Remember the TITANS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations Punggol Titans for making it so far. Whatever you can conceive and believe you can achieve! And let this camp, the walk remind you that sometimes we think some things may be impossible but if we believed, if we stretched ourselves and give 101 per cent, we can achieve things that we thought were never possible! And just like the walk all we have to do is take it one step at a time, as one step each moment takes us one step closer to our destination, our goal. And over it all, this experience has reminded us once more that what is important is the struggle not the triumph of who gets first. The ability to have fought well and not just to have conquered. And always remember TITANS…you are who you make yourselves to be. You are the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (MVP)  of your own lives. You have the power. To take charge of your life today, and make the right choices. And choices have consequences. Choose to Win! And when life throws you lemons or obstacles in your path, all you have to do is to……REMEMBER THE TITANS!

Who I am Makes a Difference!

And marking the end of our journey, we were each honoured at a special ceremony marking the beginning of a new life. We have gone on a journey of self-discovery and it is now time to take these lessons home and apply these lessons to improve ourselves. Each of us stood in line as we each took turns to go to our coaches who would shake both our hands firmly and give us words of encouragement and affirmation. And then they would ask us permission to pin the purple ribbon that says ‘Who I am Makes a Differnece’ upon each and one of us. We then took turns to appreciate and give thanks to our coaches who has been with us all the way and walked that extra mile with us. Many of us teared and hugged our coaches as we realised this is truly the beginning of something new, something remarkable, a new life in which the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER in our lives are none other than ourselves!

Focus on your Outcome!

The third day we woke up slightly a bit later and had a good night’s rest. We were instructed to bring benches into the room for a special activity. Then Coach Ridtz said that this activity was to help us for the rest of our lives. He asked us to imagine that if nothing is impossible, what are the things we want to achieve in life? What are our goals? He asked us to imagine and write everything down in exact detail. After that was done, he said that we had to imagine the next 55 minutes to represent the next 55 years of our lives. And if all our goals were to come true at the end of the 55 minutes, all we had to do is to focus on our goals. And we had to do this with our hands outstretched.90 degrees cannot bend. If we bent our arms, we had to sit down and reflect. And so with determination we embarked on this journey. And the coaches came round to motivate and encourage us. Some shouted at us just to get us to focus and realise our dreams. Some planted seeds in our heads and used words that make us think we are bigger and better than we are. Some of us teared, some of us were determined to complete this. And the music helped us even more. But not so much as the presence of each other. And together we achieved holding on to the end. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was just a meaningful experience for us to remember that we should dream big and set big goals for ourselves. And all we needed to do was to FOCUS. What is important is not what happens to us or what people tell or label us at. all that matters is what we tell ourselves! We have learnt from these 3days and 2nights, if we believed in it and we did whatever we could give 100 per cent we could achieve anything we want! So if these difficult activities we can conquer, every step of each day we could also conquer life and achieve our dreams. We just have to FOCUS on our OUTCOME!

The Finish Line.

After the stadium, we were rewarded with some food and ice-cold 100 plus. And after a good rest, we headed on to our final checkpoint, before heading back to school. Halfway, the rain threatened to come down and what a waste cos we were supposed to catch the sunset at PUNGGOL end! So instead our checkpoint was the block behind SPC near our school. There we had dinner and time for reflection. Mr Gopal and gave us a talk to congratulate us for having come so far and to push on a bit more towards the journey home, and to be proud of what we are. Officially we were no longer called ROOKIES. Today, from now on, we are called TITANS!

With that, together as one whole TITANS we ran back to school to be greeted by our teachers who had been on our side througout the 2 day experience! We ran it with gusto and spirit as each of us were congratulated by our own form teachers and were given a Victory Bandana and a STAIUM! Tshirt to celebrate the end of our journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We showed appreciation and gratitude to one another, the coaches and the teachers as we celebrated the night- a night of having stretched ourselves beyond our potential and came back storming into PUNGGOL SECONDARY as WINNERS! Many of us shed tears and gave pats in the back to each other for completing the journey. At the end of the day what is important was not who came in first, but that we struggled and fought together to overcome the obstacles and challenges in our way. 

