Student Leaders' Retreat 09

Day 1. 13 May 09

Originally slated to commence on the 14th at The Chevrons, the NUS CFA Student Leaders' Retreat was changed to start on the 13 May instead; due to the H1N1 virus and its implications.

The leaders arrived in style and received nice door gifts, notes and files from our friendly Group Management Staff. What they did not expect, was that they were cunningly separated to ensure for 2 days, the leaders will work and play together with people they were not familiar with.

CFA's deputy director Ju Li kicked off the day with a light-hearted introduction about the organisation and staff; peppered with interactive questions to the floor. The students commented that they now knew more about CFA other than group management staff, and that it really was very beneficial.

Our dynamic speaker and facilitator from High Achievers took over and conducted half a day of very interesting activities and talks. I witnessed some of the leaders religiously taking notes and some nodding in silence; as they attentively soaked up the essence of leadership and other life skills during the presentations.

The teamwork games were part of the day that the leaders obviously enjoyed, judging based on their responses and high energy. The one about passing a silent message through a long line of student leaders was probably the most memorable - the pictures say it all.

There were a number of group discussions, which helped the leaders understand better about the NUS CFA Vision and Mission much better; of course, some had finished earlier and went on to socialise with peers from different groups.

The mouth-watering food was something that nobody had complaints about; everybody had their fill while having a chat over coffee/tea break. Overheard at the breaks and lunch were student exchanges on concert organising experiences and training anecdotes.

The day ended off with Group Management Assistant Director Mona's presentation about organising events and funding from CFA. The student leaders sat straight up and listened intently to this as the information was very important and useful.