Round Square Conference 2010 - Steering Committee April 2009 - Oct. 2010

The Worldwide Round Square Conference is an event held once a year annually and participants come from around the world. All members of Round Square organisation usually all try to send delegates this year there were around 800 delegates. Round Square is a philosophy which quite a few school follow which have 6 aspects (pillars) IDEALS (Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership, Service). For approximately 2 years I have been planning for this event and each and every detail as a member of the Steering committee I have seen almost every detail of the conference and contributed to it as much as I can. The planning of the conference would be my biggest and most meaningful activity of all and this is why it will be my final post. 

My objectives of the conference were to meet new people from different cultures and different works of life, create a conference where the theme was emphasized enough that this could've started more service projects, convey a powerful message through different form of stimulus, show myself that I have ability to organize a major event, challenge myself in different ways, discover abilities I never knew I had.

As a team, the responses of the conference were very strong and everyone had a very memorable conference which touched them in so many ways, there were many positive response to everything that happened at the conference and the different aspects of the conference and although our main Pillar we focused Service we managed to incorporate all pillars into the conference. In the personal aspect I believe accomplished so much; far more than I could've ever imagine. I think that I discovered many abilities like behind the scenes work and event planning I've never knew I had. I challenged myself in so many ways that I surprised myself at times when I would conquer these challenges. For example, I consider myself as a somewhat socially awkward person, and find it quite difficult to bond with someone am also quite timid so challenging myself to meet people was a task that quite intimidated me, howeverge I overcame this task by getting enough courage to socialize.

I am proud of what I have accomplished, I know that all challenges that I had set myself were successful and all challenges as a team were successful. I would not change anything from the conference and any action I did with the exception of me being the delegate so I can experience the great Job I did on the conference. I think we were so successful because we worked together so well even though a lot of us were in different year and different ages, our team chemistry was high and everyone was open to constructive criticism, and we usually made collective decision. We were sort of a family, through time we developed bond with each other which is why we were so cooperative with each other.

1 Day LEFT!! apparently one person can't count :)

I think this very long activity developed me into a more confident, competent, cooperative, adaptive leader ; in general I would say all areas of possibly growth increase greatly. It definitely meant a lot to myself because it was so long and we developed bonds with each and we basically was always kept busy juggling our schedule to balance everything and we had to make sacrifices, all to come to the point of completion. This experience for me is an unforgettable one and one I would cherish my whole life. It has also opened a whole lot of doors for me present and future. Knowing I did this gives me the satisfaction of accomplishment, and if I know this I know I can conquer all obstacles to whatever it maybe. 

Senior Games (2011) Feb. 2011

This was my final set of games before I finally retire from being in the Senior Football Team as after I would need to focus on My Exams, so this tournament was very important to me this was also my first game after finishing the conference. The task I aimed to achieve was to finish each match satisfied with my performance. I aimed to socialize a bit more this year as well. To be honest though, I wasn't expecting a podium position finish from my team this year (coach decided that he would put the best into one team, although I reckon if my fitness was on par, I would've been selected for team A)

This year I was selected for team B again, and we weren't a very good team but I wanted to make he best of it because it was my final tournament of the year and playing for the school. So I gave it my 100% in every match but unfortunately this old man fitness level was just to low to keep up with the pace and don't give up attitude failed him at time. Although, These unfortunate moment occurred I did some good moment as well.

communicating with my
 teammate defender

In consideration that I wasn't as fit as I required and wanted I think technically I had a decent game and playing the game was satisfactory too. I think it was my overall fitness that let me down when playing. Therefore, When I finish with IB studies, I have decided to bring my fitness level up during my summer holiday and my gap year. And when I will try getting into my favorite sport again.

