained positive". I asked Zhan Teng after the campfire if their batch had thought of the reasons together, and he said no. It was comforting to know that 37th had been thinking of the meaning of this activity even without being prompted to. I concluded this reflection-of-meaning-behind-activity thing by first asking 37th what YLTC stands for, which they of course answered correctly. I then went on to explain that YLTC is not just a camp for trainees, but also for instructors, and as instructors, they need to lead by example. Lastly, I told them that I hope that they can remember the reasons why they are doing this, and asked them if they wanted to do their group roll call again. Their answer was a resounding yes, again something good!

Unfortunately, their second roll call was not well done too, probably due to their anxiety. We tried to help them in many ways, such as letting another group start first if we see that one group is struggling and being less strict. Finally, their roll call was done and we told them to fall out. They then left to keep their caps and scarves, while the 4 of us and Sean talked to 38th. We asked 38th what they felt about the "performance", and to sum it up nicely, they thought that what 36th did to 37th was a mirror image of what they have been going through, but 37th were much more positive and they really encouraged one another to push on (something which was very commendable on the part of 37th). 37th came to join us and I ended this by praising 37th's positive attitude in front of 38th. No doubt, there were many errors 37th made which we could have picked on, but I did not wish to tarnish their image in front of 38th, and more importantly, I wanted to allow them to be a good role model and source of inspiration for 38th.

We needed to also remind 37th not to slack off and maintain a certain standard of roll call. To reach these objectives, we decided to talk to 37th in private about the campfire night and YLTC in general. They were first asked to reflect upon and share what they thought they did well and what they didn't, and we then added on. In short, the point is to not let them have the false impression that they did very well, and for them to remember that they still have much room for improvement. We also spent a long time talking about the juniors and YLTC in general, but that's for another day! You can always ask 37th or any of the 4 of us if you are interested.

OK that's all for the campfire night; I hoped that we have chosen the best way to meet the objectives! Of course, if you have any opinions about how the thing could have been done better, feel free to share, so that the juniors can benefit as well! :)

Love,

Xiao Qi

P.S. I'm very tired and ill now so pardon me for any grammatical error and for not making this more exciting/funny (in my defence, this is a serious topic so I should not make facetious remarks).