After the October break I worked at the first event the Jakarta Street Kids GC held this academic year, called Swimdonesia. This event was sort of last minute as we only participated because another GC pulled out.
The biggest challenge was the cooperation between group members. This event was still quite close to the start of the year so as members of the GC we hadn’t had a chance to work together before. We needed to find ways to capitalise on everyone’s strengths in order to work together most effectively. We were in charge of running the food stalls so that required more than one person in order to do it. In the end we found a rhythm to serving food so could make it into a routine and could speed up our process while working together.
Working the food stalls also required a level of perseverance and commitment. We worked from 3-8pm which was a very long time, so we had to find ways to push through. It was also quite difficult to learn how to properly use the machines. I was in charge of using the cotton candy machine and I had never used a machine like the one the service department provided us. It took a bit of trial and error in order to find the best way to put the sugar in and spin the cotton candy once it was produced. The cotton candy also flew everywhere as it produced and got us covered in sugar, which was frustrating and annoying because we were all sticky, but we had to push through regardless.
After the event, I decided that I wanted to take up a leadership role in the Jakarta Street Kids. As I am involved in a lot of other extracurricular and service activities I didn’t feel like I had the time to fully dedicate myself as chair so I decided instead to run for communications and logistics offer. I have similar roles in other groups I am part of so I thought I could apply similar skills if selected. I was running against other people who were just as qualified and eager as I was so I really had to sell myself in my speech. Luckily I was successful in doing so and was selected for the role.
I definitely will need to show commitment to this GC now that I have a leadership role. Even though I am not chair I still need to lead by example for the younger members of the GC. The GC will also rely on me to ensure that things get done especially in terms of upcoming events so I need to make sure that I always complete the tasks that are my responsibility. While I have always been in GCs I have never held a leadership position so this is a step outside of my comfort zone and will allow me to try new things. Even though this is my first year in the GC I am very passionate about the cause and want to pass that on to other people around the school through my role.
