Category: CAS

Taekwondo Reflection (2)

by lau94907@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

So Taekwondo was cancelled for the last few weeks due to the coronavirus which is really a shame. But also, I twisted my knee so I wouldn’t have been able to participate anyways. I have to say, it makes me quite sad as we were preparing for the grading and I was ready to get a new belt before I left the school. We had already learnt the pattern and the kick but things just didn’t add up in the end which is quite saddening.

However, I am glad I decided to join in Grade 11 as it was a completely new experience for me even though I see similarities between it and dance with the choreography-like patterns. There is more of a conviction and power that you have to show during Taekwondo compared to the softness of dancing. I really enjoyed it and I think I’ve learnt more discipline as there were a lot of little kids running around and the teachers were shouting a lot of the time which could be scary. To have control over your body to perform certain acts really brings me more confidence as well as giving me the exercise I need. One of the proudest moments was during candle training when we have to ‘blow’ out a candle by just punching at it which is a bizarre thing to describe but it’s an effective way to train our accuracy, speed and power. I didn’t succeed in Grade 11 but I was able to do it this year and I was incredibly proud of myself even though I might have singed of some of my finger hairs.

I think I will definitely continue this sport when I leave off for university because my goal is to become a black belt which I don’t see happening soon but it is in my future agenda.

Smiles of China #4

by lau94907@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

I’m continuing on with my GC this year since I found it pretty fun last year. Even though I’m stepping back from leadership position (last year I was financial officer), I think it is good to still be involved and enjoy seeing the lower grades flourish in a position of power. We are still trying to get our milk tea business started. I think it’s been tough really, it’s stretched out for forever and especially with my last year feeling incredibly short, I don’t think we have much time for anything anymore.

I think even though I didn’t get to go on project week to this GC, I still am holding hope that something is being done there. I don’t get to see any of the results directly which is sometimes frustrating but it is the reality of things.

Kahaani #1

by lau94907@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

I’ve decided to do Kahaani this year since I did not have the chance to do it last year. Let’s say I really want to garner the full UWC experience before leaving. So Kahaani involves Indian dance which I have never done before so this will be a new experience but I think that I can use my previous dance experience as a foundation to build upon. The steps are so far are pretty easy which makes sense since it’s open for everyone. My leaders place a very strong emphasis on rehearsal and being serious which makes sense since our dance is a representative of their abilities to lead but they’re being a little aggressive about it. But that’s only my opinion.

I think it will be exciting even though we are pretty pressed for time, especially with a 3 week break in between.

PsychSoc #1

by lau94907@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

I decided to do Psychology Society this year because the opportunity came up and Psychology is something I want to do in university so it’s a bonus. We mostly talk about well being and think about how to promote it throughout the school.

I think mental well being has been a more prominent issue not just within the school. Depression is on the rise and so is other mental disease. Talking about it will hopefully remove stigma surrounding it and get people to accept these people who are struggling instead of pushing them out into mental wellbeing hospitals. Sometimes I feel like the more we talk about mental illnesses, I myself become more mentally unwell which is in itself is a confirmation bias in action.

The two teachers in charge are the two psychology teachers and we try to do a meditation each session to increase our own mental well being as well. They do this in psychology class as well.

Culturama Reflection (2)

by lau94907@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

So Culturama is over and it’s really quite sad knowing that it is my last one. But I just want to take some time to reflect in regards of course to CAS.

Firstly I had to work collaboratively with my partner to face something neither of us have done before which was a big challenge in itself but I think with the guidelines and the whole load of documents the committee created for us to get organised really gave us a direction in which way we should steer our dance. I honestly a lot of the other dances were super organised whereas we were struggling. But the realisation that this was not the case and that everyone were struggling really reassured me. As I stated in my previous reflections, sometimes me and my partner clashed because of opposing ideas but we’re both really civil. We never ended a conversation in screaming or hair pulling even though there were times where I kept my mouth shut to avoid any conflict which made me quite mad on the inside but when her idea turns out better than anything I could have imagined, I calm down. It’s a learning process and I think I learnt throughout this process that not everything goes your way, sometimes you can change it but most of the time it’s acceptance that comes out.

Secondly, I had to plan and initiate a whole experience for a group of people which carries importance in itself. I was quite stressed because there are other people relying on you especially since I have never done it before and was assured that I did not have the courage to do it either. But having partner who knew how to talk to a group of people was good. I did more background stuff: filling out the forms from the committee, ordering costumes, getting everyone’s measurements and those fun things that is a part of it. There were a LOT of things to do but I’m glad there was, otherwise honestly I would have left things to the very last minute. Also, there were some last minute things that were stressful like returning the costumes to get the money which turned out to be not a huge issue (I got the money back) and collecting money from the dancers since there was an excess. But I sorted it all out in the end through the support of others and trying to organise my time.

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience even though I probably would not do it again. I’m really glad about how it turned out and got chocolate in the end so extra bonus!

Culturama #5

by lau94907@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

So we have dancers! I originally thought no one would audition since we never promoted much of it and Germany is a new country so you never know what to expect. Normally people want to get into more popular countries because they do more modern styles but people did audition and I’m glad for that.

Since we have to choreograph this and neither of us know anything about German dance or choreographing for that matter, we turn to Youtube for inspiration. Most of the steps are taken from existing dances which I am a little guilty about because it could be called out for plagiarising but once the whole thing is put together, hopefully it won’t look like any of the dances on Youtube. Also, I have ideas and my partner has ideas and sometimes they clash. I mean I am a little conflict avoidant so I don’t like saying ‘no’ to people but I don’t like people telling me ‘no’ either. I knew having to work with someone else on something neither of us have done before will be a challenge but we work it out and hopefully our combined efforts won’t be put to shame.

Also, I’m in charge of the costumes. I’m getting it from Taobao because my mom has an account and it’s just generally cheaper to get it from there. There might actually not be enough time to get it shipped here from China but my mom is good at online shopping and I think we’ve sorted it out. Hopefully they turn out to look good on stage.

Culturama #4

by lau94907@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

Culturama is back and this year I’ve decided to lead a dance with my friend instead of just purely dancing in it. Ever I came to this school, I’ve wanted to do it because the opportunity came up and it’s never before. The theme is “unexplored” so essentially the committee is “banning” dances that have been done over and over again. I originally wanted to do Chinese dance because I have been studying it for over ten years recreationally but I still wanted to share that. China however was on the list of over-used dances so I thought maybe Korea or Mongolia because it is technically also encased within Chinese Dance. After conversing with my fellow choreographer, we decided to go with something else, something neither of us have done before.

Made a list and everything and eventually decided to go with Germany because why not. The dresses look cute, the steps are simple so it was a good choice. We had to fill in a lot of documents for costumes and choreography. Mind you this was in Grade 11 so a whole 3 months before auditions. There is also an option with live music since the Music Department wanted to be more involved in these artistic ventures. So we want to consider that but nothing is set in stone.

This is something new I’m trying out since I’ve never done it before and I’m actually quite terrified that it will turn out to be a mess. I’m glad I’m doing it with someone and we will hopefully make quite a good piece out of this.