Unit Enrichment Courses 2021

On 19 March, our Unit held our annual Unit Enrichment Courses. There were two courses: Arts and Craft, and Cooking. With the help of our Teacher Officers and Cadet Inspectors, we learnt many new things. The Arts and Craft group made pencil toppers and fabric bookmarks, while the Cooking group made pizza and rice crispy treats. Overall, it was a very memorable and fulfilling experience!

Below are some reflection pieces by our cadets.

Batch 53

(53+19)/2 Lines of Poem

The time once again is here

and the course we looked forward to

is finally here. 

Unlike years before, there are some restraints.

Some of us did not get our desired choice,

Some of us did not like the SMM

But after all the hard work put in, why should we complain?

Once again,

there is cooking,       there is arts and crafts,

I hope I don’t burn the food this year.       and I wonder what we’re making this year.

though I do wonder with all the COVID restrictions: how are we going to do this?

How “normal” is it going to be?

My worries soon melted away…

Sprinkling cheese on a small dough circle.        Stitching two pieces of felt together,

it looked simple enough,        simply nerve-wrecking,

but my hands still shook.                   while my ma’ams and juniors looked.

How stressful.              Very stressful indeed.

But they seemed happy.

Laughter and chatter filtered through the folds of masks

filled the air with a lively smell

even better than that sugary smell             even fresher than purified air,

that wafts from the ovens                         and overwhelms the room.

Batchmates, ma’ams and juniors,

all chatting, bonding despite the space that separate us;

that invisible boundary that separates everyone in times like these.

Useful tips              and helpful hands

help us learn           and thread the needle

to bind the treats              and stitch up the gaps

with great care and much respect.

Although

our treats are soggy,            and our stitches are wonky,

they make up the most wonderful, perfect day.

Time was really tight     Our works don’t match our design

but the bonding between batches

was the most valuable thing created.

And no pandemic could ever have prevented that.

Batch 54

During Unit Enrichment, we felt very happy as we got to know 52 ma’ams, 53 ma’ams, and 55s better. For sewing, some of our takeaways are that we got to learn a new type of stitch. It also gave us a chance to express our creativity.
One of the challenges we faced was that there were intricate pieces of felt that were harder to sew on, which caused us to constantly prick our fingers while sewing them.
For cooking, we learnt to communicate with our partners and bonded with our squadmates. We got to work on our cooking and learn new recipes that we can share with others.
A challenge we faced was the undercooked food which resulted from us not following the instructions closely.
However, this year’s Unit Enrichment was still a fruitful one and we are looking forward to the one next year.

Batch 55

Cooking: During Unit Enrichment Cooking, we learnt to make rice crispy treats and pizza. For the rice crispy treats, we had to melt the marshmallows and it was very hard to scrub the melted marshmallow away. But it was all worth it to see our final product and feel a sense of accomplishment. For the pizza, it was a new experience for all of us. We had the freedom to add the toppings to our liking and it allowed us to communicate and bond with our squadmates more, especially our partners. The pizzas were very fun to make and we had a blast. With the leftover ingredients, we improvised to whip up our own dishes and it was quite good. We also had to take the initiative to talk to seniors and ask them for help. We enjoyed the process a lot. It was very therapeutic and we were very proud of what we had made.

Arts and Craft: During Unit Enrichment Arts and Craft, we gained many new sewing and embroidery skills. It was challenging at first to pull the thread through the needle and it was difficult working with such small pieces of cloth. However, we persevered and managed to make our very own pencil toppers and bookmarks. We also had the opportunity to express our creativity while enjoying the process. We are very proud of our final product and it was very fun to make them. We enjoyed Unit Enrichment very much! We felt that our first Unit Enrichment was fruitful and we look forward to next year’s one.