Orientation day!

Good day to everyone reading this. Since I was one of the librarians there during the orientation, I was entrusted with the duty of writing this. I procrastinated on this... partly because I’m feeling weighed down by school work and partly because I’m a sad, ‘inexperienced’ teacher...

But here it is! Enjoy reading what happened during on the 31^st of December, 2012!

Just two days before the first day of school, the school held an orientation for the first-formers to give them a head start. With their new school uniforms and their nervous faces, the new students looked extremely cute! They reminded me of myself during my orientation 4 years ago, but that is another story.

Being new to the school, they seemed lost with their nervous eyes wandering around the unfamiliar surroundings. Some found their old friends and began to chat about their holidays, while some lost ones clinging onto their parents for dear life. Some of them don’t even know their classes! Poor things....

You may be wondering, why was I there when the orientation was held? Well, the school must have assumed that the poor first-formers would get lost on their first day in the school, so prefects and librarians to the rescue! Nope, I wasn’t there to escort them or whatnot, I, along with the few librarians on duty that day were busy as bees in the morning to clean the Library. It’s important to give a good impression of the library to the first-formers during their little ‘tour’ around the school.

The morning started off with a speech from the school principal, Puan Azizah followed by speeches from the vice principals, parent-teacher association representatives and the teachers. Also, it looks like we have a new discipline teacher for our school, Puan Gan. Well, I was shocked, to say the least... 

After the assembly, the prefects took the first-formers around the school for a ‘tour’. They’ll be visiting places like the laboratories and the Library before going to their respective classes. I’m not sure what happened to those without classes because we librarians retreated to the library to prepare for their arrival. After the Head Librarian gave us a short briefing, we waited patiently for the new students to arrive.

Time seemed to go by so slowly when you have nothing to do. When we were almost bored out of our minds, the prefects told us that the first-formers are not visiting the library. Well that’s just dandy! All our hard work preparing the library for them was for nothing! Oh well, at least the library looks clean and pristine.

Apparently, they went into their classes to receive their textbooks, without dropping by the library! D: 

Well, that's all from me

IoaleKelina 

Now recruiting!

Calling all students in Forms 1, 2, and 3 of SMK Bandar Utama Damansara (3),

Do you want a rewarding leadership experience that will boost your co-curricular marks? Want to help the school be a better place? Or just want a snazzy new uniform? Look no further than being a Librarian!

Okay, I admit, I'm very a bit late, but we're definitely hiring new hands! The interview dates are set, and us senior Librarians are looking forward to badgering having probationary Librarians. That brings me back to the good old days...

I was in Form 1, when I heard that the Librarians were recruiting. Having just been a class monitor for two years in primary school (and turning down an offer to be a prefect), I soon got to it. It seemed like a popular thing in my class, because about a dozen of us applied.

When the interview slots were out, I remember Hui Shyen (current Assistant Head) rushing out of the laboratory to the Library with enthusiasm. It was funny, how much we yearned for the post five years ago.

When it was down to the interview itself, things got a little tense. I remember running under the hot sun, before my slot, just to get a necktie! Plus, the seniors then told all us applicants to memorise the Library Mission and Vision. I tell you, that was sheer purgatory, but it manage to stick to my brain, until it dissapeared after the whole thing.

When my slot came, I think I stammered when I greeted Mr. Wong, then Library Coordinator (current Senior Assistant of Student Affairs), and the interviewers. Mr. Wong then got to business, and I think fear showed through my face, when I answered the questions, because the others simply kept quiet and smiled in support. I thought I flunked the whole thing, with my answers curt and ambiguous, and I broke down.

Some time after, the list of successful applicants were out. I was perssimistic, but I checked it nevertheless. It's obvious the result, or how could I have ever blog here? Anyways, I felt so happy after that, but sad that my confident friend didn't make the cut.

Anyways, I would like to wish all the applicants good luck, and like they say in 'The Hunger Games', may the odds be ever in your favour!

The First Day: A Flashback

Hello, people of the blogosphere! :)

I’m a new addition to the blogging crew, and thought that my first post could be about the first day of school.

Yes, I know it’s already mid-January (but that’s what procrastination mixed with a busy schedule gets you, people! (more on the former though, I admit.)) Once again, I have been duped by Father Time. I thought he got me good when he snatched away my year-end holidays, but now it seems he’s surreptitiously taken away the first month of my 2013 as well. Oh well, I’ll have to turn the cogs in my noggin a little bit to bring back the events of the first day and all the emotions that came along with it!

It's six o'clock and I’m staring at my alarm clock, grumbling because I know I can no longer hit the snooze button and be done with it. However, I have to get up. I wish I could say I was looking forward to the first day of school, but I’m only human, and getting up at six in the morning after a long stretch of holiday spent sleeping in until noon was definitely a downer.

