Reflections on the year – Class of 2021

“  After the Covid-19 situation resulted in service being cancelled I was annoyed. I felt like we had just started getting into the flow of things and were getting to know the members better as well as starting to develop connections (one of our main goals). I feel like we had been improving our activities and were getting better at organising but the chance to show this was taken away from us. However this does not mean to say that what we did went to waste. I really enjoyed the year of service working with the Hougang Care Center and out of all my local services that I have participated in UWC I think this is by far my favourite. I particularly enjoyed how it combined water activities (which I enjoy doing in my free time and am passionate about) with service. It is always better when you have an interest in what you are doing and enjoy spending time doing it. I think I developed new skills from this service not only working with people with mental disabilities but also planning and adaptability. At the beginning I was apprehensive as to how this service would be as I had previous experience in my old service and I think the rest of the people would agree it was very difficult to form connections and there were times when working with members was difficult. However this was not the case for this service and I found that after a few weeks I could remember the majority of the members names and was beginning to have conversations and get to know them, even if for some members it was more of a one sided conversation, it was showing that you cared and were willing to try and get to know them. “

 

“Something I initially struggled with was getting used to the fact that not all members would participate and would instead prefer to do their own thing or sit on the side. We discussed this with the leaders of the Hougang Care Center who mentioned it was important to encourage participation in activities and we often found that the members would enjoy the activity once they started, occasionally the members did just want to sit and relax, doing their own thing. We were told that some members had tiring days and simply wanted to relax. I acknowledge that service is not about me and so if that’s what suited the member best and that was how they were going to get the most out of our service then we would plan free time. “

“As a result of this service I feel like I developed better organisation and communication as well as adaptability.”

“The thing I liked the most about this year’s service was seeing their smiles every week, when we picked them they would be super excited to see us and the excitement rubbed off on us. Helping them out physically and also socially. 

The thing I found most challenging about this service was communication, as within the group, social skills vary. We had to work hard to stay engaged and find a balance within everyone’s ability. Variation of activities that they all like without repeating some too often.

Some things I learned during this service are that our prejudices of mentally ill people were for the most part incorrect. Generally, there is a stigma around mentally disabled people that they are all not very active or are awkward, but we met a wide range of people who are active and we can have normal conversations with.”

“The new skills and knowledge I gained during this year’s service are how to approach them and engage them. We understood when be more friendly and when to sometimes to try and push them to be more active.”

With regards to Service when I started I thought that it would just be a session added to my daily schedule. I didn’t really have an opinion on it, my main thought was that it was just a service I could do with people I am familiar with.

But now I realise that the session meant a lot to our clients, which helped us find meaning for the sessions too. We realised that this year we have all made a personal connection with at least one of our clients.”

“The thing I am most proud of from this year’s service was staying focussed and engaged during planning sessions and also sessions with our buddies. Also, seeing the smile on their faces and how happy they were when they came to do the activities with us was also great”.

 

“The thing I liked the most about this year’s service was how tight the group of students are. Outside of service, we are friends. These strong connections have made it easy to collaborate and achieve our goals. 

“The thing I found most challenging about this service was working with mentally disabled adults. It was more challenging and in some ways more intimidating for us to handle this type of age group. ” 

“Some things I learned during this service is how to take initiative among peers. It is the first time I have been chair of a local service and more pressure is placed on my shoulders this time. I learned how to keep a group of students organised and working towards our goal in an efficient manner. “

“The new skills and knowledge I gained during this year’s service are communication with both our peers, the service office and the members. The large amount of logistics has forced us to maintain open communication. “

 

“With regards to service responsibilities when I started I thought that the teachers would do the majority of the organisation and management duties. 

“But now I realise how much more initiative is given to us in Grade 11. Service is no longer run by the teachers, but rather by the students. We make the decisions and it is our job to ensure every session runs smoothly.” 

“The thing I am most proud of from this year’s service was the amount of effort we have put in, in order to maintain the strong connection that we already built during the year. For example, we made cards and sent them to the center and we sent out emails in an attempt to set up skype calls with our participants.” 

