“Individually we are one drop. But together, we are an ocean.” (Satoro, 2013)

In Ngee Ann Polytechnic, every student was encouraged to participate in the Overseas Immersion Programmes (OIP) or the Overseas Community Service Trips (YEP). I was lucky that I could be involved in both OIP and YEP. 

I went to Wuhan, China for OIP that lasted for 5 weeks. At Wuhan, my group of friends and I stayed in the local polytechnic campus dormitory, as there were 60 over student's, entire block of dormitory was filled with Ngee Ann students. The disadvantage of the dormitory was, it does not have lifts. Students staying at higher level had to climb up several flights of stairs. The intention was to encourage students to climb the stairs which is a form of exercise. Although the intention was good, the students faced a huge problem when we had to move our luggage in and out of the dormitory. 

Even though many of the students did not know one another, everyone was willing to lend out their hand to help. Without any form of communications, the role of every student was clear to everyone. Male students would just grab the bigger luggage and head towards the flight of stairs. The ladies would either approach smaller luggage or work in pairs to carry a bigger luggage. Some students would also help to take care of the luggage that was left behind or grabbed luggage that went sliding down the slope next to the dormitory. The entire process was smooth and all of us had a role. Teamwork had happened without any of us noticing. 

Similar thing happened in my YEP trip in Luang Prabang, Laos. The group of 30 students and lecturer went to visit the local elephant village. The tour consists of visiting the baby elephant that was located uphill. Along the way uphill, there was no ‘road’, it was entirely a nature trail. The time taken to travel uphill usually takes 10 minutes on sunny day. However, on the day of visit, it was raining. The students were already half drenched prior to walking up hill, which took us 30 minutes. 

Screams could be heard as we travel uphill. The trail was muddy due to the rain, and this makes it slippery. A few of the students even fell and landed themselves in the mud. Many of the girls were holding on to one another, trying to keep their balanced. As the rain gets big, no one had mentioned of stopping, everyone kept on going. I also had handed out my umbrella and sweater to the girls that were totally drenched. The walk uphill finally ended with disappointment when we managed to see the one and only baby elephant.

The way downhill was a nightmare. I really hoped that I had a cardboard to slide down the muddy trail. As it may be dangerous for everyone to travel downhill at one go, the students were separated to travel in different batches. The way downhill was really slippery, yet the male students just slide down without difficulty. I slide down accidentally, thus I joined the group to help the others. The male students and I would take the lead and find a ‘non-slippery’ step for the others to land on. After the males students and I had stand firmed on the muddy trail, the females students would take their hand and travel downwards slowly. Our travelling pace also slows down to prevent any form of injuries and accidents. The process repeated several time with the male students leading ahead. When the entire crew managed to reach the bottom of the hill, everyone cheered. Many might not have noticed, but the lecturers that went through the journey with us looked pleased. As one of the senior students in the trip, the lecturer shared with me that they had truly enjoyed the view of the students working together to overcome our challenge. 

OIP and YEP expand my horizon, which allows me to understand the culture and traditions of different countries. Through the trips, I also learnt to be independent and the importance of teamwork. Without teamwork, the challenges I faced in China and Laos would not be easily overcome. Teamwork was a precious takeaway from the events.

“Individually we are one drop. But together, we are an ocean.” (Satoro, 2013)
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Satoro, R. (2011). Ryunosuke Satoro Quotes. Retrieved November 28, 2015, from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ryunosuke_satoro.html