EXTERNAL/CO-CURRICULAR

Singapore Biennale - Youths Take Over 19/20

Programmer

18 - 19 Jan 2020

Youths Take Over was an opportunity extended to NP's Arts Business Management students by the Singapore Art Museum. 7 of us took on the challenge and prepared a set of programmes to be presented to the public at Gillman Barracks over a course of two days, including a black out poetry tour, live acoustic performances and others. I worked on conceptualising and creating a storytelling programme with 2 other teammates. We invited 3 storytellers to do 2 sessions of storytelling at various locations across Gillman Barracks, including within the gallery itself. We worked on Youths Take Over for 6 months under the guidance of our alumni and a Senior Manager in Programmes from the Singapore Art Museum, while juggling our first year of studies and other commitments.

TAKEAWAYS

- Artist liaison

Our team experienced contacting and meeting artists, and handling negotiations afterwards. During the event itself, we kept in contact with the artists to ensure their needs were met.

- Adaptability to sudden obstacles and challenges

During the event, we encountered a lot of bumps in the road. To name a few, some of our artists showed up extremely late and we nearly had to cancel their set. We were met with heavy rain as well, and our event was situated outdoors. This taught us to think on our feet and find ways to handle tricky situations.

- Ground-up planning of arts event

It was our first time ever having to plan an event on this level, and it was certainly an eye-opening experience. It was a lot of application of what we had learnt from our first-year studies, and a lot more things we had not considered previously. We met with a lot of problems we had only previously heard of before, and had to consider a lot more details we never thought of before.

- Hands-on experience running arts event

Being able to run an event we had planned by ourselves was exciting, but also came with a lot of unexpected challenges. As this was the first time we had planned such an event like this, there were a few oversights and problems we had to tackle on the spot. Additionally, planning and conceptualising is one thing - putting it into practice is another. It was definitely a learning experience and a valuable first foray into the actual industry.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic Concert Band | President

Feb 2020 - April 2021

As the president of Ngee Ann Polytechnic Concert Band (NPCB) in the academic year of 20/21, I led and oversaw a committee of 11 other members. Together, we ran the band and served our members. My duties involved liaising between our conductor, the school, the alumni band and other external parties, as well as organising and executing committee meetings and band events. I also facilitated the making of important decisions for the band. I worked especially closely with the welfare officers of the band and oversaw their work, such as engagement of members and the management of the band's social media.

TAKEAWAYS

- Teamwork & leadership skills

Having to lead a group of dynamic individuals through running our band of 80 members was not an easy feat, but was definitely a valuable experience. Having to meet each member of my committee in the middle in terms of working style has enabled me to learn the best ways to support and empower different people with different working styles. It has also been humbling, learning when is the right to embrace failure and step up, when to trust others, and how to handle differing views and expectations from the people you serve. I have also learnt the importance of a healthy working environment, which I have put my best effort into facilitating.

- Organisation & time-management skills

A large part of my responsibilities relied heavily on organisation skills. I had to organise events and project timelines and meetings with the different stakeholders of our concert band. This included the organisation of the different tasks the committee had to complete simultaneously. This was on top of the many other commitments I had outside of the concert band, such as school work and our community arts festival, Verve. I have had to make the best use of my time during my year as president and I certainly came out of my term with a much better grasp on organisation and time-management!

- Adaptability

- Problem-solving & decision-making skills

Being the president also meant that most of the problems the band faced were directed straight to me. Many of these things needed an immediate or urgent solution as well, and my time spent facing these have taught me how to weigh my options speedily and thoroughly. I have learnt to be resourceful and decisive through the obstacles the band has faced as well. Through making decisions for the band, I have also developed the ability to put myself in the shoes of all parties involved in any situation as well. In my time as president, I have had to generate solutions with everyone's best interests at heart.

RED Camp 16 | Student Leader

21 - 23 Nov 2019

RED Camp is an annual 3-day camp organised by Ngee Ann Polytechnic. It is designed to reach out to O' Level students and showcase what Ngee Ann Polytechnic has to offer its potential students. RED Camp is facilitated by student leaders who are trained to show the school to potential students, as well as explain its courses, student life, campus and and anything relevant to Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Being a student leader in RED Camp taught me a lot of things. It involved 3 months of preparation nearly every day after a shortlist and interview. Our job scope consisted of facilitating a 3 day camp and leading groups of students who have just finished their O' Levels around the school, promoting Ngee Ann Polytechnic to them while ensuring their safety as well. We engaged with the students to provide them with a positive experience in Ngee Ann.

