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Wednesday, 19 May 2010

The class of April 12^this the last HC class of this semester for the students from Faculty of Law—Carmen, Faye, Alvin and Rachel. They will have their final exam soon, so they won’t come to today’s and next week’s HC class. As a result, Dr. Udani invited them to share something with us. All of them enjoyed the moment in HC and are looking forward to the next meeting. Although we may not meet in the next few weeks, wish them have good performances in the final exam.

After that, a simple awarding ceremony was held. Dr, Udani gave awards (HC windbreakers) to the top 10 bloggers of HC. All of them have done a good job in writing the blog. They are worth for me to learn from them. Congratulations to all the award-winning bloggers. I think all of them were motivated and encouraged. Just like Dr. Udani said: “The blog is our window towards the world.”, so we should update our blogs regularly. Using the blog to record our HC memory and to share our HC experiences.

One of the top 10 bloggers

Besides the awarding ceremony, we also played a game called “Pik Pak Boom”, the game is aim to train our concentration. We should concentrate on what we are doing. A leader should be able to concentrate on his/her works. Finally, two groups (7 students) won the game. I am happy that I am one of the winners but I knew that the victory was due to the cooperation of our group members. Thank you for our group members’ cooperation and supports!

Wednesday, 12 May 2010

IF you think you CAN,You CAN

5^th May, 2010 and 8^th May, 2010 are special days for all the HC students. We have conducted two leadership workshop (5^th May---“IF”, 8^th May---“CAN”) successfully on those days.
In the “IF” (Inspiration and facilitation) workshop, I was one of the audiences. Although “IF” workshop was not organized by our group, I joined it for the purpose of learning and supporting. As an audience, I think it is a great workshop. I felt happy and satisfaction after the workshop. The workshop taught leadership through playing games.

After the “IF” workshop, our “CAN” workshop was hold on the Saturday. “CAN” means Creativity, Attitude and Network. There are almost 30 students joined the workshop. Although it was not the same as our expectation (40), it was enough because the room was not very big. These 30 students were divided into 6 groups. Each group had two facilitators who participated in the group and help them to complete the task or discussion. In the workshop, every member of our group was responsible for different things. Betty, Ana, Helen Yin and I were responsible for the introduction and the in-group discussion part. The night before the workshop, we did the final preparation for our parts. We tried to present the theories in an interesting way. Actually, we did it. Betty and Ana did a clear and meaningful introduction. Helen Yin and I hold the in-group discussion part successfully. (By the way, Dr. Udani said that I have presented it naturally. Thank you for Dr. Udani's encouragement.) The participants have positive attitude towards learning and they were willing to share their opinions with others. Their cooperation made the in-group discussion can be conducted smoothly.

After the in-group discussion part, we watched some inspiring short video which Dr. Udani has showed to us in the class. We discussed and shared the messages delivered by the video. Following with the Video Appreciation part was the Task Accomplishment. Each group was given one video and three leadership values, then they needed to perform a drama based on the given video and the drama should include the value delivered by the video and one of the three given leadership value. Ana and I were the facilitators of group purple. I appreciated that all of our group members were creative. They thought out many different and interesting ideas about the drama. We discussed and performed the drama together using our creativity. Not only our group, but also all the other group did a great and creative drama. The second task accomplishment was Balloon Tower Building which required participants to make use of network (teamwork).

In the sharing and conclusion part, a video edited by Jackon was played. In the video, some leadership theories we have learnt in this year was presented and some photo of this year’s HC life were included. The video was very impressive and meaningful. When I was watching the video, I recalled many things happened in HC in this year. In this year, we have learnt many theories about leadership, we have made friendship with each others, we have overcome many challenges. HC really makes our life different.

In conclusion, this is my first time to organize a workshop like this. It was a unforgettable and valueable experience for me and I have learnt a lot from it. It allowed us to recall and apply what we have learnt, and to share what we gained from HC with other students.

Finally, I would like to thank Dr.Udani for offering the opportunity to us. Thanks for all the classmates. Without their effort, the workshop will not be success. And also, thank you for all the participants. Your participation made our workshop different.

“If you think you can, you can.” Apply “CAN” in our daily life.

