There were a lot of activities done and so much information conveyed in just that first session alone. We learned about the different leadership styles and the qualities of a true leader such as good communication skills and adaptability. All of us even did a test to determine what our leadership style is and unsurprisingly, majority of us are based on team leadership! Other than that, we also did a fun activity where we were required to draw instructions to a Martian on how to make toasted bread. The message of this activity was actually to show how 'silent leadership' works and thus, introverts should also be given equal chances at leading as extroverts.
We then quickly showered, had breakfast and proceeded with the second day of our workshop. The first half of the day made us explore our personalities and understand the results of our DISC and MBTI personality tests we have done previously. The speakers even provided us Kahoot quizzes to test if we paid attention during their presentations. I won third place in one of their quiz! Ms Susie was amazing to have placed first in both quizzes.
In the afternoon, we were introduced to a very unexpected guest. It was someone from a very distant country: Ms Snéha, Managing Director of Blue Tulip Consultancy, UK. It was her first time presenting for an audience in Brunei Darussalam. She talked to us about how to manage our unconscious bias and also about emotional intelligence.
On Wednesday, Raziq was next in line to guide the WOD. With this, we all each had a single turn at organizing the WOD. Raziq planned to work on our core strength and upper body training. It was tiring indeed.
As per the last two days, we continued on with the last day of our final workshop. Dr Smita had given us an assignment the previous night. It was an exercise to explore our SMART goals for the coming future. Each one of us had the chance to express what we wanted to achieve in life and what will be our steps to reach the goal. In my case, I wanted to dream big and graduate with a doctorate in Clinical Psychology, at the same time trying to lose as much weight as I can in the next 6 years. I believe those 2 goals would definitely benefit my career progression in the future.
It was very interesting to learn about everyone's target in life and even Ms Farah pointed out that us scholars had goals which would vastly help our career whereas the working officers had thought of ideas way beyond work such as developing their hobbies. This is high likely due to our age differences and the gap in our experiences.
Finally, after lunch, we were joined by Ms Snéha again, where she introduced us to Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). The whole point of it was to discover the most effective way to engage in conversations with different type of people and consequently increasing our rapport with them. For example, we would strike different topics with people who are kinaesthetic and with those who are auditory.
Thus concluded our courses with HRDS. It was an amazing opportunity to have learned so much lessons and to be exposed to so many fascinating individuals in a span of less than two months. We bid our farewells to Dr Smita and Ms Farah, whom have probably remembered our habits and background from going through three different courses with us.
We woke up a bit earlier the next day because it was time for our vaccination day! Hence, we started our WOD as early as 5.40am. They were all considerate to compromise with this early time because they know that I need to depart from home earlier due to my house being the furthest from the vaccination place, Medical Reception Station (MRS). Richmon did a good job structuring his WOD because it lasted exactly 35 minutes.
Unfortunately, Raziq and Hanan had to stay home and postpone their second doses to a later date because they were feeling unwell that morning. Ms Susie had instructed Syasya, Richmon and I to meet up at the Multi-Purpose Hall (MPH) latest by 7.50am. There would be shuttle buses to pick us up from the MPH and consecutively send us to the MRS. When we got there; half of the Hall was filled already. As a result, we struggled to sit still with a super long waiting game. After an hour passed, the three of us suddenly thought of playing multiplayer games together. If only we had thought of playing 'Uno' together way earlier on… Thanks to those games, we killed plenty of time and we also made Richmon's battery drained to 12%!
Without realizing, it was Richmon's and my turn to board the bus! It was such a systematic procedure from then onwards. We were heavily reminded to social distance ourselves at all times, even in the bus where there were chairs being marked so that people would not sit there.
Upon arriving MRS, we were required to check our temperature and wait again outside the building. After a short while, we were allowed inside to fill in the vaccination form and be given a queue number. Next was another series of queues in different locations around the building. Thankfully, these queues did not feel as time-lengthening as the one in MPH. Not long after that, it was Richmon's turn to get in. Next, it was mine. I had to wait until the female nurse would be unoccupied. On a side note, this fact was compelling to me because my nursing friend recently told me that it is considered socially-unethical for a male nurse to handle a female patient. The female nurse was really gentle with me and carefully handled the needle. I even asked her for consent to record the process with my phone and now I am left with a video footage to remember me of this memorable day! Alhamdulillah, I am vaccinated with both doses already, without any side effects when being asked to wait for 15 minutes at the observation room.
When I arrived home, I suddenly felt headaches, back pains and soreness on my left arm. I was not sure if they were side effects to the vaccine but I made sure to eat my Panadol as a precaution and immediately took naps afterwards.
I woke up to mild chills at 2 in the morning. Again, I ingested my Panadol to prevent a fever from forming. Alhamdulillah, when I woke up again at 8, I felt refreshed than ever! I got back to my normal condition. I guess it was true when people said that if anyone already had side effects after their first dose then they would not get anything post-second dose. I remember my fever was so bad when I got my first dose and thankfully I do not have to go through that again!
There was no WOD for the three of us this morning because apparently, no sports would be allowed for us for the whole week of our vaccination. Hence, we would resume on next week's Thursday. I took the opportunity to rest the whole day just so that no fever would definitely develop. Glad I could spend time with my family and we had a movie marathon.
Nur Alya Irdina binti Awang Harun
SCRBAF 2021 Recipient
Arranged and Formatted by:
Aiman Abdullah Tee
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