I remember my first day in school as a first-former being scary, yet exciting. Now, coming back as a senior, it actually felt like I hadn’t even left in the first place! There were throngs of students as far as the eye could see: inexperienced first-formers rushing about with no direction, laid-back seniors making their way to where the students were assembling, and of course, prefects all diligently doing their duty to keep some form of order amongst the chaos students.

There was one thing different about the school this year that everyone could hardly miss though: The long awaited roof above the basketball court! As most students would know, the school had been collecting donations year after year (five years to be exact. E.Q.K) in order to pay for the expenses of this roof. Now after all our hard work badgering people for asking for donations, the roof had finally been erected, and we could sit under it in all its glory. I have to admit, I do miss sitting at the old assembly point but I suppose the basketball court is more suitable as it can accommodate more students.

And my, the amount of new students this year! During assembly, after the teachers had welcomed us back to the school and reprimanded the students for seemingly forgetting the school's entire dress code over the course of the holidays (as there were some who sported dyed hair and improper school uniforms), we were told that there are up to 60 first-formers a class. I’ve shared a class with 50 students before, but even I thought 60 was overdoing it. Of course, the problem was resolved a week later by creating a new class, but that didn’t stop me wondering what was with the surge in amount of intakes this year.

As a fourth-former, the first day of school was also tantamount to no small amount of heartache, as most of us were torn apart from our friends and put in separate classes. The streaming had begun, and students made their way into arts, accounts or pure science classes, depending on where they’d been sorted into (Penilaian Menegah Rendah examination results, more likely. E.Q.K). I comforted myself with the fact that there was always recess to meet up with my dear friends, but still, it isn’t really the same, is it?

The first day of school marked the beginning of a whole new year, ripe with responsibilities and challenges.  I was crying for mercy by the time I was done arranging all my activities in my schedule, and I still have more to add down the road! It seems a new school year always marks the start of a packed and hectic schedule. Hopefully, we can learn to relax amidst the fast pace and give ourselves some time for recreation. Remember, being too busy just leads to unnecessary stress, take a chill pill everyone! (No, I'm not saying do drugs, it's a figure of speech. Obviously)

Hope everybody has an awesometastic school year! :D

Goodbye, Mr Mah!

He's the smile, yet the frown. He's the serious, yet the joker. He is feared, yet beloved. Who could ever fill these shoes, if not Mr. Mah?

Today marked his last day in school, and nobody would let it go unnoticed. At today's special assembly, everyone recounted his deeds and quirks, not letting him slip away unnoticed.

Though most will regard him as that strict disciplinarian, ready to punish wrong-doers at the blink of an eye, he actually cares for students as if they were his own children, up to the point of even pushing our parent-teacher association to bits just to provide more tables and chairs for us students!

Previously a head discipline teacher, he was promoted to a senior assistant for student affairs in our school. Most teachers (and close students) would agree that he is a lovable person, cracking jokes that would get anyone laughing. His voice would resonate throughout the school, as if it were the school talking itself.

Our beloved principal herself, Pn Azizah, even recounted his idiosyncrasies, slotting in advice for him to better undertake his new role as senior assistant for curriculum. Though it seemed strange that she would tell us all this in front of the whole school, it just goes to show how closely-knit they are in the 10 years they have collaborated.

As Mr. Mah himself spoke, he expressed his reluctance in leaving the school, up to the point that he even petitioned that he not be given the promotion! Hence, it is clear how he loves our school very much, and it will be odd without him around.

As the assembly grew to a close, gifts and mementos were given away, and the school wind band played 'Auld Lang Syne' for him.

All in all, we would wish him good luck and farewell!

Happy New Year!

2012 has ended with such joy, don't you think? All that hype related to 21 December 2012 has finally been put to rest, and the school will reopen tomorrow. It'll be a fresh start, a new class, and another step in our academic journey. It's as if we've pressed the restart button on our year, queuing the annual events in a playlist to be heard again, and start anew.

Surely, resolutions will pepper our minds at this moment. Preparations are made to brave the new year. As a proverb goes, out with the old, in with the new. Opportunities will present themselves, as events ensue throughout 2013. All we can hope in is to do our best, and hope the year will richly reward us for our works.

Anyways, in the Library, our fifth form Librarians has left as their time in school has ended, their services rendered fruitful as their tenure expired. The grace period of the new High Committee will end, and the real work will start, as new recruits will be put on probation to replace the outgoing Librarians.

With the completion of the roof over our basketball courts, the second of the three steps has been taken to build our school assembly hall. Hence, rain wouldn't hinder us anymore in any of our outdoor activities, so it will be a boon for the school to get things running smoothly without any unforeseen interferences.

With that, I would end this post with a wish that 2013 will bring many a good thing for you readers out there. Until the next post, ciao!