This final Tournament was a big deal to me because as football is my favorite sport and playing in the school team for all my secondary life, I wanted a gold medal but I had to make prior decision which lead to prior commitment to other activities this lead me to being dropped from the 1st team and I had to accept the consequences of my action. But I do not regret the decisions I've made because to me studies comes first but sports still stay close to my heart.  The lesson that I would associate with this is mainly don't live life with regrets because as I reflect on this activity knowing how everything lead me to become a Team B player, although I couldn't get the best of both world, I had a choice and took the opportunity that would excel and advance me in future goals. Even though, I didn't get a medal, in make a better prior decision ill get better opportunities in the future. This does help me become content with what I got, because there was a possibility that might not have been able to play. So if I apply this to different situation, I know that an opportunity that closes is another opportunity that open and reflecting on this activity has shown me that.

International Day World Cup (Organizer) Feb. 2011

On International day, there were several events planned for the day, one of the most popular activities included is the International Day World Cup. As I was part of the international day committee and Adventure Pillar leader it was my task to organize this event with Pae Keturman. As he is a close friend it was easy to co-operate with him. Even though the football itself is entertaining its fairly difficult behind the scenes because I had to make sure the leader board was to be updated after each match, get the commentators ready (in terms the microphones and speaker were working), make sure each team arrived on time and etc.

Some Action of the day!!

I wanted the whole event to run smoothly and me and Pae planned it so that everything should've run smoothly. But as we all know, that will never happen when planning event and there were some speed bumps.  Some teams showed up late, even some didn't even show up. I found being an event organizer isn't as easy as I initially thought, partly because I thought I planned everything well and that other people could listen to instructions and keep to their word of actually showing up on time or even at all. I also didn't take into account that I would be as lenient as I was. However, a winner did emerge at the end and my task was over, which was joyous. It did also involve me having to go on stage and announce the winners later on which is always a nerve racking experience.

I feel in the end I did a superb job as this small event organizer, but it was never an easy task for me. I found that sometimes you can always rely on other people with simple instructions therefore next time it either have to be a plan B or I must be more strict on the rules and regulation so that if a team does not listen they are automatically disqualified.

I learn't the struggles of event planning and organizing, it also good to not be so naive in thinking that this task would've been easy. In fact, I think the task would have been easier if I anticipated the worse because I would be prepared if something were to go wrong (which did). I can apply this to numerous situation like friendly surprise party or a corporate dinner which I would be hosting or any like those. It is never wrong the expect the worst, because it would allow us the prepare on what to do but I must have in mind the being optimistic is also a good thing if I can balance them too it would really help myself mentally and possibly physically as well.

Videographer (Cameraman) for Welcome to Thailand opening video Feb 2010 - Oct. 2010

This activity I was basically the cameraman/ director which got all the footage for The 'Welcome to Thailand opening Video'. I have a passion for creating videos and this was an opportunity for me to improve on these skills and productively communicate a message in the conference as well. My objectives included gaining experience in videoing as this may relate to my future profession in term of possibly advertising, TV/ Film /Radio production, Public Relation or anything relevant to communications. I also wanted to send a very important message (The theme of the conference; We Walk Together) to the participants of the conference in this form of the media and I had vision what the video should look like and tried my best to keep to my vision.

Everyone loved the finished video, I had collaborated with Mr. Graeme Kennedy in devising and creating the video. Although most editing did come from him, I think that he both had a similar vision and thought we where very successful in making our vision come true. I also am happy that I got to use and gain more experience as a cameraman and this will definitely help and put me at an advantage compared to other people doing a degree in communications.

We did encounter a few problem, the main problem was that there was a point of time where it seemed that we didn't have enough footage to create our vision but we overcame this by getting some last minute videoing and we pushed it to the very last second but we did manage to get through.

This activity in particular mean't a lot to me because I was basically the mastermind behind all the ideas which was included in the video. I was also the person who came up with the idea of making a video for opening ceremony and the main idea of the video. So I was the person that came up with the idea and soon later Mr. Kennedy came on board. This was kind of my own semi-private project so I felt like I accomplished a lot after this was all done.

I can take my experiences from this activity into my studying for future career and I also get the experience of owning and managing a project like this which will be also very helpful in my future potential career. It seems by the title that the project doesn't seem so important however, it was one of the most significant tasks I could have been doing throughout the whole CAS experience. And this sense of accomplishment will forever stay with me and no one can take that away from me.

