Thursday, January 3, 2008 @ Thursday, January 03, 2008
Zenith
Firstly, for those who haven't seen this....HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yeah...it's my shout-out to all of u!

Zenith- the highest point of something...preferably life? Yeah...that was my perception of the word when i first heard of it! This also happens to be the theme for Orientation 2008, for all those new JC 1 students who await eagerly, with both anticipation and excitement, on what awaits them... it's none other than TJ Orientation-Zenith!

DAY 1
Woke up at 5:30 in the morning...feeling all cold and sleepy... After 2 months of waking up at 9-10, today was the start of another year(of waking up early..in this case). The sleepiness shook off as soon as I realized what's on today. Why, of course today is Orientation!!! I jumped off the bed and raced through everything, to hurry to school.

6:45- After 20 min of waiting for the stupid bus, I finally reached school. Gosh, the dark clouds have only just begun to scatter on the arrival of the almighty sun, and the audi was already filled with orange and pink. Of course that refers to the Orientation Group Leaders (Ogls) and Student Councils(SC) respectively, and boy, it was certainly a scene of chaos and uncertainty. Being one of the Ogls, I was assigned to Og 4, Slithas. Along with Zephron, Panthara and Erypon, the various names represented the snake, wolf, lion and scorpion.

Gosh, the Orientation kicked off with the onset of all the JC-1 students with their colourful arrays of uniform, trotting into the audi, with lost looks and darting eyes. Even with the guidance of the SC and Ogls, it was apparent that the students were lost in their transitions into post-uni. The Ogls all did their part with the registration and cheering, and it was until the Og bonding session that the wall of insecurity begins to break down. Lunch was eaten at the stage opposite school, and amidst the light drizzle, everyone got to know each other better. The excitement level was raised with Mass Dance practices(S Club 7), and throughout the days, it was interspersed with cheers of various kinds-from the hilarious Food cheer to the loud and awesome Unnamed cheer. By the end of the day, everyone was like ultra-tired...but i bet they were starting to enjoy the Orientation- tired or not...

DAY 2
God, i nearly overslept today. [Cold weather + sore muscles= good sleep] Must have been the fatigue from dancing like a madman and cheering like a lunatic...makes me feel a bit like an idiot. Anyway, managed to get to school at the same time as yesterday, albeit a bit earlier...as there were fewer people in the Audi (everyone must have overslept too). Still, everyone managed to reach school by 7:30am and soon, the Audi was filled with those booming cheers that threathened to "bring down the house"! They announced today that Slithas is LEADING! YEAH! I'm so HAPPY for all the Ogms, as they seemed extra hyped-up after that announcement.

The day kicked off with "Zumanji-The Runaway", a kind of amazing race. I took charge of Og 4B, and we traveled all over Bedok South in search of stations and points. Man, despite it being so near to school, it took us the entire 4 hours plus to complete the 8 stations. Nevertheless, some of the Ogms began to stand out from the rest and everyone was STARTING to enjoy the action-packed schedule that awaits all of them.

Also, there was the OG skit rehearsal. Hmm, actually the Ogls only got to know what our fellow Ogms were doing at the very last minute, but I think they were doing some sort of singing. Of course, there was also the intermittent cheering, which really puts a strain on my aching throat. Haiz, I so love ORIENTATION...but how I wish that my throat won't act up on me on the final day (Sat.). I really want Slithas to go all out to win! Slithas Baik!

Day 3
Reached school on time for the first time. God, I was so optimistic at first, thinking that Slithas will still retain the top spot for today. Guess that it was not meant to be. When the results for the first 2 teams were announced for that day, my heart sank. Nevertheless, the Delta Ogls continued to be optimistic, and strangely, this moment seemed to spur all our Ogms on. We started the day with college games, and my Og seemed rejuvenated and much more alive. We breezed through the games, cheering with might and gusto. Boy, I was so PROUD of my OG! The good old days of orientation was relived, and be it win or lose, my Og definitely stood out (in my opinion...ahaha...) Anyway, there was Og skit rehearsal after lunch, and Og 4 sang a High School Musical song. Although they didn't win, the commitment was seen and I felt a sense of pride for my fellow Ogms.

The highlight for the day was definitely the mass dance at Suntec City Fountain Of Wealth that evening. Decked in their beige "Zenith" Tshirts and jeans/shorts, the Ogms were certainly excited about the public showcase. With us Ogls accompanying them in our orange "Zenith" Tshirts, the whole area was soon bombarded with boisterious cheering accompanied with clapping and thumping. Soon, the mass dance began and everyone clearly ENJOYED themselves. After an entire round of dancing (songs from S Club 7, Dhoom, Retarded-Black eye Peas and Speedy), everyone began running around the fountain of wealth, bellowing praises of "TJ Ole" and other house cheers. I even witnessed one of the SC, Kenneth, getting "taupok" by his fellow SC mates. The senseless running(about 6...or more?) rounds around the fountain of wealth was followed by a second round of dancing, and by the end of it all, my muscles were aching with fatigue, my voice was sore with thirst, my body was covered with sweat and dirt...but nevertheless, everyone DEFINITELY had a SUPERB time there!

Day 4
This was the final day of Orientation, but before the commencement of O night, my Og gathered at Bedok Interchange before heading out to the nearby Pizza Hut to enjoy a hearty meal. The close to 2 hour long meal was certainly both fun and filling, as we ate to our heart's content, and chatted about life in secondary school, as well as future life in JC. After which, the whole Og headed to the Sport's Comm. at TJ where we played basketball nearby. It was actually volleyball (deborah brought a volleyball), but the whole group ended up shooting hoops instead. After an hour of friendly rivalry between the fellow Ogms and Ogls, which I admit was both hilarious and chaotic, we rested, changed and headed towards under the Lt to wait for the hall doors to open for O night to commence.

I was tasked with buying dinner for my Og. (because I was Welfare rep in House Comm....dotz..) and ended up nearly screwing up the buying process. I ended up baying $46.20 for a mixture of waffles, buns and assorted breads, which was rather embarrassing (I admit...haha). thankfully, with assistnace from Jing Liang(my fellow Ogl) to take down the price and those who eat, I managed to recover at least 3/4 of the total cost. LOL

Ha...I shall get straight to O night now. The night kicked off with Og performances from the various houses, followed by the Beauty and Talent paegant and Dare-dication. The crowd was constanly made to cheer, but personally, the Beauty and Talent paegant drew the loudest cheers. The most memorable scene for that contest was the Solo dance routine, with the particpants blindfolded. Slithas' representatives, Nicole and Cheryl, certainly danced their way to the hearts of all Slithas' Ogs, as there were screams of delight and shouts of "Go Slithas!". Although both particpants didn't win that round, Nicole manged to be crowned overall female champion of Beauty and Talent paegant. GRATZ to her!!! Then came the announcement of Overall house champion- "...and the winner is....Panthera!!!" Gosh, I was a little saddened with the results, but all the Slithas Ogls spurred the Slithas ogms to cheer for the winners. In my heart, SLITHAS had WON!!!

Anyway, the rest of the night was spent partying with both mass dance and a performance put up by the ITE samba band. I remembered that after the whole thing was over, several Ogms and Ogls of the beloved Og4 went to the nearby coffeshop to eat supper and crack jokes too. It was definitely sad for it all to end...but hey! The memories of Orientation Zenith '08 will always have a place in my heart...

(sorry for the late post...was busy rushing though Econs project and GP homework...) For all Og4 members, a big THANK YOU for making this orientation an enjoyable and memorable one! May your stay in TJ be both fulfiling and enriching!!!

Cheers!
Ur fellow Ogl
W.Q.

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