The generation 4 SFs went through the 2D1N retreat at Aloha Changi Resorts from 6 to 7 August 2011, where every member had to go through the second part of the Basic Student Facilitators Training (BSFT II).

We gathered at Tampines Interchange at 9am in the morning, took bus 19 to Changi Beach Park, and took a short walk to the resort. We checked in at Netheravon Terrace Chalets B and C with Jaslin and Terrence when we met them at the reception area.

We first had an energizer to warm ourselves up, led by our president Jaslin, and we played “Kung-fu Master” together. Then it was all the members’ show now, each of the 10 of them have to conduct an activity each, and then conduct a debrief after his or her activity. The order for the 2D1N games was as follows: Waqas (Tank Commander), Thanh (Dogs and Bone), Kam Wai (Contact), Ken Juin (Clapper Trust), Zihui (Broken Squares), Shu Hui (Origami), Pradeep (Tag the Tail), Mohana (Balloon Chain), Ngan (All Abroad), Yuan Ting (Find the Ball).

“Tank Commander”.

“Contact”.

“Clapper Trust”.

“Tag the tail”.

“Balloon Chain”.

The gen 4 SFs were able to brush up their skills and learn from one another. The “participants” reviewed the conducting SF’s performance, gave feedback and discussed on areas to be improved on. During the camp, Terence gave them a recap on facilitation and debriefing techniques, program design and risk assessment (RAMS) during the training. The gen 4 SFs also brainstormed among themselves the upcoming activities to organize in the future.

The gen 4 SF had their own bonding activities throughout their camp. These include playing ball games during their free time, waking up to cook breakfast together at 7.00am in the morning, play monopoly deal before sleep etc.

After the retreat, the gen 4 SFs have finally passed the BSFT II training. The 2D1N camp was so enjoyable with all the fun games, and the gen 4 SFs got to know one another much better and formed a greater bond together. Hooray!

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PGP residence had a Welcome Fest Amazing Race on 30th July 2011 and we were invited to conduct some energizers for the participants. It was a good opportunity for the gen 4 facilitators to practice what they have learned during the past months, and they certainly did not disappoint us and managed to set the mood for the Amazing Race. Well done, Mohana, Thanh and Pradeep!

Particpants having fun in the "Disease"

Thanh in action

NUS Scholar Development Camp 2011 was an initiative by the Office of Admission to provide NUS scholars with a holistic experience. It was a 3D2N camp held at Kota Rainforest Resort from 12 July to 14 July 2011.Three of our student facilitators, namely Jaslin, Quynh and Zihui, have volunteered to help out in this camp, along with some staffs of OSA.

Kota Rainforest Resort

On 12 July morning, 40 NUS scholars, the 3 student facilitators and some NUS staffs gathered at the sport complex and set off for Kota Rainforest Resort in chartered buses. When they finally arrived at Kota Rainforest Resort, the NUS scholars attended an interesting and engaging presentation on the seven habits of highly effective people conducted by our Terence. Games were played during the presentation to illustrate the seven habits and the student facilitators helped to facilitate them. For examples, “Trapped” was played to illustrate the point of being proactive, where the scholars had to struggle to get untangled from their partner, and, “Draw” was played to illustrate the point of understanding and getting understood, where one scholar had to describe an object to another scholar for it to be drawn out.

Thinking of how to get untangled...

The guy trying to draw the picture on the paper based on the girl's description

Besides the presentation, the scholars also played some wet games and an amazing race. In the midst of the fun and excitement, the scholars did not forget to apply the seven habits presented earlier on to accomplish their objectives, making the experience even more rewarding. The finale for the amazing race, which was the raft building, actually required the three different teams to pool together their resources. The scholars practiced thinking win-win and resolved the predicament in no time.

Blindman Aqua Challenge

Row Row Pond Challenge

Indiana Jones

Whale Watch

Combining resources to build the raft

Testing the raft

During the activities, the student facilitators played an important role in helping the scholars identify areas for improvement in their team dynamic and guided each team towards setting up ground rules.

