LO1 – Identifying your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth
LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in you CAS experiences
Season 2 has started, which meant that I have an additional of 2 badminton sessions in a week, Tuesday and Thursday. Although initially, we had them at 18:00 – 19:30. However, due to a large number of students (~35) coming to pre-season training, the coach decided to hold morning training sessions for potential members for A team badminton in order to not only reduce the pressure on the space there was but also to provide more rigorous training to make sure that we are up to shape by Season 3.
I think that somehow, maybe because there are fewer people, I got a lot close to my potential teammates. Together, we lament about how early it is in the morning as well as exchange some skills (like Alysha is very good at saving smashes) and motivations.
A picture of the Grade 11s in the morning training. (Fr left to right: Maxine, Sara, Me, Alysha)
Sadly, I didn’t manage to follow up with my plans from my first post because I was exhausted with not only my activities like piano exams but also the incoming waves of IB like IAs, project week etc. Nevertheless, I somehow manage to get back to shape again, which may be thanks to the fact that I really always try to push myself each session.
Though I still need to improve my stamina, as proved when I lost against a player due to being tired out from a match before hers. That’s why I will be trying to fit some exercises into my schedule this “winter” break, especially since training is basically halted during holidays.
There is a tournament in the weekend before school starts, hosted by the coaching company our school employs, Alpha Academy, as well as our rival and friend, UWCSEA Dover campus. This will definitely be an exciting opportunity to see where I am against others and have a gauge of how much I need to improve on before the main season.
LO1 – Identifying your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth
LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in you CAS experiences
Recording for reflection
Notes for convenience
Season 1 – signed up for Sunday competitive training with East Badminton Club
Background with badminton
– Started in Grade 6, start formally training in Grade 7
– In SEASAC A team as singles last year
Took a break from badminton for 1 month
– Drastically impacted performance
– Season 1 only started 4 weeks into school, which means 4 weeks of no training since I train with the school club
– Yet to adjust to balancing IB life and others, thus lack exercising
After training
– Tired and demotivated
– A 5 minutes video of my 11 point match with Coach Alvin
– Typical game length 10 minutes,
– Laughing at ambitiousgoals from end of IGCSE (and actually start of IB?!)
So what is my plan?
– Gradually increasing training days
– Fitness
– Planks (normal and side-on) – currently 45 seconds, increase 5 seconds every week
– Calf lift 50 times each leg, every other day
– Tricep dips 30 times, to increase elevation
In August, we started discussing CAS and thinking about what we want to do.
Since the beginning, I had an idea of what I wanted to do as all the activities that I have been doing for the past few years can be completed as CAS. While that said, I also want to push myself out of my comfort zone as a way of cherishing my last two years in high school and making the full use of it.
Below are the screenshots of Stage 1 of CAS, where we investigate and think about what we want to do.
Creative – Memory Project
Why do I want to join:
The moment I heard about this activity in the assembly, it really touched my heart. The thought of being able to draw for a good cause really made me want to join the activity, especially since drawing is one of my hobbies. I haven’t drawn many portraits (the only one that I can think of being drawn 3 years ago when I was in Grade 8) so it will definitely be a great opportunity to brush up my skills for drawing. L01, L02, L06
Any goals:
To improve my drawing of the nose and ears
How will I achieve it:
Fully participate and make full use of the time during sessions!
Creative – Piano
Why do I want to join:
I find piano hard, even after playing piano since young. There is just always some inconsistency in my playing which changes the whole song, like a note played too harsh or an accidental clash note made. And it can really be demotivating when that happens. However, I still want to improve and learn new songs that aligns with my hobbies even after having my Grade 8 classical piano exam during November. L01, L04
Any goals:
To pass my Grade 8 practical piano exam… I tend to mess up a lot when I play in front of others.
