orientationday!

By: Stacie Ng

The 9th of January 2009 proved to be the peak of the orientation for the new intake of students from the Diploma in Architectural Technology and Foundation in Science of Building Environment. A mixture of international and local students adjourned at the LCS courtyard and were led by the SABD Student Council to Central Market. It is somewhat of a tradition for the seniors to bring the juniors away from the confinements of the lecture hall and instead have an opportunity to mingle with each other.

Around 9 am, a sea of juniors and seniors congregated at The Annexe, Central Market, flooding the once serene hallway with chaos. A brief introduction of the itinerary for the day was delivered by Way Wern, the event manager of the Student Council. To encourage mingling among the students, participants were separated from their cliques into groups for the ice-breaking session. Students were grouped according to the colours of M&M chocolates with the seniors taking part in the activities as well.

Participants were required to complete tasks like pumping, spelling words using their bottom, turning themselves in circles and there was even a competition amongst the groups to create the tallest human pyramid. Frequent bursts of laughter were proof enough of the fun they were having. According to Jonathan Low, Game Master for the day, the main objectives of the session was to instill the importance of teamwork to the juniors, enabling them to mingle with the seniors and ultimately just having a good time.

After everyone has gotten comfortable with each other, the Vice President of the Student Council, David Ooi, shed a few words of wisdom to the participants regarding the SABD student council. He reminded everyone that the council is not made up by the committee members alone, but by all students of the Architectural faculty for each one contributes to the whole effort. David then sent out the groups to the streets of KL to mark the start of their next challenge. Each group had two hours to explore the streets of KL in search of elements that defines the theme 'An Invisible City'.

Without wasting time, the participants prowled into the heart of the city in search for an answer to the theme. They scrutinised every detail, brainstormed on ideas, and even discussed about the menu for lunch; All the while oblivious to the excruciating noon heat. Upon their arrival back to The Annexe, the participants were then required to translate their thoughts and ideas onto a corrugated cardboard and prep together a concept for the presentation. At 3.30 pm, all groups gave their finishing touches to their masterpiece and braced themselves for their very first presentation in tertiary education. As always, the presentation part is always the most insightful yet intimidating session. Each group managed to convincingly deliver what they believed to be 'An Invisible City'.

By the end of the day, after all prizes were delivered and all has been said and done, one couldn't differentiate the juniors from the seniors any longer with them filling the hall with their chattering and laughter. The enthusiasm of the juniors coupled together with the efforts of the Student Council ended the orientation on an inspiring note.