This is Punggol STADIUM!

At Hougang Stadium, we were given our toughest challenge yet. We were all very tired and exhausted to begin with. Then COACH RIDTZ came up to us and told us that even though we were tired, the true test of our strength would be how we were performing when we were all so exhausted. And he said we needed to put in our 100 per cent, give it all we;ve got and stretch ourselves. We had each other to lean upon, and this was the time to put all our efforts for one last massive activity that would truly test our resolve, determination and strength. 

We had to do this activity as a cohort. First we had to divide ourselves into 2 : 31 for the mental challenge, and the rest for the physical. For the mental challenge, we each were given pictures from a storybook. Without looking at each other’s pieces we had to piece them together in a full sequence. While this is being done, the rest had to run suicide relays on the track. They could not stop till the picture sequence is complete. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At first, most of us just ourselves and after we got our sequence right, did not bother to help others. And then, some of us resorted to looking at each other’s sequence. And our papers got shuffled by the coaches because of that. This was truly a test of strength. Back down in the track, each and everyone was giving a 100 per cent. Doing their best and putting in everything. Even if some were at the point of giving up, they still carried on and persevered. The coaches were doing it with us too. So the people doing the mental challenge realised that and started putting in their best shot to sequence the pictures together. Working together as a team now. No more individuals. And surely we got the pieces together. But upon showing Coach Ridtz, he said there was a mistake. So we did our best to find the mistake and correct it. 2nd submission to Coach Ridtz: and he gave up a THUMBS UP sign! We ran to the field and told the rest if was all over! A true triump for Punggol. Welcome to PUNGGOL STADIUM, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where the best of you has not only triumphed but struggled through the process. And ended up as WINNERS in your OWN RIGHT!

This is the Starting Line.

On the second day, we were poised to run the race of our life. The race actually started the night before at 930pm. We were given our first clue cards and then when we solved it our coaches told us that we had to sleep for at least 6 hours before the next clue card will be given. However, it was our choice what time to wake up. Most of us decided to wake up at 4am to set off for the long journey… 

SETTING OFF…4AM.

We woke up and had a breakfast of biscuits and were then given our clue cards. We were also given maps that would help us navigate our way during the journey. The first station was Punggol Park and we set off in our individual teams as each of us raced towards our checkpoint, doing our best to be the first. When we reached, we had to find the ADAM KHOO “Empowering Lives Designing Destinies” plastic bag. Inside will be the TASK card, which will determine what task we needed to complete at the station before we could move on to the next one. 

At this station, we had to fill up a 1.5l bottle without the use of our hands, other water containers etc. Some of us used our mouth, our bare hands, even our shoes to transport the water!

The next station was Sheng Shiong. At Sheng Shiong we had to go in and find the prices of some items and report it to our coaches. Then we set off again, this time on a long journey to Jalan Kayu. It seems that as the journey progresses, the distance also increased! But we hung on to each other to motivate and encourage one another to put in 100 per cent and go the distance!

And the good news was…this next station was our pit stop! We could rest and eat our real breakfast! Yet we didnt want to rest too much. And headed on to progress to our next station as fast as possible! And the race becomes so unpredictable yet. Some of us found some shortcuts and came from behind to reach the station first! We really needed to find the fastest way to the checkpoints!

And this next leg of the rest was even further! We had to go to ANG MO KIO HUB and find Ronald Macdonalds!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then, we had to go to take photos of 100 smiles beside us or do the BINGO! game. It was very fun as we had to find and talk to members of the public and involve them in our activity. And we had to do this while running against time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then we set off for HOUGANG STADIUM! The ultimate test of ourselves becokned over there!