Term 1 comes to a close

As term 1 of my second year comes to a close, I’m grateful to have been able to try out new activities while deepening my involvement in societies. As the outreach officer in Codpiece theatre, a theatre society specializing in adaptation and devising, I was in charge of organizing an annual one-day event titled ‘Bacchus’. Bacchus is an annual event where we invite anyone and everyone to share their works in a more casual setting. This year, the event’s theme was ‘Misreading’.

Instead of focusing on polished works, the event hopes to encourage people to simply create and share it with other people within an informal and nurturing environment. Being new to event management, I was initially scared of being responsible to ensure the event went smoothly. However, working with my fellow society members and seniors eased my worries. A key take-away from running the event itself was how important it was to remain calm and flexible throughout. Due to the casual nature of the event, the schedule we had was always tantamount to change. Despite the anxiety caused by this uncertainty, it was heartening to experience works that have never been performed before or were in working progress. Furthermore, it allowed people to try different mediums that they usually did not work in like music or film. I arranged a side activity to teach people blind contouring- A drawing practice where you draw without looking at your paper and in a continuous line without lifting your pen off the paper. I felt it would encourage people to simply try drawing portraits of each other without the pressure of ‘failing’. Receiving positive feedback from the participants and creating heartening memories of Bacchus made all the planning and worrying worth it!

Another highlight of the term was learning coding with CodeFirst: Girls, an initiative based in United Kingdom to encourage more females to get involved in the technology sector and entrepreneurship. Within the course of the term, we covered JavaScript, CSS and HTML. Due to the intensive nature of the course, it was a struggle at certain times of the term to ensure I could do all the preparation and activities before class. Despite the challenge of juggling several commitments at once, the fulfilment of being able to code website design and understand the technical aspects involved is invaluable.

Apart from being involved in CodeFirst: Girls and Codpiece society, I’ve been part of the team organizing Warwick ASEAN Conference (WAC), the biggest student-led conference on South-East Asia in Europe. As part of the outreach team, I’ve been liaising with student societies to collaborate and deepen relationships in order to increase attendance for this year’s conference in February.

I’ve also been helping out in actor training for this year’s annual Singapore society production. This year’s production will be performing Haresh Sharma’s “Those who can’t’ teach”- A poignant script on the education system within Singapore. Having been through the local education system, I feel the theme is something everyone in the cast can relate to. As I acted in last year’s production as well, I feel this past experience allows me to better relate to the anxieties some of the actors are currently going through and help them accordingly in order to increase their confidence. I’m excited to be able to see their growth as performers first-hand. I look forward to seeing the final performance this coming March!

During the past winter break, I got to experience the Christmas market in Birmingham. The hustle and bustle of people coupled with the dazzling lights and delicious aromas of food made the night very festive! I had a wonderful time experiencing the city at night with friends.

A highlight of my winter break was also getting to travel to Morocco! Apart from the warmer weather which was definitely a reprieve from the cold winter, I was excited to be able to immerse myself in the beautiful country. Together with friends, I managed to explore Rabat, Fez, the desert in Merzouga and Marrakech. Being able to explore local historical sites in their architectural galore was a visual feast! We also managed to spend a night in the desert and trek using camels, which was a first for me. The experience of trekking through the desert on camels in the night filled with starts with our guides was truly breath-taking.

Now that the new year has started, I hope that I will embrace new opportunities with greater confidence and seek out avenues that will allow me to deepen my relationships with other people. I’m grateful to be able to work collaboratively with other people who challenge and broaden my worldview. Moving on to the new term, I hope to be able to continue my involvement in Warwick beyond the academic realm and gather new experiences!

Iffah Azman : 22 Jan 2018 12:58 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem