3C Muhammad Amsyar (16)

 
 

My class visited the Delta Senior School for our service learning. Although it was not the first time I had interacted with autistic children, I felt nervous and excited. I did not know what to expect from this bunch of autistic children. I used to think that they were very different from us. However, despite their curious stares, they seem physically normal children. It somehow motivated me to avoid shying away from them and try to interact and bond with them. I feel that this experience changed how I viewed them previously.

 

I and my friends went on to get ourselves involved in a game of floorball with some of them. It was their first time playing floorball and my friends and I took the initiative to help them out with holding the sticks and guiding them through the fundamentals of the game. Much to my surprise, they absorbed rather quickly and played much better than what I had expected them to. I learned that despite them being autistic, they should not be undervalued. We should at least give them a chance to prove themselves. Their enthusiasm and determination were most prominent, leaving me in great admiration and respect. We all had loads of fun and it was truly an enjoyable experience.

 

I feel that I had put in a rather commendable effort interacting with the children from the Delta Senior School. I see the importance of giving back to society, and myself being drawn in in activities involving people similar as those autistic children. Personally, I have learnt valuable lessons on determination and perseverance. After all, the most priceless lessons are taught outside of the classroom.

 

3C Nigel Tan (21)

When my Form Teacher announced to the class that we would be visiting Delta Senior School for our service learning, I was both nervous and excited at the same time. I have had past interactions with the mentally disabled and I knew that they were not as different or weird as many people think they are. When we reached the school, all the students were glaring at us which made me feel rather uncomfortable. I had decided to play floorball with the students. Some of them picked up the concept of the game very quickly and were playing before you knew it. I decided to stay at the back of the court to give those who did not understand a clearer view of the game. I noticed that there were a huge variety of different types of characters and personalities there. There were the quiet and shy ones and there the enthusiastic and active ones too. I had made good friends with one the students there, he was talkative and very excited though he did not really participate in the game much.  After the game was done, I realised that the sheer fact that I had taken part in this service had me feel like I did something productive that day, that I had taken part for a worthy cause. I also came to find out how lucky I was lucky to be born in such an environment that I am in now, some of these students are already working, and there was even one girl that works as a part time cleaner when she is not in school. I definitely look forward to the next time that I would be going to such a destination as it was really a great privilege and opportunity for me to take part in this trip. After being at Delta Senior School, I really want to continue doing community service as I believe it is a good way of repaying society and also because I know that I enjoy helping others. The experience and knowledge that was gained and the lessons learnt were priceless and definitely this would be a memory that I would always keep near and dear to my heart.

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3C Nigel Tan (21)

3C Eugene Koh (04)

For our service learning Project, we went to APSN Delta Senior School to play sports with the students there. When the class were told about our trip to the Delta School, there were lots of different reaction in the class. At that moment, I felt that it was not a problem for me as i was a volunteer there before a few years back. As soon as school had ended, we brought all the necessary equipments for floorball, soccer and basketball and boarded the bus. 

When we reached the school, as usual i was being teased by my friends, i feel awkward as there were lots of stares coming from all directions at the entrance. I was appointed as one of the in-charge of floorball and had to explain and teach them the rules of the game. I doubt any of them were listening as they were curiously playing with the stick so i decided to guide them while playing. They showed alot of energy and passion for the game and i see a few potential floorball players. We were told to give in to them as it was their first time playing that sports but I feel that we might not beat them even if did not give chance. Me and Nigel make a good friend at that school which i forgot his name already. He was randomly waving to the public and many of them were staring back, feeling embarrassed, i walked away. I made a lot of friends there especially one fella that keep singing his tamil songs to me. The whole day ended with taking of group photos and home-sweet-home. 

The service Learning was definitely life-changing for me. I realized that there are many unfortunate people living out there, they may be born with disabilities but they still live with a optimistic life.We should not be scared of them or looked down on them, they are talented too. In future, I wish to continue contributing back to the society and participate more in these projects. This is because I will be able to help the needy people and at the same time, mature in terms of my thinking and actions in the process. All these valuable lessons and experiences will definitely be rewarding to me and my classmates that helped out.

3C KEE JIA LIANG (9)

There were many thoughts that filled my mind when my FT told us that we were going to visit delta senior school. I kept wondering what the school, students and enviroment is like over there and how i am going to respond to different situations. As it is going to be my first time visiting such a school, a kinda different institution than those i had visited in the past. I was nervous and excited as finally, i am going play basketball with my classmates.

We brought equipments and all prepared to play. When we finally arrived, it appeared totally different from what i had imagined. We all shared a very awkward entrance as there were stares coming from all directions. The students there look very normal, just like us. It felt okay actually after we arrived at the respective sports area. A few of them say hello to us and the way some of us reacted was quite funny. Like a shy.

The games finally begin. I was assigned to basketball although i wanted to try soccer. But when some of our classmates start playing soccer in the muddy and dirty field, i was glad i did not play. The rings and basket of the basketball court were very short, Gerald Goh and I kept trying to dunk. Like two idiots jumping around. When the teacher-in-charge blew the whistle, the game began. They started off quite relax. When we scored the first few points. Things started to get rough and aggresive. They took us to a higher level of gameplay but we did not shoved or push them back. They took the match too seriously. Although the result did not turned out as what WE ALL EXPECTED, we all had lots of fun. i got checked hard and pushed many times but they did not caused me any injuries. Their enthusiasm and never giveup attitude impressed me greatly. I even got reminded that i,myself, sometimes did not even try as hard as they did. Time do fly when we're having fun. Soon the game ended.

We sat down to take photos and debrief. When the debrief was over, we shook hands with the delta boys and pack up to leave. As we were leaving the school, I felt that as if i had just finish a basketball tournament. The time we spent there was great and meaningful. I hope we could visit them again some time.

3C Sufiyan Emran(24)

It was a day after I had removed my hand cast after suffering from a hand fracture about a month ago. Arrangements have been made by our form teachers to visit Delta Senior School, a school for the mentally disabled, for our service learning project. As soon as school had ended, the whole class made our way to the school by bus.

 

The purpose of going to Delta Senior School was to bond with the students and to understand more about them. I did not know what to expect over there as I have never interacted with any mentally disabled person before so I was quite anxious to find out. Upon arrival, we were going to play various sporting games as part of our interacting session. The games included floorball, soccer and basketball. I was a little worried about playing as fractured hand was not completely healed yet. Since it was for a good cause, I decided to play anyway. I chose to play soccer. As soon as match started off, I was surprised as some of the players were skillful! I could see everyone from our side and theirs was having a good time kicking about. It was a good and humbling experience for me as I played against them. At the end of session, we gathered for a group photo. At the end of the day, I was pleased and enjoyed my time at Delta Senior School.

 

This whole experience made me realised although they are mentally disabled, they do not lack in specialties and talent. This is what makes them unique. It taught me to treat everyone equally no irregardless of their appearance or disablities. We should never look down on these people. Throughout my service learning experience, I enjoyed playing soccer with my classmates the most as I have not bonded with them for some time as well. The worst thing that happened to me was falling down   on the muddy field several times. I went home covered in mud! I would definitely stay involved doing community work in the future as not only is it meaningful but I always get a sense of satisfaction for doing something for a good cause.