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YSaturday, April 12, 2008
Yay Project Work Labels: Musings
Oh joy! Project Work results are out.
A hearty congratulations to HCJC, for achieving the very outstanding result of 98% distinction for this very important subject.
Yes, that is not a typo. 98% Distinction. Seems just a tad excessive, wouldn't you say? Is it really possible that out of say, 1000 students, 980 had highly commendable work? That they all presented their unique ideas with charisma, and engaged their examiners with witty banter? Yes, it is possible, just like how it is possible that one day I will be bitten by a radioactive spider, gain superpowers, and I'll put on revealing tights and swing around the city at night, dealing with thugs and evil dudes. But then I'll get arrested for leaving all that web behind, dirtying our beautiful garden city with my gross stick discharge. That sentence came out wrong.
Spiderman could never live in Singapore.
Then again, maybe I'm just pretty damn jealous because I didn't get an A myself. I got B. But to be honest, I didn't really know what was going on, even until the very end. And I was the freaking group leader. It's not just me. Many people were the same. We all wandered around the school campus, muttering to ourselves, 'I don't know what the hell I'm doing'. All I knew was that I was glad when our OP, the final exam for PW, was over. I also know that I laughed at the J1s when they were told this year that it was their turn to do PW.
But the thing is that even amongst the classes at ACJC, the PW results varied greatly. There were some which had like 24/28 getting distinction, others with half the class getting the A, then my class with 2 getting the coveted result. That was awesome. It's not like my class is dumb. We're not. Really.
Perhaps I'm just being some crappy sour grapes. HwaChong students probably worked hard, and really deserved their As. Congratulations to them.
But getting a distinction is not really the point. Whether we have learned any new important skills after having been through PW, now that is the real point. Being really good at playing SuperMario isn't really very useful, but then again, it is a skill. Many people that I've talked to don't really know what they taken back from all this. I can think of a few things I've learned. The first is to bullshit. Because that's what PW is about. The second is Leadership. The third is working as a group. And the fourth is... wait, that's about it.
Yes. PW has imparted a few skills to me. However, I believe that all these skills can be taught much better in many other ways. Bullshitting, you learn that while interacting with your friends. Leadership can be developed through CCAs. Working as a group, CCAs as well. The thing is, ACJC has already had it's own PW for many many years. In fact, this year was the 19th year it has been carried out, compared to the 5 or so that the A Level subject was introduced. I feel that I really learned a lot from ACJC's PW, also known as Fun-O-Rama.
Oh man, you really learn a lot from Fun-O-Rama. Dealing with bullshit, other people, and other people's bullshit. And you actually carry out the project, so it's not all just planning and planning, it's also practical. Sure, you're being used by the school, and you're forced to neglect your studies for a bit, but earning money for the school does make you feel warm inside. The Fun-O-Rama atmosphere is really something very special. There's nothing like it. Wait for the one two years from now.
So anyway, what is the point of Project Work? It doesn't seem to fill in any niche. It's just there, filling no purpose, like the dude who you don't like, but you don't object to him hanging out with you, but you don't really pay much attention to him either.