Also, I want to clean my pedalling, it’s too murky…
How will I achieve it:
Practice every day! Even if it is just a run-through of the songs…
Service – 0WES:
Why do I want to join:
Well, I have been in the service for 2 years now, since Grade 9, and I really want to continue it. After all, it’s not really me if I don’t fully commit to something. I think that change should happen within the campus first before we can really expand out of it (like the hawker). If I can make a change by help decreasing the wastage produced during events, that will be sastifying enough. L03, L04, L05, L07
Any goals:
I’m aiming to be the chairman of the service because I want to push myself out of my comfort zone to improve my interpersonal skills. I also want to tackle something I noticed during the end of Grade 10, which is that the portfolio hasn’t really been updated and is not “professional” enough.
During my summer internship at Dentsu, I managed to read about the creative materials regarding posters, hero stories (90-sec vid with narration) and micro-stories (no narration and fast cut style). I believe that we should focus on promoting 0WES to not only those who use the crockeries but also to students to persuade them to join
I hope that it would look professional and clear. Perhaps there could be a team on this, where every 2 sessions they could update us on the progress
A document with notes I took about branding and some guidelines
I have also noticed that the 0WES portfolio doesn’t have a lot of reflection content and has not updated since December, thus neglecting some of 0WES biggest events like the Pasir Ris Fair and the Family Festival. What I would like to do for next year is to have discussions on we can consistently keep the portfolio updated as well as implement a dedicated team
How will I achieve it:
I would like to focus more on the image and portfolio of 0WES. So to do that, I would like to organise 3 team of students, one to create the video, one to update the portfolio consistently as well as make it user-friendly and the other to manage the crockery count after each event. (All hypothetically, if I became the chairman)
Service – Swimming with Hougang Care Center
Why do I want to join:
A couple of reasons why I decided to join this local service. First one would be that I want to push myself once again outside my comfort zone after “stabilising” myself with the activities I have been doing over the past years (badminton, piano, 0WES). The second reason is that I think that this is really a good opportunity to develop an understanding of this part of the community and once again open up my vision of the world. The third reason is that I want to expand my career options as much as possible and after a small talk with one of the service teachers (Nisha) on some universities’ requirement, I decided to take local service as some of them required them. The fourth is that I want to continue improving my teaching skills, especially since I was participating in Chinese Chat during Grade 9 and 10.
Any goals:
To be honest, I’m not much of a swimmer, and it’s kind of my first time interacting with people who have mental health issues, so my goal for this year is to be tenacious and interact positively with them.
How will I achieve it:
Remember that you are part of a movement and part of a change. Stepping out of the comfort zone is the first step to do so.
Activity – Badminton:
Why do I want to join:
They say badminton is an individual sport. In a sense, it is, however because you are on the court alone, facing all this pressure knowing that every move counts, that we need a team. You need grit to push yourself to continue to try even when you are tired and when you are behind the opponent. L01, L04, L05
Any goals:
To become the second singles of the team and have the team stay in SEASAC division 1
To improve my lobs so that I can lob from backhand to backhand.
To maintain the same culture as last year, which is a team that supports each other by cheering for each other during matches and gets along well
How will I achieve it:
To run every day if possible!
5km at speed of 10+km/hr in the gym or…
15 rounds of running at a constant pace around the pool (~6.5km)
Participate in the weekly family running activity (within my household) at Bedok Reservoir every Saturday morning (~4.3km)
After a run, at least do 3 sets of: 40 tricep weight lifting, 25 rowing, 20 sets of lifting above shoulder
I don’t really know how to maintain the culture but I will make sure to interact with each member of the team positively and cheer on every single match.
I have also created a spreadsheet to help me keep track of CAS
These past two years of IGCSE has been the best 2 years of my life so far, with many learnings, friends and memories made.
As we look ahead to our upcoming two years in IB, it would be great to have some sort of ideas as well as goals to guide our way through the rigorous course. (rigorous because that’s the collective thoughts I have heard from my seniors)
Academic Goals:
Like any student, to do well and score as high as possible in my academics! Though I have not really decided what I want to study…
I really hope that I will be able to get along with my new classmates as I almost share none of my classes with my friends! I see a few people that I have the chance to get along (more like stick/cling to them! (n >.< n))
Service Goals – (0WES):
I am aiming to be the chairman of the service because I want to really start focusing on 0WES image.
