another interesting day!

today was NUS open house and i did quite a few things today...

1. in the morning, go there and pretend to be a freshie, which included get goodie bag but most importantly to support Raffles Hall's booth. was thinking of going to help out tomorrow but anyway...
2. the main highlight, i performed in the afternoon with a couple of friends from RH Unplugged! We had planned and practiced for this performance over the last couple of months and were now ready to give our best - which we did, it's very well done and i am glad to have had this opportunity!
3. after my performance ended, went for NUS The Other Organisation's AGM in the afternoon, at Bt Timah Campus (and got another goodie bag which included a very interesting book on the Supreme Court and the judicial system of Singapore.) think it was quite exciting and got to know a few new friends from there... :) congratulations to the newly elected exco, look forward to working with u guys...
4. after that went for dinner with my friends, and then to RV for UG camp...

Well the bane of any uniformed group officer nowadays is cadets who give attitude problems and we must now think of new ways to help them. I think they really need to understand the objective of the education system is to prepare them to step out into the world. Not just to equip you with head knowledge but also soft skills, how to deal with people, all these will be required of them in their future careers. Should they simply choose to kick against the goads, they are ultimately at the losing end.

As mentors for the cadets, ultimately we have their well-being at heart but sometimes, we have to come across harshly in order to get them to learn. Actually, a school setting is a very forgiving place towards mistakes (I wouldn't say the same about NUS where we have the CAP system and of course, not about life where a single misstep can cost dearly, depending on the circumstances.) One of my profs once said, he would rather we make a mistake in the course where at most, instead of A we get B, instead of B we get C. Rather than we make a mistake outside, where an engineer making a mistake, causes building to collapse; doctor making a mistake, causes patient to die; lawyer making a mistake, loses the case. Consequences are much more severe than simply getting a lower grade in school.

Something to think about, perhaps my comments may be applicable not just to UG training but also to normal school setting...