Baan Jing Jai Center Service day Oct. 2010

"Bann Jing Jai is an orphanage in Pattaya Thailand which houses 60 orphaned children, children who without the care and attention of the workers would no doubt be street children and sold into the sex industry the children range from 9 months to 17 years and am happy to be a part of this cause." - Baan Jing Jai Facebook page (made by supporter of the project)


For a day I had the fortunate opportunity to Join these kids for a day and painted the building a much brighter creamy pink colour. To know where these kids would've been heading if this center didn't exist, it just makes me appreciate more the life I was extremely fortunate to have with parents who give me the love and care and who are financially stable. I can't be begin to get close to imagining what these kids would be  going through, if they weren't saved by Baan Jing Jai Center.


Our objective of the day was to bring some brightness to the center of Baan Jing Jai, originally it was dark orange colour, and we painted it a creamy pink colour. This was for only half the day, for the send part, they taught us how to make some of these really nice looking bracelet which they sold to get some money for the orphanage. We also got to converse with them and have a bit of fun.


We were very successful terms of our objectives, I think we covered most of the building with our bright paint and the kids had a blast with us. We did run into some difficulties in terms of painting the building the surface was very dirty if it was quite tedious cleaning it up but as a team we got through it and we completed the task.


The activity was special to me because it made me appreciate how fortunate I am to have such good parents who are wealthy enough to give me good education, food, shelter, clothes and anything I could ask for. To help the people who don't get the same thing I get, its nice and I feels that as a species it is our duty to help the ones in need. 


I learnt a bit about painting like that we suppose to mix paint with thinner in order to get that glossy finish and a more permanent surface. but I also got the opportunity to learn how to make their cool bracelets.


I can apply painting for the future when I get my own place and renovation need to happen or when I want to get thing done by myself. Learning how to make the bracelet even though I probably won't need that skill in the future, it does give me some experience in working with these very tedious techniques and in the future any task similar to that won't be a overwhelming and difficult to grasp.

Kiteboarding Lessons Nov. 2009

Click image to view the company's Official Website

My objectives were to successfully learn how to kiteboard; learn to operate the kite, how to land launch, how to water launch, safety features, theory behind the kite and riding the board.
The course is a 3-day course which should be able to bring me to at least IKO (International Kiteboarding Organisation) level 1 Certified. During the course, I learnt with to kiteboard with another person as this was the cheaper option. Therefore, I would only get half the time with the instructor.

I believe I was able to complete the task having been able to get on the board and fly the kite around for few seconds before having crashed the kite. I think as time passed I started getting the hang of it and started changing that few seconds into few minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't get time to be able to increase that time and I never was able to go switch or do any airs.

The difficulties I encountered were rather minor and quite quick to overcome. This included mainly operation of the kite; the different moves required in flying the kite took some time to conquer because these concept were new to me and estimating when to turn the kite had to take me a bit of attempts to master the feeling, but my determination to get it right and ability to adapt to different situation quickly found this easy once a few successful tries. I did have to share the instructor with another student and this slowed me down because at times I had just observe however, to some extent it helped because I not only learnt from my mistakes but his mistakes as well (a concept that he didn't grasp too well). During the time I was doing the course, the water was infested with jelly fish, although protected and these were baby and harmless creatures there were an absolute irritation (at times got the best of me and lost my concentration).

Compared to the other student, I think I was more prepared and more enthusiastic for the sport. I think this is what in the end made me able to learn more and become more successful in being able to kiteboard than him. Although, he was a nice man, he did tell me about himself I got a small sense of his culture (Indian) in a way of his career (Bollywood). I think this activity mean't a great amount to me because it was a new experience and is a sport that is filled with excitement, adrenaline, euphoria, happiness, innovation and so much more all at the same time. This sport is now one of my favourite sport, although it been a while since I last kiteboarded, I do wish to continue kiteboarding after my exams.

One of the most useful thing I learnt from the activity is the power of not just learning from one own mistakes but improve upon and learn from other peoples mistakes. This point of view seems so clear but by doing the activity it became so much clearer how effective it is. This can be applied to any situation relevent to this situation and I am 100% this will be an extremely useful tool in the future.

