LIFE IS A JOURNEY

VIETNAM TRIP REFLECTIONS

Our paper and pen planning were put to test and we were delighted to observe it coming alive with the student leaders as the main cast of the performers. The team of teachers had set the level of expectations for the students to reach right from the beginning and we were very glad that the six-day trip had pushed them to reach that elevated status we bench marked for them.

Jeremy, Idham, Yati and I worked very well because we possessed a common shared belief - to project YSS student leaders as good ambassadors with a global mind set and for them to have the initiative, commitment and responsibility in discharging their roles as exemplary role models.

The teachers had a host of multiple roles to support the students in achieving the objectives of the trip - as a director, disciplinarian, philosopher and an emotional surrogate personnel . We played different roles so that the leaders would know exactly what to give us back as their deliverables after each day of the trip.

Safely, we can say that the students had benefited tremendously from the trip. We received sms from them thanking us for giving them the opportunities to have faith in themselves and to uncover their blind spots. Their parents had expressed their gratitude too (thru sms to the teachers) for providing the guidance, encouragement and support shown and rendered to their child.

During the trip we sought for opportunities so that the leaders who were lying low because they had not been given much chance to lead before, to stand tall. We were pleasantly surprised by some leaders who grew and glowed each day. We strived to push and prop the leaders who were under performing to scale more. We saw leaders who motivated their peers when the morale was low. We saw leaders who gave the emotional support when others buckled under pressure.

We noted leaders who acted as a 'big brother' or 'big sister' to one another when they needed an extra pair of hands around them or when homesickness crept in during their solace moments. We witnessed natural born leaders who soared to higher altitude and outshone others. We saw leaders who shouldered through and did not crumble under heavy responsibilities. We observed leaders who came up with their own initiatives and solutions when faced with problems.


We noticed leaders who came up forward to voice their suggestions for the betterment of the trip. We were touched when we saw many selfless leaders who chipped in to help others readily without any nudge of doing so. They were lugging and retrieving heavy baggages for one another during the transfer of the coach and checking in and out of the hotels. We saw leaders who were sensitive to the needs of others. For example we had three leaders whom after we compared the size of their seating space with the bus mechanic took the initiative the next day to give him a gift to show their appreciation of him. What more could you ask from the fourteen and fifteen year old students who were with us? Their actions spoke volume of their character.

Needless to say, we also 'tore apart' leaders with attitude and directed them the way on the correct behaviour. Altitude is determined by your attitude. Haven't they heard of that? We did not want their ego to be bigger than their head. Everyone should be treated equally. Were we harsh and hard on them? True, we counselled them for an hour or so in the hotel lobby and true we gave them extra pages of journals to write but WE beg to differ as after that we could see the transformation in them after the session. After all, we wanted them to bounce back and be resilient when they were in the doldrums after a bad push or a fall and this group of leaders heard and responded to our call. We wanted them to realise that the whole world doesn't owe them anything but they owe the whole world everything. We taught them what humility is all about and stressed that values and principles maketh a man.

We slowly witnessed the loose groups of the different races beginning to bond and gel as one within six days despite them coming from the different student leaders group background - prefects, class chairman, CCA leaders. We kept on insisting the importance of the processes they had to undergo to achieve their final product - be it the blogging, the student's interviews, the reflections and the way they presented themselves in the two schools we visited.

We received positive feedback from our Vietnamese tour guide, Singapore and Vietnamese organisers from Travel Dream who were with us through out the trip and those education officials who sat with us for lunches. They sang praises of our students. If only they knew how we had "grilled" them nightly during the debriefing at the hotel and in the coach. But the team of teachers believed strongly that the line must be towed if it has gone astray and if we wanted them to carry the school flag high.


Were simply too ecstatic to see the morph in the leaders and the pride they made us feel for them. We had reminded them that the journey for them to excel and project as strong leaders did not end once they leave Vietnam soil. Instead it should continue.......

What about us, teachers? Our journey too would not end here. We will keep on trying to make future trips more different than this one and will study the AAR for more improvements.

Just like the Mekong Delta we visited, we are silted with more ideas for future trips ahead knowing the fact that we would have a part to play in nurturing our youths to be better and gracious citizens. Goodbye Vietnam and your people. But just like what the students had noticed and voiced out, you will take the world by storm as your young people are hungry for knowledge and waiting for the right moment to sensationalize and seize the other parts of the region. You will be another dragon of the east to wake up after a long slumber and start snort fire to the rest of the world.

We left Vietnam with tears in our eyes, not because we were sad to leave you, but because deep down in our heart we knew our mission had been accomplished. We teared because of the pride that YSS flag had flown high and mighty, unwavered by the occasional heavy downpour we experienced and the strong gust of wind that blew.

Tham Biet (Goodbye!) Vietnam and till we meet again!

Kam Ern! (Thank You)