Jaslin giving a debrief

The camp finally ended after three days and two nights, the scholars sat down for a short final debrief and a slideshow of photos taken during the camp was played. After which, the group headed to Tebrau city for a short R & R before returning to Singapore. During the camp, the scholars learned about the seven habits of highly effective people, had  lots of fun and made many new friends. The student facilitators also managed to earn facilitation experiences and gain new insights from their interactions with the scholars.

Group Photo

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“It was amazing!” That’s the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about the workshop that Facilitators@NUS organizes for us, the 20th batch of NOC students in Silicon Valley.

For me, it’s already the 5th official workshop with Facilitators@NUS, and I was still amazed at the variety of activities that the workshop brought us. I was a bit worried when I requested for the workshop as our first meet-up, because some of my friends said that a workshop might be quite serious and might not be able to break the ice between us. However, what happened is totally different. We fought using foam “noodles”, built human-rail to transport a ball, assembled a gigantic “zoom” pictures… and had so much fun. What I saw during the whole 3 hours was lots of laughter, smile and more laughter. In addition, the workshop helped us to know more about the others, in term of interests, goals and plans and many things else.

I am glad that I had Facilitators@NUS to organize this workshop for us. The first step is always important, and I believe that we took the big first step towards our goal, creating great bonds between members for the next one year in Silicon Valley.

Thanks to Tran Thanh Phu for sharing his experience about the VCC team building activity conducted by Facilitators@NUS.

“The workshop started with only 10 members, which made me really worried and a bit of disappointed. I wondered if that would drag down everybody’s spirit, especially the facilitators’. However, I was wrong. All of them were still so energetic and enjoyed their work. And of course, just right after the first warming-up game, that high passion passed to all of us. We talked, listened to each other, and laughed a lot. I think I must have hurt my own jaw while laughing. And YES, we learned. We learned the way to work together: Communication, Trust, and Solving Conflicts. We learned to find each other’s strong points and weaknesses. We learned to conduct a good discussion and to persuade, to listen to each other. Additionally, we learned to understand and trust each other. At the end of the day, besides all the information, the knowledge we collected about teamwork, and leadership skills which are just “admin” stuffs, I think, I know some more new friends, our facilitators, and again YES, all the team members have been even more bonded to each other. And no matter who is the leader, we know that we will work as a strong team, together. Thank you NUS Facilitators!”

The first project conducted by the Generation (Gen 3) of Facilitators@NUS in AY1011, the NUS Choir Executive Committee Teambuilding workshop was held on 14 August 2010 at CFA. With the help of the seniors, Ariff (OIC) and Hanyang, the Gen 3 student facilitators, namely Jaslin, Jeslin and Vance were off to a good start. Specially designed to suit the needs of NUS Choir EXCO, the programme saw good reviews, especially in helping the team understand the importance of team dynamics and improved communications.

With the notion of teambuilding in mind, the first activity undertaken was the “Sherpa Walk”, in which the participants were standing in a line, with their blindfolds on and guided to walk though a “unfamiliar” terrain. With hands on each other’s shoulders, they had to depend on one another to navigate the terrain. Other activities like “Key Punch” and “Zoom”, the participants had the opportunity to work together as a team to solve problems.

Through activities geared towards improving team dynamics, the facilitators engaged the participants in active discussion throughout the entire programme. As the level of difficulty increased, the participants bravely stepped up to the challenges they were given. Lo and behold! Victory was theirs!

VietnamJUMP is a community service project initiated in 2007 by the Vietnamese Community at National University of Singapore (VNCNUS). Growing over the years, we aim to promote the spirit of volunteerism between Vietnamese students and international friends as well as bringing help and hope to children in Vietnam. On 21 Februrary 2011, 17 students from VietnamJUMP participated in a workshop organized by Facilitators@NUS. Designed as a platform to allow the members to know each other better and to promote teambonding and communications, the 2-hour program includes a series of icebreakers and initiative games such as “Significant Year”, where participants have to pick a coin from a coin punch and tell the group what has happened to him or her in the particular year the coin was minted and “Helium Hoop”, where the team has to work together in a bid to lower the “helium” hoop to the ground. Given the positive responses after the workshop, the programme has succeeded in its objectives.