Thursday, 06 May 2010

Marshmallow Challenge

On April 28^th, we have played the marshmallow challenge. The rule of the challenge is simple. Each team builds a tower with spaghetti and tape in 18 minutes. And then put a marshmallow on the top of the tower. The team which builds the tallest free-standing tower wins the game.

Steve, Laymond, Janice and I were in the same group.Without much planning, we started to build the tower. We collaborated with each other and built our own tower. Actually, the challenge was much more difficult than we thought. It was difficult to build a free-standing tower. Finally, we built a high tower but it can not stand alone. It was not a free-standing tower because the base was not strong enough. In contrast, Helen Yin’s team built a free-standing and tall tower, and they won the challenge. The challenge showed the importance of collaboration. No one can build a tall tower alone in 18 minutes. A leader should cooperate with others and should not isolate himself / herself. The challenge allowed us to be creative, too. Each team built a different and unique tower.


         Our tower


    What a wonderful tower!

On that day’s class, Dr Udani gave us a lecture about how to "deal with difficult behavior". Not all the people are easy-going. Some people are hard to deal with. However, a leader should know how to get along with different people, including the people who with difficult behavior. In order to deal with difficult behavior, we should focus on the behavior, not the people. We should make criticism based on the behavior or mistakes done by the people rather than based on our feeling towards people. We should not be basis and make unreasonable criticisms. Or we should use encouragement to replace punishment.When we deal with difficult people, we should try to understand them and to help them. Avoiding communicating with them is not a good method.

Tuesday, 27 April 2010

Different Cultures

On April 21, Dr. Udani taught us how to encourage others through a simple way. He asked us to write an encouraging sentence on a piece of paper and then give it to the person who we want to encourage. All of us wrote the sentences but not everyone have received the paper. I also did not receive any paper but I felt that was OK. It is only because they did not have enough paper to write for me and there is someone more need encouragement than me. I believe that all of my classmates are willing to offer encouragement to me. I think this is a good way to encourage people. A piece of paper or a sentence may not cost a lot but it is valuable and inspiring. Encouragement can be spread and showed through a simple way like this.

After that, "You are your lens" was presented to us by Dr Udani. “The way people view others is a reflection of themselves.” “If you change yourself and become the kind of person you desire to be, you will begin to view others in a whole new light.” Everyone have his/her own perspective and manner towards things. However, changing the perspective may allow us to view things in a new way.

Moreover,since we may exchange to US in the next year and US has a very different culture, Dr. Udani showed us some very interesting picture about the difference between western and Asian culture. Westerner and Asian view and do things in a very different way. For example, Westerner will solve problems directly, while Asian will try to avoid and ignore the problems. Westerner tends to be more individualism and Asian tends to be more collectivism. It is sure that there are many differences between cultures. We do not need to be afraid of this difference but we need to know and accept the difference. A leader should know how to deal with people having distinct cultures. In order to do so, a leader should understand and accept the difference first. Difference will not necessary make distance.

Way of life

Handling of problems

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

S.H.A.R.E and C.A.R.E.

On April 7, Dr Udani told us a leader should be kindness----S.H.A.R.E and C.A.R.E. We should share our Smile(S), Help (H), Advice (A), Resource (R) and Ears (E). Sharing is always free but beneficial. One person’s ability, knowledge and resources are limited. However, the abilities, knowledge and resources of many people are considerable. Sharing is the tool that connects and enriches people.

Moreover, we should care about others by showing our Concern(C), Acceptance (A), Respect(R) and Empathy (E). Human are living in groups. We should care about others. Only if we care about others, others will care about us. Being cared will make people feel belonging and not be along. We should concern others’ feeling and opinions, accept the difference of each person, respect others and think in their shoes. We can also showing care by sharing.

By the way, April 7 is Cathy’s as well as Shelly’s birthday. Wish them Happy Birthday. Ray prepared a gift (chocolate) to Cathy and leaded to sing a birthday song. We showed cares to them by sing birthday song. Cathy shares with us her birthday gifts. SHARE and CARE warm everyone’s heart.

In the end of the class, Dr Udani drew some classmates to share something about leadership or inspiration. (Actually it is not drawn randomly!). It is a good chance for us to practice SHARE. Use SHARE to show CARE, use SHARE and CARE to be to a good leader!