Currently, I am planning to try promote this relatively new sport by just kiteboarding and encouraging others to try but After I finish my IB I intend to become a qualified IKO certified instructor where I would be able to teach the values and experiences my instructor gave me.

Pattaya to Phi Phi Challenge June 2010

My objectives were to raise money for charity, get 25 times around the oval (10,000 meters) and as collective travel the distance from Pattaya to Phi Phi Island. This event was organized by the PE department of The Regents School. Any money collected would go to charity Koh Phi Phi Laem Tong Resource center project from the Monten Sea gypsy village. This event Kind of came out of no where so I quickly assembled to team, we were aloud to skateboard, Cycle, roller blade, run and swimming. 

It was a tough event especially taking a toll on my overall fitness but I managed to just complete the task of 10,000 meters. As a collective, we completed The pattaya to Phi Phi challenge quite quickly in in fact in the space of 4 hours we had done this 5 times back and forth, making a total distance travelled of 6,171 km. We also raised quite a lot for the Koh Phi Phi project. 

In my personal goal of perseverance and determination to go 25 times around the oval was a tough challenge for me but I kept going when I thought I couldn't go no more and in my final 2 laps I suddenly had a burst of energy and ran to the finish my goal with a strong finish. I didn't run into any particular difficulties except the challenge itself wasn't so easy. 

The activity shows how perseverance and determination can overcome challenges and obstacles. The attitude of never giving up can only be within us and if we don't embrace this we won't feel success because they is no such thing as an easy task and if so then you're not doing well. Going through the pain and persevering makes the accomplishment that much sweeter. I can take this lesson learn't into mentality of anything I set my mind on and as an ambitious young man to get the mentality to succeed.

MC's for 'Welcome to Thailand Ceremony' and 'We Express Together Evening' Oct. 2010

The Welcome to Thailand Ceremony Thailand Ceremony is an important event since it is the first presentation everyone will see and it'll probably determine the mood of everyone before the hard work everyone gets in therefore I think it was a very important job to be an MC for. The "We Express Together Evening" was considered one of the peaks of the conference and to be an MC was an absolute joy. I managed to be a part of some of biggest evening of the whole conference.

I believe I challenged myself by going for the fairly difficult task because being MC in a not so formal scene made more difficult because I had to convey a sense of comfort and liveliness people would want to see and wake up for, as well as get excited, as oppose to a more formal scene were it would be perfectly scripted. In a less formal event I think as an MC you need to show your personality because the audience react well to that (at least seemingly to me), and this kind of put me in more uncomfortable position because it shows some vulnerability. The aim was of taking up this mammoth of a task was to gain experience speaking to a large audience of people I've not met before. In the long run, I think it good for me to continue gaining experience because one day I hope to be successful enough to be able to be a motivational speaker, and inspire people, young or old to go out and challenge themselves.

The problems I ran into was that at time the nerves got to me and I made a few mistakes, having a co-host MC who was confident on stage (which I might add has acting training and sings in band) really made me look like an amateur at it. However, I did not let my flaws get me down, prepared my courage and did the best I can. I really like the support people gave me afterwards even though I mad few mistakes.

The outcomes are that I have experienced the feeling of public speaking in front of large amount of people and even though there were few mistakes on my part, I believe that overcoming the fear is much harder than getting what you're going to say right because you can always improve your communication skills but unless you get over the fear you would always have a limitation.

For the record, I did assist with the organizing of We Express Together Evening because it was crucial that I knew the order which people performed and the little time we had to prepare it was absolutely necessary to collaborate with other organizing members. And I had to give up one of my service days to create an ' 'assistance script', just in case that me or the other MC (who did go to their service project). I believe, I deserved a bit more credit than awarded, however, I think of myself as not a selfish person and as long as I know I did an excellent job, no credit is necessary.

