niadarcey

[niadarcey]

MY FIRST SCOUT CAMP IN THAILAND.

In August 2023, I participated in an international camp in Songkhla, Thailand. I was one of the representatives from my school to go there along with my friend from a different school in our state. At that time, there were two states involved in representing Malaysia: Kedah and Johor. Before I got information about the camp, my father, who is a scout teacher, told me about the existence of this camp. He encouraged me to join because I had never been to Thailand before. This was my opportunity to gain new experiences there with a new place and new friends.

The awaited day arrived, and we all reached Songkhla, Thailand. They welcomed our arrival with great enthusiasm and joy. The atmosphere was quite different compared to my place. The school environment and their clothing caught our attention at that moment. That evening, we all watched several opening performances before they officially launched the camp. The countries involved were Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

The camp lasted for five days and four nights. They had organized various fun activities for us to try. On the second day, we walked ten kilometers to a nearby school from our camp location. Upon arrival, I saw various challenging games set up for us. Everything was made using bamboo techniques for the games. I tried several games, and one that caught my attention was crossing a rope bridge high up in the trees. After trying out some games, we all rested in the large hall and played some indoor games. We sang and danced together to lighten the mood in the hall.

The next day, they set up several food stalls. There were various dishes from the three different countries, and they taught us how to make those dishes. One dish I can’t forget is tom yum because it has been one of my favorite foods since childhood. Days passed until the last day when we all gathered to wait for the arrival of the VVIP to officiate the closing ceremony of the camp. The performance from Thailand was very touching as they showcased the traditional costumes of ASEAN countries.

The next day, we all packed our belongings to return to Malaysia. After that, we had the opportunity to explore around Hat Yai. We visited the zoo, the beach, and the shopping complex before we headed back. I managed to buy some souvenirs to bring back for my friends, and they were all adorable! I hope to go there again and have the chance to join a camp like this in the future, creating memories that I cherish.

[niadarcey]

CHALLENGES THROUGHOUT BEING A COLLEGE STUDENT.

After my SPM’s life ended, I chose KPTM as my next destination for my diploma’s journey. My parents also hope that my new life as a college student going well and reach my goal in the future. Furthermore, I am the eldest and only daughter of my two younger brothers. I need to show them that I can survive and finish my diploma with flying colors. Once I got there on July 13, I felt excited to study there and meet with many friends from different states. This was also my first experience staying in a hostel far from home. I am able to learn new things as a dormitory resident and how to spend time wisely for my daily routine alone without my parent's guidance.

A few days passed, and I heard unexpected events happen inside and outside our hostel. I am not familiar yet with these new environments and new people's surroundings. Too many incidents and problems at the same time. I was a bit scared that the same things would happen to me in the future. However, I stayed positive and kept myself from doing useless things. I never told my parents about those things that happened to avoid them from worrying about my condition and safety. I just told them what am I doing, have I had eaten or not, and always updated my activities either with my mom or my dad. Sometimes I will make video calls and talk with them whenever I am bored or I have something to share.

A couple of months passed by, and thank goodness I started to get comfortable with my surroundings and explore new things ahead. One of the biggest challenges that I needed to face up until now was the devices that I used in my studies. Since, I was little my parents never taught me to use these kinds of things because they said it could waste my time from studying. Until I finished secondary school, my dad gave me permission to use my mom’s old for me to use it during college until now. It gives me a lot of patience to face all because of the problem the phone had after I used it. Such as, it always restarts itself and black screen for a long time. However, I learned that not everyone can afford gadgets because of family income and so on.

In conclusion, I learned that as a student there are many challenges that need to be faced on my own, especially since I live far away from my parents. I also learned to be more independent and feel difficult like my parents used to.

[niadarcey]

MY UNLUCKY WEEK

When I open my new book for October 2024, I hope the first will be okay and go as planned. But, my expectations were wrong. Conversely, something unexpected happened to me. On October 1, I received too many requests to print out hard copies of MARA documents. Unstoppable messages they sent to ask for my help and fulfill their wishes. I had no choice but to make it for them as many as possible. Initially, I just wanted to focus on my upcoming test for studies and prepare my MARA documents directly for the office.

Unluckily, I was too focused on other documents than mine. I got overworked and stressed out because I needed to help them with those documents during the day. Meanwhile, at night I have to study for the test. I lacked sleep and was stressed out the next day. However, I managed to do the test successfully but of course a bit stressed. On October 3, I got called from the office and they said to take my documents that my dad had sent from Kedah a few days ago. At that moment, I was rushing to go to college for classes until I realized it while going down the stairs.

Suddenly, I skipped almost three steps and tripped from the stairs. My right arm and leg hit the floor at the same time and I lay on the floor. I felt half-conscious at that moment because my head also hit the floor a bit but not as hard as my leg did. Thank goodness, someone helped me get up and collect all my stuff. The funny thing was, that one of my shoes stayed still on the step like Cinderella’s shoe did. I laughed a bit to calm myself down from crying. Moreover, after getting up I felt my right leg very sore and throbbing. But, I pretended like nothing happened so I walked as usual to get on the bus. I knew it was not my day because the bus had already gone to the college before I got into it.

Eventually, I decided to walk by myself alone under the hot sunlight. I could feel my legs crying out in pain but I ignored it and kept walking. Thank God I managed to reach college on my own. The next day October 4, I invited Jan and Nisa to go with me to one of the dessert vendors nearby to release my stress. When we got in front of the vendor before I managed to get into it I tripped again but for now on the tarred road. This time both of my knees and hands hit the road at the same time my phone was in my right hand and the screen broke a bit. Both my hands and knees were hurt and bleeding a little. I tried to hold back tears and pain that made me lose my appetite. I came home with only empty hands and the pain that befell me at that time.

I have been suffering for a week and literally, I can’t do anything properly because of my injured legs. My friends also told me that I had been pushing myself too much until all of these happened quickly. I think maybe this was my first time this semester as a student because I also didn’t have much knowledge before I came here. In conclusion, don’t put yourself into a difficult situation if can’t handle it by yourself at a certain time, and try to manage time wisely, especially as a student.