During my summer internship at Dentsu, I managed to read about the creative materials regarding posters, hero stories (90-sec vid with narration) and micro-stories (no narration and fast cut style). I believe that we should focus on promoting 0WES to not only those who use the crockeries but also to students to persuade them to join
I hope that it would look professional and clear. Perhaps there could be a team on this, where every 2 sessions they could update us on the progress
A document with notes I took about branding and some guidelines
I have also noticed that the 0WES portfolio doesn’t have a lot of reflection content and has not updated since December, thus neglecting some of 0WES biggest events like the Pasir Ris Fair and the Family Festival. What I would like to do for next year is to have discussions on we can consistently keep the portfolio updated as well as implement a dedicated team
Activity Goals – (Badminton):
To improve my lobs so that I can lob from backhand to backhand by training my arms
I also plan to run every day (see Fitness goals) to build-up stamina and speed.
To play first singles! That means I have to work much harder than Vamakshi and potential single players!
To maintain the same culture as last year, which is a team that supports each other by cheering for each other during matches and gets along well
Activity Goals – (Fitness):
To run every day if possible!
5km at speed of 10+km/hr in the gym or…
15 rounds of running at a constant pace around the pool (~6.5km)
Participate in the weekly family running activity (within my household) at Bedok Reservoir every Saturday morning (~4.3km)
After a run, at least do 3 sets of: 40 tricep weight lifting, 25 rowing, 20 sets of lifting above shoulder
Activity Goals – (Drawing/Craft):
To have a mini art project completed every 2 months
Hopefully, create something useful as maybe a birthday gift
Activity Goals – (Piano):
To score/pass my piano exam in November!
Also to start learning some Disney songs like “Colours of the Wind” and some anime songs like perhaps “This Game” in No Game No Life 🙂
It has been quite a time gap between January and my recent posts regarding the internship.
[Sigh] Well, it really couldn’t be helped since it was pretty busy for me, Tee Hee!
Still, let’s just kind of summarize my 5 months of inactiveness, shall we?
February
This month is when things start to pick up its pace, as awareness of exam
March
This month is definitely one of the highlights of the year as the badminton season came for us.
There has definitely been some ups and downs. With one of the major drama being the team’s lineup for SEASAC. Since the beginning of the season, there were two possible lineups established for us:
Position
Potential lineup 1
Potential lineup 2
Singles 1
Yukta
Yukta
S2
Xuan Ru
Xuan Ru
S3
Vamakshi
Kylie
Doubles 1
Kylie & Sara
Vamakshi & Sara
D2
Khantey & Eileen
Khantey & Eileen
Reserve
Judy
Judy
Kylie had always been playing and training as a singles player ever since she’s been in the team. With her in third singles, it’s a sure winning point for us. Plus, as she is graduating this year, it would be best if we respect her wishes to give her a great final year.
Vamakshi without a doubt is a singles player, something I can definitely attest to since I have played doubles with her before. Training her to be a doubles play will be difficult, especially since all the players in the team are right-handed, which means that it is harder for her potential partners to get used to a left-hander in a short time span.
Fortunately, as we are the host for 2019’s SEASAC Badminton, we still had time to change our line up, so we decided to drag it out as long as possible.
However, during our Bangkok, we found out that Khantey and Sara worked really well together. Khantey was a strong front player, tapping all the front shots down and “killing” them. Sara, on the other hand, was a strong back player, constantly retrieving the shots with her strong forehand lobs.
And that puts us in another predicament. We want to change our first doubles.
So it came down to another 2 potential lineups for us.
