echo Article by Mr. Kenneth Khoo
Edited and Published by ECHO
The Sunway Student Services Department organized its annual Student Leadership Retreat camp on the 27th-28th May 2016. This 2-day, 1-night camp aimed to gather all of the Student Leadership Bodies’(SLB) representatives to network and build comradery among each other as most of the representatives were newly elected into the position. Furthermore, the SLB representatives also took this opportunity to take a break from their usual, hectic study life as Outbac Broga provided a relaxing getaway for the students. The SSD representatives which includes Mr Ken, Mr Kenneth, Mr Rafiq, Mr Alvin, Mr Jeremy and Ms Jun were also tagging along as their retreat facilitators and of course joining in the fun through the retreat activities provided by the camp organizers.
The team checked into the location around 1:30pm to settle their luggage and have lunch provided by the camp organizers. After lunch, the student leaders were split into groups of 3 in order to participate the Team Building session conducted by the camp moderators. The teambuilding session which includes 6 mini games such as the Wild Uzi (A balancing activity where team members need to support each other weight on a metal wire), Human Centipede (Team members need to form a human chain and swim across the river together), Wall Climbing (Team members need to cross a wall via climbing), Mouse Trap (Team members need to solve a puzzle through a mouse trap), Obstacle Course (Teams need to finish a number of obstacle courses) and lastly Free Fall (Teams need to catch their members dropping from the sky!). Lastly, the teams would need to build a DIY-raft and they will raced it off among each other through the river and back into the starting point, which tested both teamwork and competitiveness among the student leaders. The team building activities not only educated our student leaders to build onto their team chemistry and bond new friendships, but each activity brings a significant survival skill which would prove useful during unexpected, dangerous disaster events. Talk about having such great team building activities!
After the team building session, the student leaders were given a short free and easy session before dinner. I myself with Mr Ken, Mr Rafiq, Mr Jeremy and some of our student leaders had a casual basketball session which brings out the enjoyment and athletic side from ourselves. Although it was a really short session, we all have lots of fun and laughing while shooting some hoops down as basketball is considered a physical contact sport to others. After dinner, we headed back into the indoor hall and continued our sessions hosted by the SSD team. The first session which was conducted by Ms Jun (Some students were thinking she was one of the student leaders thou haha!) was a personality test called DISC. The test was carried out to determine each and everyone’s dominant and inferior personality trait where one can either be a Dominant, Influential, Steadiness and Conscientious type which initials makes up for the DISC meaning. Next, Mr Alvin conducted a Mindfulness session which helped the student leaders to discover their personal agenda in order to help communicate and bond well when working with other members through collaborations. After those session, the student leaders and facilitators were given another Free & Easy Session throughout the night where they were treated with late-night snacks, card games and some guitar-singing session by our very own Mr Alvin! 😉
On the second day of the retreat, we were anticipating our hiking trip up to the top peak of Broga Hill. However, lady luck wasn’t on our side as the trip was cancelled due to non-stop rain and it might endanger our student leaders during the hike. Fortunately, the rain stopped after several hours and we were still able to participate both the Flying Fox and Rock Climbing activities which were a great exposure to our student leaders, I, for myself is acrophobic (Which is a term to use onsomeone who is a afraid of heights) and trying out the Flying Fox was incredibly satisfying and awesome, despite having both my hands and feet shaking during the peak of the tower. After completing both of the extreme sports, the students were given a recap session by the Head of Student Development/Sports, Mr Ken on Leadership. He mentioned that it’s crucial to have both fun and seriousness when being a leader.
Besides that, he emphasize that leadership is always about leading and learning especially at a young age where our student leaders have the great opportunity and platform to learn within our campus. Lastly, he noted that second chances are given to all student leaders as everyone makes mistake in the beginning and are always in the learning process in order to be the ideal leader and is ready for the “Real” world. Once the recap session ended, everyone grouped in for a photoshoot and bid farewell to Outbac Broga before heading back home to Sunway University. Overall, this annual student leadership retreat was really rewarding and it’s great for both SSD team and the student leaders to enjoy and building friendships among one another, bringing back great memories from the trip and having a refreshing time before stepping into the big shoes as the campus’s student leaders.