 

“ I think this service made me realize a lot about myself as a member of the Singaporean society. People with mental disorders or disabilities are rather marginalized within society and there are stereotypes associated with the label of being ‘autistic’ or ‘suffering from Trauma’ that have connotations of being weird and abnormal. Being a progressive-minded teenager, I thought that I didn’t regard these stereotypes, however, before we started the service, I realized my double standard as I began to question myself asking ‘how would we plan activities for people unlike us’ or ‘how should we treat them’. Later, after meeting them, I realized how wrong I was to have these preconceived notions because they are so much more like us than I had imagined. They love to be asked ‘how was your day?’ or ‘what did you do over the weekend’ similar to I do and they loved to be approached with a smile and a wave. Immediately, my perception of them changed, and these ‘labels’ I had associated before are now completely disregarded. I now see them as people who want company, who like to have fun and feel wanted and happy. A new skill I have learned is to not let what ‘society’ tells me to affect my thinking and instead, experience it for myself and form my opinions there onwards. I thoroughly enjoyed simply talking to them and understanding their past, learning about the celebrations they celebrate, their children etc… I am proud of the way I was able to change my mindset so quickly, and adapt to a new approach where we planned activities that (although simplified), we would enjoy in their position like volleyball, relay races etc.. I think this made them rediscover old and precious memories from their childhood that they wouldn’t have been able to relive otherwise. Overall, I am so happy I met these people from the Anglican Care Center and hope others will be able to experience the same growth as I was able to.”  

 

“I think this service made me realise a lot about myself as a member of the Singaporean society. People with mental disorders or disabilities are rather marginalised within society and there are stereotypes associated with the label of being ‘autistic’ or ‘suffering from Trauma’ that have connotations of being weird and abnormal. Being a progressive-minded teenager, I thought that I didn’t regard these stereotypes, however, before we started the service, I realised my double standard as I began to question myself asking ‘how would we plan activities for people unlike us’ or ‘how should we treat them’. Later, after meeting them, I realised how wrong I was to have these preconceived notions because they are so much more like us than I had imagined. They love to be asked ‘how was your day?’ or ‘what did you do over the weekend’ similar to I do and they loved to be approached with a smile and a wave. Immediately, my perception of them changed, and these ‘labels’ I had associated before are now completely disregarded. I now see them as people who want company, who like to have fun and feel wanted and happy. A new skill I have learned is to not let what ‘society’ tells me affect my thinking and instead, experience it for myself and form my opinions there onwards. I thoroughly enjoyed simply talking to them and understanding their past, learning about the celebrations they celebrate, their children etc… I am proud of the way I was able to change my mindset so quickly, and adapt to a new approach where we planned activities that (although simplified), we would enjoy in their position like volleyball, relay races etc.. I think this made them rediscover old and precious memories from their childhood that they wouldn’t have been able to relive otherwise. Overall, I am so happy I met these people from the Angelican Care Center and hope others will be able to experience the same growth as I was able to. 

 

“This year’s service with Swimming with Hougang Care Center was full of unexpected rewards. 

When I joined this service, there was the realization that they were normal, that I somehow, despite supposedly having exposure to them, still have the image of them unable to communicate as a stereotype. This realization made me disappointed with myself but also pushes me to change the image of them in my head by having direct interactions with them.

I was also initially very nervous about working with my peers as I didn’t know them very well and I felt like we are very different people. But being in the service really helps me see them in a different light and make them more approachable.

I also learned how to be flexible with activities. Before, I wanted to have a schedule for every session and activities, even for my own life, because I can get easily anxious with losing track of time and not meeting self-set goals. When running the activities during service, I learned to go with the flow. Sometimes instead of having a 10-minute water aerobics, we chill in the pool. Sometimes instead of playing volleyball, I learn how to keep the ball up in the air from one of the members (it’s a beach ball of course! I don’t like pain)

It’s sad that we have to end the year with online service instead of working with our service partners directly, but on the bright side, we can work on the portfolio (though it can be not interesting ) ”  

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