JUMP! Leardership training Program July 2010

The JUMP! Leadership training program itself is a self empowerment program which is designed to make us better leaders. the main aim for myself was to improve my skills as a leader in particular my communication skills. As a team, we designed our own self improvement course, however, The Jump facilitators taught us the required skills we needed for improvement. They did this, through series of activities which was designed to test us and help improve our cooperative and communication skills.

Click on image to go to JUMP! Foundation official website

Partners with JUMP! Foundation
Click image to view photos and article

The outcomes we wished to happen was improve on leadership skills that we lacked in or had difficulty in performing in. My personal outcomes was to improve in keeping discussions flowing and using everything under control. I believe we were extremely successful in completing our objectives because we put our facilitating abilities to the test when it was our turn to teach our valuable knowledge to the barazza leaders, I found it quite a unique experience because I've not really put new knowledge into practical use in such little space of time. It definitely showed myself how much I really learnt.

The difficulty I came across was deciding with group what our strengths and weaknesses were, as I feel my public speech skill are moderately good I felt I should've focused on something else, however as team we had to compromise and I thought that the team would benefit from improving on public speech. The activities the JUMP! foundation made for us were also quite challenging we in the end managed to complete majority of the task.

I thought this course was a must do experience because these powerful lessons and activities made me better leader and at mean't a lot to myself because I could apply the lessons learn't to different aspects of my life like school work or self study or keeping healthy or self improvement. I feel as long as I keep to what I learn't on the course I could always improve. After the program, I am a stronger person spiritually, intellectually and emotionally.

Try living connected to 6 other people!!

Throughout the whole program, I challenged myself the whole time and I was constantly focused on the tasks in hand. The program was designed to make us global citizen and better leaders and this can be applied to many aspects of my life; too much for me to mention but I'll never forget this experience.

Go Team Regents!!

Jesters Fair 2010 Sept. 2010

Me manning the booth...
I'm the one with the white shirt and red towel

My main aim of the activity was to be in the booth selling the tickets because I haven't done this job in the previous years and wanted more responsibility so I would be in charge of the money and the social work. I was at the ticket booth for most of the day and gained some valuable experience with this. The Regents booth aimed to raise as much money as they could and in order to give us a higher chance of raising more we separated into different activities; penalty shoot out (most popular activity), The Regents Community partners merchandise was sold, building goal post challenge. This was done so we can target more people into the stall to raise more money.

In the end, we raised quite a lot of money for Jesters. The exact number, I'm not sure of however it didn't matter because I think what we had done had helped someone in need. I also managed to gain some experience in the ticket booth, but my biggest difficulty came when unhappy man came to ask for his money back, surprisingly I managed to convince this man to just give it to charity and would go to a good cause, as this man was quite intimidating I was actually quite proud of myself and found this a test of my courage. I did, however, learn a lot from the experience.

Some other booth employees!!!

I believe that the activity is aimed to help other people other than myself, and it doesn't necessarily have to be direct or in direct as long as action is taken. It does mean a lot to me that I could change somebodies life by doing such a simple job. I learn't to work collaboratively with each activity coordinator so that I could direct the people to they're desired designated activity.

The experience of this activity could be helpful in the future by giving me confidence in dealing with unhappy customers and be more organised to direct people effectively and efficiently.

Round Square Conference 2010 - Design Display Activity April 2010 - Oct. 2010

I wanted to create art pieces which were aesthetically pleasing and relevant to the conference. My personal objective was to create and design something I would be proud of. I intended in trying new medium that I've have little or no experience using. Initially, I wanted to make a more digital graphic art piece, however, the size that was required was far too large for a printed digital version therefore I first made a digital design which was better because rather than starting over again I could just make any amendments  then and there. This was good because it gave me the ease of taking it slow and patiently so that I could make a better art piece.

Final Digital Design

After I was satisfied with a design, it would be replicated to scale on the bigger canvas. As a team in this activity, I think everyone did a tremendous job and anywhere people could help out they did so the whole piece in itself wasn't just an individual piece but a collaborative effort. I believe when it was time for the artworks to be displayed, many people viewing each piece really enjoyed it.



