Thoughts

It's rather late into the night and I should be sleeping by now but I'm still blogging anw. Because I've a whole mountain full of thoughts in my mind and I need to clear them. I would jolly well appreciate a Pensieve if anyone has one but too bad I'm not Harry Potter. Today Darkroom session was rather rewarding - for the members and me. I guess it felt really good that the members were enjoying themselves alot while learning something new. I finally started to see members chatting up with other members they don't really know. It was rather clique-ish previously and I didn't really like that. I think grouping them up and giving them work to do in groups really helps. :D Today's strength was excellent too. 28 people came for lessons when I was expecting just 20. Hence, I ran out of notes and equipment for them to try out. I finally see majority of the juniors turning up (and with repeated attendence), which is a good sign. :)

Well the reason why I'm typing all these is because I suddenly had a whole lump of thoughts about NJPS while I was trying to read my Normal Distribution math notes. Images of the next Exco-handover suddenly surfaced in my mind. I visualized myself tearing and giving a real emo speech to the entire NJPS. Well...sadly but surely, I'm nearing the end of my Exco term. Exactly 1 month later, after the SNAP Seminar, the juniors will be officially taking over the operation of NJPS. Sometimes, I try to imagine myself being not an Exco but it's just pure impossible. I believe almost all of the current Exco has put in their heart and soul into NJPS and it's just too difficult to imagine ourselves not having weekly meetings and planning any photoshoots/lessons. To be honest, I don't really feel like stepping down at all. I totally love my current position in the Exco. The role of CIP (Chief Photog and Instructor) really gave me alot of freedom & opportunities to improve my photography and gave me a chance to derive pleasure from teaching the juniors (Trust me, I really love the current bunch of juniors we have). It's really unthinkable that in 1 month time, I have to stop all photography related activities and pick up my mugging pen instead. It's insane. I would probably end up popping into the darkroom everyday and sign up for events to cover because it has already been in-built in me.

The reason why I'm not willing to part with NJPS is because the current Exco has really done alot this year to give a total revamp to NJPS and I can't bear to leave all the things we've done behind. Firstly, SNAP! Photography Competition cum Exhibition and Seminar. I bet our immediate seniors wouldn't even have dreamt of getting Nikon as sponsors. I admit that initially (during the early stages of planning) I thought the idea of a Competition+Exhibition+Seminar sounded abit overly ambitious but it's really great to see it coming along really well. Reponse for the Competition was excellent and abit unexpected. Preparation work for the Exhibition is smooth & everything's on schedule (Coincidentally, the school even repainted the I&E hub for our exhibition area...how lucky can we get). Seminar will be a tough logistic challenge but the entire club is working together to make this happen. Secondly, we finally changed our instructor after a draggy last year. The members are learning alot more now and everyone's becoming more committed because of the frequent outings/lessons. Thirdly, I can finally see unity in the club. From a club that has a maximum strength of (what!) 10 per lesson, we can now proudly boast that we have at least 28 out of 37 members attending club activities. Members are interacting with each other so much more and becoming increasingly committed NJPS. And the list goes on...

What I'm trying to say from all these points is that I'm really proud of what we've done so far (and will do in the future) and I'm really thankful to the current Exco for making all these happen. Believe it or not, I wear the NJ Photographic Society family tee with huge amount of pride whenever I cover duties because I know our club is really good and is really committed in doing better. I'm proud that I'm from NJPS because I know we're doing so much more than the other JCs' photog clubs. And we, as members of NJPS, can be proud of ourselves because we know that we put in our best everytime we're set on something.

Although every start has an end, every end has a new beginning. I really hope our juniors can really live up to the legacy the current NJPS has created. You guys must remember never to give up once you all have set your sights on something. Even if it takes up a hell lot of your mugging time or private time. Only through pure commitment to our CCA can our club be better the next year (and many more years to come!). Create a new legacy and, trust me, your future juniors will continue to create many more. Wear your NJPS shirt with pride and be proud of our achievements. Set ambitious aims and work towards them relentlessly. Unite your members and work together as an entire NJPS. Only then will you be able to leave the club at the end of next year with pride, knowing that you've done your best. All the best Exco 09/10.