JC1 Service Learning (SL) Day 2012

On 8th August 2012, the JC1 cohort participated in a Service Learning project organised by the 3rd Saints Advocates, H2O Hope to Earth. Travelling in their classes, the students arrived at HDB estates in Hougang, Punggol and Potong Pasir to share messages of water conservation, and collect old newspapers and clothes for recycling and donation. Back in the school hall, greeted with a T-shirt montage of the Hope to Earth logo, they concluded the event with an explosion of Saintly chorus, singing National Day songs, and remembering our family, in this nation, in this community, in this school, and in each of our hearts.

Being part of the Service Learning Day task force has certainly been a unique experience for me! Not only was it my first time planning a college wide Community Involvement Project (CIP) project, it was also the school’s first time organising a college wide CIP for an entire cohort of students to go out and do CIP on the same day.

I could feel the pressure that was on my entire task force to plan every single aspect of the event well. I remember sitting down for many discussions with the entire task force and working with the many ideas that we have come up with. However we discovered that coming up with ideas was one thing, carrying out our ideas and making it work was another. Given our busy schedules, we failed to meet some deadlines and in the end could not carry out everything as we had planned. Despite being slightly disappointed, our taskforce was very united in carrying out our assigned tasks and strived to do it well. From the experience, I learnt not to focus too much on the things that we cannot do, but rather divert our attention to the things that we find possible to achieve and do them to the best of our ability.

Service Learning Day for the JC1s was not just an ordinary CIP project. Being on the National Day eve, it reminds us of what we as youths can do to contribute to our society, to do our part in building up the community. It is heart-warming to hear that my peers enjoyed the time spent spreading water conservation messages to HDB residents as well as collecting newspapers and old T-shirts with their classmates. The ultimate success indicator of this project was not the amount of T-shirts and newspapers that everyone has collected (though it certainly was an overwhelming amount) but the joy of going to reach out to the community as well as the learning process of my peers in this Service Learning Project, what they have gained from carrying out this project. Having come a long way to engage our fellow schoolmates in advocacy work, we could really feel the support from the student body for this project through the enthusiasm they showed on the day, and also by the numerous photos and reflections shared on our ‘Saints with a Heart’ Facebook page for community service.

The recce before the event to distribute pamphlets was also extremely fun and tiring! Initially it seemed like a lonely task as only a few people from each class had to go, but we tried to be optimistic about it and found it to be an enjoyable new experience and great bonding time. It reminded me that regardless of what we do, it is our mindset that determines the outcome: what we can learn from the activity that we undertake and whether we will gain anything from the things that we do.

Apart from this I am also very grateful to the Advocates that have helped in one way or another to make this SL day possible. Regardless how big or small each contribution is, every amount of help from the teachers, the Advocates, and the student body all worked to make this SL day a great memory, and I hope that this SL day project has enabled each and every one of us to grow as a person.

-Shu Li, 3rd Saints Advocate

A full display of the Saints spirit: community builder, servant leader!

For more photos and reflections, you may visit our Saints with a Heart facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/saintswithaheart