Personally, I was more proud of my digital design because my skills a graphic designer are fairly amateur but I have the desire to improve on this tough skill. I think this skill will also help me in my future career and aspirations. Looking at the amount of time I had and the fairly complex idea I had, I'm glad everything came together at the end. I think it was a successful project and it definitely challenged myself is more ways that one, for example, I am more of a designer who likes to work by himself and what everything done right  for me to allow another individual to help me tested me on my trust towards other people.

Another digital piece I designed

I find this task very meaningful because of the future prospects of my career I wish to peruse and the many various skill I improved on the be large steps to becoming a better artist in the future. I liked the fact that there are unorthodox ways to fixing a problem like scaling up my tiny design we used a projector and traced the outline, in art the projector typically isn't used to do these kind of things.

I believe that this concept of integration into other situation is great because I think that unconventional ways of solving problems may sometimes be some of the best solutions, and a world so fixated on sticking to the norms sometimes something out of the ordinary can be just the right 'cup of tea'.

The real design up on the wall (it is slightly
different to the digital design)

Cross Bay Swim 2009 Nov. 2009

Rotary Club of Jomtien - Pattaya Thailand
 (CLICK image to go to official website)

My objectives was to complete the swim and place in the top half, raise at least 1,500 Baht in sponsorships. The cross-bay swim is a popular event in Pattaya organised by Pattaya's Rotary Club which the money raised would go to charity. Swimmers have the choice of swimming across the whole bay (3.5km) or half the bay (1.5 km). I decided to do the shorter 1.5 km because in previous years I did the 3.5 km and I was completely exhausted and this year I felt my fitness level weren't up to par therefore I made the logical choice of going for the shorter swim as I would still be part of the swim and I could help charity as well. however, I did set myself the goal of placing top half of the swimmers so I could push myself to the limits.

In the end, I manage to surprise myself and had placed quite high which mean't it was a very successful race. I placed in top 15 which compared to the amount of swimmers; I was top 5 %. At the same time I managed to also exceed my goal of raising 1,500 Baht; I raised an extra 1,000 more Baht (making a total of 2,500).

The body of the next Micheal Phelps
(before he took the drugs though)

Raising the amount of sponsorships I made was not an easy task for myself, and found it quite challenging as it tested my social skills, in term of asking for donation. I feel quite uncomfortable in doing so especially from strangers, and quite often I was very hesitant in to ask for donation, but I managed to overcome this obstacle and raised a significant amount of sponsorships.

I believe the the skills I used and improved upon would be beneficial in the future as I believe that in the future I would get involved in charity work and would require similar or the same skills used in this activity. through improvement of these skills I can now get more comfortable and less hesitant in asking for donations. In terms of swimming, I learn't if motivated enough and have the will power to succeed, it sometimes possible to surprise yourself. And not to mention the activity helped me keep a balanced life style as I did some previous training prior to the event which kept me quite healthy.

Round Square Conference 2010 - Glove Dance group Oct. 2010

Regents Round Square Conference 2010 - WE WALK TOGETHER
(Click on the image to go to official website)

Our aim was to create a performance which told a story and conveyed a message of our theme of the conference. I personally aim not to muddle up the dance moves and to work cooperately with others. Our dance would be shown at the informal opening ceremony in front of about 700 people. The activity tested my ability to perform in front of large amount of people especially when I’m not a trained dancer and not particularly good with coordination, the task was not an easy task to accomplish. However, in the end through hard and dedication, me and the rest of out that we did such a good job that we performed the glove dance again another 4 times at different dates. As a team, we did a fantastic job and we cooperated as a unit which why I believe why we were successful and everyone did their part in the contribution of the dance. I think this activity was a bonding experience, as a team we would normally bond through conversation but I think the dance is what really brought us together as one. Without this experience, I believe I wouldn’t be as close to some people I know now than if I hadn’t be close to some people I know now than if I hadn’t done this performance. I learnt that in order to work well as a team there must be good chemistry without the bond the functionality of the team would highly be inefficient. I could apply this into other situation which requires cooperation between team members.

The glove dance performance we did!!!