Position
Potential lineup 3
Potential lineup 4
Singles 1
Yukta
Yukta
S2
Xuan Ru
Xuan Ru
S3
Vamakshi
Kylie
Doubles 1
Khantey & Sara
Khantey & Sara
D2
Kylie & Eileen
Vamakshi & Eileen
Reserve
Judy
Judy
However, as we were discussing between ourselves (teammates), our coach began to feel like we were drifting apart and that we were hiding something between us.
So on Monday before SEASAC, we as a team had an emotional and final talk about the lineup and trust, ending with some of our members feeling worried and guilty about the fact that our coach had cried.
It was hard coming to terms with it as a team. I remember talking with Khantey about it. It went something along the lines of this:
K – I feel so guilty.
X – Why? Coach made her choice on what she thought best. Why should you be guilty? I’m not. We have to accept it.
K – You aren’t the one who’s involved in the change, of course, you aren’t guilty.
Thankfully, the tense atmosphere within the team wore off, with this as our final lineup.
Position
Potential lineup 4
Singles 1
Yukta
S2
Xuan Ru
S3
Kylie
Doubles 1
Khantey & Sara
D2
Vamakshi & Eileen
Reserve
Judy
The day came
I am really proud of my team this year, as we truly bond together throughout the season. The amount of encouragement and support we had for each other really pushed our team far!
Our growth as a team was truly amazing.
A photo of us celebrating as our first doubles, Khantey and Sara, secure a position for us in the finals. Truly one of the best moments of the season as we won our counterpart, Dover. That’s Yukta jump hugging Khantey, who’s holding the racket, with Kai En running towards them. On the right, there’s Coach Wei Yin fist pumping.
What came in soon was the Grade 12s’ graduation Grand Walk.
This year, I had many dear friends in the Grand Walk, all from the badminton team and the 0WES committee. I made them each a card (which I really didn’t have time to take a picture of) with feelings that I attempt to convey.
There was this indescribable feeling when I watch the Grade 12s’ go… Two more years and that will be me there…
April and May were studying months.
Study, study, study.
I dropped badminton and piano to catch up on my studies which I have been neglecting during March for badminton… (Not an honour student…)
I did lots of past papers for each subject and I have to say, my efforts paid off as I am feeling very confident with no regrets during my tests.
Now we have to wait till 13 August for the results.
We also prepared farewell gifts for my two best friends Adam and Haruki, who are moving back to England and Japan respectively. We both 2 footballs for Haruki, one signed with all of our friends’ signature and one to actually play with, while we got a Warhammer figurine for Adam, which Iman and I painted.
Izzy organised the dinner at PS cafe Martin Rd on 14 June for the farewell dinner.
It’s funny how time just flies. Sooner or later, I will be graduating, living a life that I might not be able to predict.
I had a great time these 2 years, in fact, they are currently the best 2 years of my life.
I hope that even if we (friends) drift apart, we will reconnect again and still be friends.
Joking! I ain’t gonna write a one-liner answer for you, Ms Levy (unless I want to face your wrath that I have yet to see)
It was shocking to find that an average teenager only had 39.4 minutes of physical activity every day. When I’ve found that out, my gut reaction was that I definitely did more than that, but the more I think about it, I might be actually below that.
For the sake of convenience, I’ll just show you my physical activities in a table.
Days
Morning Workout
Biking
PE
Badminton
Total
Monday
10 -15 minutes
10-20 minutes
20-30 minutes
Tuesday
10 -15 minutes
10-20 minutes
20-30 minutes
Wednesday
10 -15 minutes
20-40 minutes
40 minutes
2 hours
3 hours 10 minutes
Thursday
10 -15 minutes
10-20 minutes
40 minutes
1 hour
Friday
10 -15 minutes
10-20 minutes
20-30 minutes
Saturday
Sunday
10-20 minutes
3 hours
3 hours 10 minutes
During the weekdays, I work out to maintain my personal ‘fitness’ and to feel fresh for school. The only reason why I don’t do this in the weekends is that I want to sleep in…….Tee Hee!
As my house is close by, I could technically walk to school. But since I have to occasionally bring in my rackets for badminton, biking is a much convenient choice, especially since I have a trunk to put in.
