well then
first of all. all the best to nadim, weizhe, benjy, weiling, liyanna and shijia. do a good job. lead well.
yet, so much has been said to the exco, that i feel it's only fair that i speak to the rest of the team.
unlike the six seniors who spoke before mr sun's very succint homily, i am (or is that a was?) a plebian. non-exco. hoi-polloi. it doesn't matter how you phrase it. my school badge has four pointy bits and no, its not in a pretty oblong. my job was to not mark attendance, to not sit down and worry myself sick about the team, to not attend long pe talks by harveysingh, to not stand in front of thirty bemused teenagers and keep order. in a way, it was liberating. when shit came around, i got a lesser portion. i didn't have to plan out training schedules, consort with klscc personnel about boats or chase people for that elusive non-existant particulars form. but i will say this. just because you don't get 6 cca points or a shiny oblong badge or a blue shirt that for some reason beyond me worries about being on belay in bad grammer, just because you're not in the ex-co doesn't mean that you're not important to this team.
what is a team? a team does not consist of the ex-co. leaders, of course, must have someone to lead. they're called juniors. and the leaders are not called the ex-co. they're called seniors. yes, you read that right. leaders = seniors. its probably the only maths equation you need to know for now. learning relative velocity to calculate boat direction doesn't count.
about forty words ago i asked what a team was. a team is made up of distinct and unique individuals. not all will be strong in the same area. maybe one of you can crank out fifteen sets without pause. maybe one of you provides inspiration for the rest, encouraging them when it seems hopeless. maybe one of you can sprint 4.8k and come in at the end without breaking a sweat. maybe one of you keeps discipline. it doesn't matter. what is important about the team, which distinguishes it from any other group of people, is that in a team, the individuals work together, sacrificing themselves whole-heartedly to a greater cause. you have the senior team and the junior team. together, you make the ac team. the term 'senior team' implies that the seniors work together. not just the ex-co but the seniors.
so you aren't going to get a few more paltry cca points. who cares? your job, as is the job of every other senior, is to 1) train hard, 2) take care of the senior team and 3) take care of the junior team. the only difference is that the ex-co have the burden of doing all your tedious diplomatic and administrative work, such as appeasing enraged teachers when a canoeist has been rude to them (*koffkoff*). in a team, you support each other. as seniors, you will support the captains and vice-captains with your unwavering trust. don't make things difficult for them by slacking off or providing bad examples to impressionable juniors. when an order is given, reinforce it. make sure it gets carried out. the ex-co cannot carry the team alone. the senior team presents a united front. no matter what petty arguments you have with each other, put them aside during training. the juniors must never see you quarrel. you have to gain their respect and you cannot do that if training is disorganised and if you don't train hard yourself. you have to trust each other. its the only way you all will grow. you all are leaders in your own right.not in the ex-co? who cares. be a good senior. its even better than having a title.
its your team now. you're seniors now. so lead.
yet, so much has been said to the exco, that i feel it's only fair that i speak to the rest of the team.
unlike the six seniors who spoke before mr sun's very succint homily, i am (or is that a was?) a plebian. non-exco. hoi-polloi. it doesn't matter how you phrase it. my school badge has four pointy bits and no, its not in a pretty oblong. my job was to not mark attendance, to not sit down and worry myself sick about the team, to not attend long pe talks by harveysingh, to not stand in front of thirty bemused teenagers and keep order. in a way, it was liberating. when shit came around, i got a lesser portion. i didn't have to plan out training schedules, consort with klscc personnel about boats or chase people for that elusive non-existant particulars form. but i will say this. just because you don't get 6 cca points or a shiny oblong badge or a blue shirt that for some reason beyond me worries about being on belay in bad grammer, just because you're not in the ex-co doesn't mean that you're not important to this team.
what is a team? a team does not consist of the ex-co. leaders, of course, must have someone to lead. they're called juniors. and the leaders are not called the ex-co. they're called seniors. yes, you read that right. leaders = seniors. its probably the only maths equation you need to know for now. learning relative velocity to calculate boat direction doesn't count.
about forty words ago i asked what a team was. a team is made up of distinct and unique individuals. not all will be strong in the same area. maybe one of you can crank out fifteen sets without pause. maybe one of you provides inspiration for the rest, encouraging them when it seems hopeless. maybe one of you can sprint 4.8k and come in at the end without breaking a sweat. maybe one of you keeps discipline. it doesn't matter. what is important about the team, which distinguishes it from any other group of people, is that in a team, the individuals work together, sacrificing themselves whole-heartedly to a greater cause. you have the senior team and the junior team. together, you make the ac team. the term 'senior team' implies that the seniors work together. not just the ex-co but the seniors.
so you aren't going to get a few more paltry cca points. who cares? your job, as is the job of every other senior, is to 1) train hard, 2) take care of the senior team and 3) take care of the junior team. the only difference is that the ex-co have the burden of doing all your tedious diplomatic and administrative work, such as appeasing enraged teachers when a canoeist has been rude to them (*koffkoff*). in a team, you support each other. as seniors, you will support the captains and vice-captains with your unwavering trust. don't make things difficult for them by slacking off or providing bad examples to impressionable juniors. when an order is given, reinforce it. make sure it gets carried out. the ex-co cannot carry the team alone. the senior team presents a united front. no matter what petty arguments you have with each other, put them aside during training. the juniors must never see you quarrel. you have to gain their respect and you cannot do that if training is disorganised and if you don't train hard yourself. you have to trust each other. its the only way you all will grow. you all are leaders in your own right.not in the ex-co? who cares. be a good senior. its even better than having a title.
its your team now. you're seniors now. so lead.
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