This experience was an extremely fulfilling one and boosted a lot of personal growth among other things. This was another experience that solidified my ability to switch between work and play. It taught me how to maximise efficiency of my work and manage my time, since preparations were intense and took up a lot of my time, leaving me with less time to do my work and fulfill other commitments. Having to meet many other student leaders and then helping to run a camp with around 1300 attendees also helped to build my interpersonal skills. The organisation and management structure of the camp was also a good takeaway that has helped me with every event I have planned since.

Verve 2020 (Tenacity), Oh' Verve Drive 2020 |

Deputy of Volunteer Management & Outreach

(Oh' Verve Drive)

Deputy of Partnerships (Verve)

April 2020 - December 2020

For the 10th edition of Verve, I was appointed to work aside the Head of Volunteer Management & Outreach as the Deputy. This department eventually transitioned into the festival's Partnerships department. Verve is an annual community arts festival, run by Year 2 students of the Diploma in Arts Business Management. It also consists of a fundraiser earlier in the year called Oh' Verve Drive, which has the purpose of raising funds for Verve. For 2020, Verve shifted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the theme of Tenacity.

WHAT WE DID

- Managed our team of managers and volunteers

For Oh' Verve Drive, the Head and I worked closely with our team, who doubled as volunteer managers, and volunteers who performed for Oh' Verve Drive. This included working with Programmes to liaise with our volunteers, planning meetings, briefings and volunteer engagement initiatives, such as preparing incentives and compensation for performers with the rest of our team.

- Researching & contacting appropriate partners for Verve

For Verve itself, the department transitioned into handling Partnerships and conducted research to find appropriate partners for Verve's programmes. We worked together with the Programmes department to reach out to potential partners to work with for Verve as well.

- Organised partner benefits

The department put partner benefits together to show our gratitude to those who worked with Verve.

- Ad-hoc work

We also helped the rest of the festival with ad-hoc work in areas such as Outreach, such as reaching out to potential participants of our festival to promote the festival. We handled the volunteer benefits for Verve once more and assisted with the admin end of things. We also assisted Programmes with artist benefits.

TAKEAWAYS

- Time management & leadership skills

Having to support my Head of Department in leading a group of our batchmates through both Oh' Verve Drive and Verve has taught me a lot about leadership. I have learnt more about accommodating to different personalities and working styles and supporting my team. I have learnt to distribute work to best suit the strengths of our different team members as well. Additionally, working with the rest of the executive committee has taught me a lot about teamwork and the importance of communication. It has given me some insight into the importance of relationships and cohesiveness that needs to be present between departments as well, because everything is closely linked together.

- Organisation & time-management skills

Being the deputy of the department meant that I had to assist the Head in planning meetings, organising and delegating tasks and responsibilities and the different stakeholders we worked with. We had to organise and update our lists of volunteers, benefits, partners and department members constantly. Time management was also important as we were all busy with external commitments and our own schoolwork as well. I had to juggle my responsibilities and assist the deputy in ensuring the rest of the department's workload was as spread out and manageable as possible.

SHHKACT Graduation Show (Shi Nian Hou) | Stage Manager

Jan 2019 - Aug 2019

In 2019, as part of our graduation from SHHKACT's Speech-and-Drama course, my batch held a graduation performance, in which I assumed the position of stage manager. This production was purely student-run, and as stage manager I oversaw the technical aspects of the show, such as scriptwriting progress, our production timeline, logistics and other things. I also scheduled rehearsal, did rehearsal attendance, and organised and distributed different responsibilities. I also acted as the liaison between the production and the organisation. Our many months of hard work culminated in a full house on both days of the show!

TAKEAWAYS

- Separating personal feelings from work

All the production members grew up together, and on more than one occasion, I had to step up and make the switch from a friend to a stage manager. I learnt to place a divide between work and play and set personal feelings aside in a working environment.

- Filling in the gaps

Being the stage manager of a very small production, I usually had many errands to run. Other than being the first to arrive and the last to leave the rehearsal venue (to open and close the studio), organising rehearsals and tracking our progress, I would be picking up important items or making orders. I also assisted our lights and sound programmer with setting up.

- Time-management skills

At the time I was juggling a CCA, this production, school and a part-time job as a barista. From there, I learnt about role delegation as well.

Above all, it taught me to persevere, and to strive to understand the people you work with.

Chung Cheng High School (Main) Concert Band | Quartermistress

May 2017 - May 2018

As the quartermistress of my concert band in secondary school, I handled and organised the band's supply of instrument accessories and their distribution to its members. I also oversaw the admin matters of the repair of the band's instruments and liaised with the conductor on such matters.

Having this position taught me that every job is important and you should fulfill every responsibility entrusted to you. To juggle this responsibility with my position of Assistant Section Leader was another factor as well - I would sometimes have to leave the section to carry out my duties.