I included PE sessions because I think that it still counts. Isn’t the whole purpose of PE sessions just to allocate a mandatory time for physical activities? I know you might be asking: Why did you write it down as 40 minutes instead of 80? –Trust me, besides shower time, people come in late all the time.
Badminton should be self-explanatory. I am someone who is passionate about badminton and honestly (and pathetically), the only reason why I exercise is just to improve my play in badminton.
I know that it is a little inconsistent, to have my time for exercise be spreaded all over the place, but I have to say, I am pretty impressed and satisfied with my allocation.
With a busy life as a student with commitments, being able to exercise for at least 30 minutes is considered an achievement
Sometimes, I just keep thinking “Why am I so average?”
Am I average? Am I?
What is it that makes me special and unique?
So I present to you readers: My Rant to Make Me Feel Better (Requested by Ms. Levy)
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Something I am proud of is to be a badminton player. Though I don’t really have the confidence to talk about this (since I consider myself bad compared to others), I am actually the best girl badminton player in my whole grade. I managed to get into the SEASAC team at Grade 8 and can beat the 2nd single of the team. I love badminton due to the adrenaline rush when you are hitting the shuttle over and that the point can be given in a matter of seconds. I also love how the point system is the first to reach 21 as even when you are behind, as long as you are resilient, you may just catch up.
Currently, I am taking a break from badminton to build up my arm and body stamina and strength to improve. I don’t think I am really enjoying it now since my performance has been falling… Or maybe it’s the other way around? I don’t know, but I’ll find out when I start playing again.
The Girls SEASAC Badminton Team of 2017!
If you have not guessed it yet, I am a huge fan of drawing. Drawing has been my favourite way of expressing my thoughts as I find it easier to control the pencil than a brush. But that doesn’t mean I dislike painting. Painting in watercolours is ranked second to sketching. Because I have trouble expressing through words, I find it hard to tell a story that has been stuck in my head. Especially the fight scenes. So drawing helps with it.
I don’t really like to be seen as if I am arrogant(?), but I like to show my drawings to others. I feel a burst of pride whenever someone compliments my drawings though I try to be humble and not really react to it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t take critics. In fact, feel free to load up a dozen of them and shoot them at me! I’ll consider it.
One of my OCs (Original Characters) design
Some people find drawing as a 5-minute thing, but for me, it’s not. Instead, I would be sitting at the desk, drawing non-stop (except for bathroom and snack breaks) until I finish it. And that is partly the reason why I would sometimes stay up until 12 am.
So you might be wondering: if I love art so much, why aren’t I doing fine art? In fact, I do get these types of questions a lot. Here’s my answer:
“Well, they did say to choose subjects you want to try and enjoy in IGCSE. So I chose DT: RM. I love art, but I want to try RM. Art to me is a subject that I excel in. If IGCSE is all about grades, I won’t hesitate to go for art. But it’s not. And if I get to choose another subject in the art category, I’ll probably go for Food tech or Graphic Designs so I can learn some skills and software.”
Though I don’t normally say it, I love anime and manga. If you don’t know the definition of anime and manga, here it is:
anime |ˈanɪmeɪ, ˈanɪmə| noun [mass noun] a style of Japanese film and television animation, typically aimed at adults as well as children.
manga |ˈmaŋɡə| noun [mass noun] a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels, typically aimed at adults as well as children.
That is where I take reference of the characters’ movements or how they draw the background. In fact, I alway screenshot some scenes or movements that are interesting or that I want to try and draw. I find this method of reading manga while screenshotting a really great way to learn the movements while enjoying the storyline!
Note how the girl is holding her daggers across her arms and how the boy behind her is shielding his face.
But most of the times, I just read it for the awesome storylines. Some recommendations are
The Promised Neverland (A really out of the box one)
Assassination Classroom (I just love this anime!)
Blue Spring Ride (Quite a realistic take on romance).
