a sixth sense cannot make up for a complete lack of common sense
the resident
-best known as May Ching-
-09/01/1990-
-19 years 1.2 months-
-mugger/slacker/writer-
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 2:11 pm
I think it's just me, but I seem to be dogged with bad luck throughout this sorry affair they call Orientation 1.First of all, the interviews went alright. They were as good as one would expect them to be, meaning that they were, this time at any rate, were (relatively) painless.
Many veteran leaders, as well as newbies, signed up for this camp. Muggers, slackers, top students, the bottom of the academic heap: all submitted their names to be considered for OGLs. And why not? Orientation 1 is the event of the year, the unmissable camp of the 2-year 'A'-Level course. To top it all off, JJC is the undisputed king of orientation camps.
As seasoned leaders, my group of Shadows from Orientation 2 breezed through the interview stage and made it onto the final OGL list. All was rosy, the attachment list was to be posted on the 18th of November. We, Shadows either from the Games Comm or the SCDC Comm, fully expected to be attached according to our experiences so as to best utilize our talents.
How wrong we were.
To our dismay, some of us were posted to - shall we say, undesired - committees. Fresh faces with less camps under their belts were given the choice positions as Games and SCDC attaches. How could this be, we mused - certainly the councillors will have a perfectly logical explanation for this... outrage.
Not all was bleak, though. Some of us whose talents were undoubtedly undeniable were posted to attache positions suiting areas of their specialization. What's more, a detailed analysis of the posting list revealed that most - if not all - of those posted to that unwanted comm were leaders of some distinction. (Translation: they had done at least one or two JJ camps before.)
I was outraged, as was the hapless few Shadows not in their preferred comm. Rather than spend Orientation 1 being utterly miserable, I decided to resolve the matter and get to the heart of it.
After quite a few frank talks with some councillors, some very disturbing things surfaced. The selection process for attaches was itself highly dubious, obvious from examining the names posted to each committee and confirmed upon inquiry. Furthermore, a satisfactory explanation why veteran leaders were displaced in favour of less experienced people has yet to be found.
Shouldn't Orientation 1, the biggest camp of the year, be as smooth as possible, with as few cock-ups as possible? If so, why aren't experienced people who require less training be selected for the key positions?
The only reason I could think why so many experienced leaders were attached to that particular comm was because they had the positive attitude instilled in them already. Less experienced students would surely balk at having to perform such a role. Withdrawals would hit record highs! As experienced leaders, we would just shrug and say, "Ah well, I don't like doing this but what the heck! Just do it for the sake of the school and the J1s!"
WRONG.
We are individuals first before being JJ leaders. Sorry, but it's the truth. Maybe some of us don't want to put the school before ourselves: maybe some of us want to be a little selfish.
Finding the reasons for literal incarceration unacceptable, I protested and was transferred. The new and revised OGL list was posted on the 26th, the first meeting of OGLs. I was not transferred to Games, my niche, which is actually what I wanted. Why would I want to serve where I'm not appreciated or even wanted?
After the angry ranting, moving on to the issue of my bad luck. As a normal OGL, I had grandiose dreams of reclaiming my old post of Family Head from MAD camp, which as far as I was concerned, was the best camp. I was Head of Family 1, a post I loved and I found that I could handle with ease.
Alas, it was not to be.
Instead of the conventional mode which enabled me to seize power, Family 2 practised democracy. I lost the top spot by 1 single vote. The post of Assistant Family Head, mine by democracy, passed on to the third runner simply because the new Family Head is from the same OG as I am, and the heads cannot be from the same OG. Later on, I was appointed OG I/C by default, being the only unattached OGL.
I know I shouldn't be worried about the Time Matrix, but I am. For the Games Comm's sake, for the sake of the entire Kinetic Warfare, I hope they either let me look at it or they use another format which works.
Labels: ogl, orientation 1