Student’s Corner

In this issue, we will be featuring students who have attended the SPARK Leadership Camp!

What is SPARK Leadership Camp?

SPARK Leadership Camp is organised by ECM Libra Foundation in partnership with Leaderonomics, Epsom College in Malaysia and Airasia. Every year they gather youths from all around Malaysia for a 7-day leadership programme at the prestigious EPSOM college in Malaysia. The purpose of this camp is to inspire youths from all sorts of backgrounds to harness their leadership potential and Make A Difference in communities. In addition, it’s totally FREE! To earn a spot, students aged 13-16 can sign up for the SPARK Auditions where they would be required to give a 5-minute pitch on a given topic.

OUR STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE AT SPARK

Since 2018, through our Leaderonomics Program in school, a few of our students have attended the SPARK Leadership Camp after successfully passing the SPARK auditions. Let us hear about their experience there.

Camper 1: Camper 2: Camper 3:

Jerrence Suresh

Year 9 2018 SPARK camper

ACTIVITIES AT SPARK Ching Zi Yang

Year 9 2019 SPARK camper

Many activities were conducted at SPARK. Every evening, there were sport activities such as Captain’s ball, football, catch the flag, etc. These were all group activities. There were also the M.A.D. (Make A Difference) Projects where campers went to Old Folks Homes and orphanages to help them and play with them.

“One of my favourite activities was the Treasure Hunt. This activity taught me determination and not to give up no matter how hard the challenge is.” –Jerrence

“My favourites were Public Speaking and the Detective activity!” –Zi Yang “We did some work at an Old Folks Home and Orphanage. We also conducted some ice-breakers with them.” –Dinesh Dinesh Rajandran

GC Year 2019 SPARK camper

HIGHLIGHTS/INTERESTING STORIES AT SPARK

Did you know that Tony Fernandes, founder of Airasia, was one of the speakers at SPARK? He even gave away a free holiday to South Korea to one of the campers who caught his cap! Here are some other highlights:

“On the first day, I felt kinda lost because instead of hanging out with people we already knew, we were encouraged to make new friends. But all of a sudden, when I walked out of my room, a group of people walked past and I started hanging out with them!” –Zi Yang

“We had an ice-breaker called "Bubble Tea Simulator" where we had to advertise our drinks. During the presentation, I felt like I was shouting nonsensical words to the facilitators!” –Dinesh “I have a funny story to share. It was midnight when a bunch of friends suddenly came into my room and wanted to hang out. So we did! While we were having fun and making so much noise, we heard a knock on the door! It was the facilitators! I immediately covered myself with my blanket pretending to sleep. And everyone else got scolded except for me and my friend who was hiding behind the door. Thank God we weren’t sent home!” –Jerrence

BEST MEMORIES AT SPARK

“My best moment at SPARK was when my group was trying to help the old folks and I was playing with the kids to distract them from a SURPRISE we had planned!” -Dinesh “Besides the friendships made, one of the highlights for me was SPARK Night. I participated in a drama performance. My team made everyone laugh so hard that some even laughed till they cried! And since it was the last night at camp, we had a mini “clubbing” session after the program. The lights were turned off and party music was playing. I had a whale of a time as all of us danced and rocked to the music!” –Jerrence

“At the end of every day, we had a recap session with our group members. On the first day, everyone hardly spoke a word but as the days went by, we started chatting like we had known each other for years! It was really satisfying to see each of us grow daily.”–Zi Yang

WOULD YOU RECOMMEND SPARK TO OTHERS?

SPARK Leadership Camp is a once in a lifetime opportunity as there are no repeat campers! You are only allowed to go once. Besides the grand facilities (comfortable rooms, big field, swimming pool, indoor sports hall and cafeteria), the food there is also extremely delicious! Let’s hear what our campers have to say:

“I would strongly recommend the camp to everyone. This may have been the best week of my life! You will definitely see yourself grow every day.” –Zi Yang

“I would because you get to experience a very fun time at the camp!” –Dinesh “Trust me! It's the greatest camp that you'll ever attend! SPARK camp is like a washing machine. It takes out all the stains (negativity and weakness) and you come out clean (better characteristics and lifestyle)!” –Jerrence

WHAT YOU GAINED/LEARNT AT SPARK

Through the activities, campers learnt how to face real life challenges, how to overcome fear, how to get out of their comfort zone and how to be as open as possible.

“I learnt how to be a better, more confident and charismatic leader as I used to be very shy. Thanks to this camp, I've become a more responsible leader that people can rely on. This camp also taught me how to lead a team.” –Jerrence “I gained the ability to step up and be confident in myself! I learnt to face my fears.” –Zi Yang

“I learnt to get out of my comfort zone.” -Dinesh

DESCRIBE SPARK IN YOUR OWN WORDS

So, are you interested to sign up for the next SPARK Leadership Camp? For more testimonies, go to

https://leaderonomics.com/personal/how-sparkcamp-changed-the-lives-of-my-students