BGIC IX Crisis Committee - 4 hours (S)

As this would be not only my final year at ISB, but also my final chance to participate in BGIC, I wanted to do one last thing with the Conference. The opportunity presented itself for me to be a part of the new crisis committee, whose purpose was to think of a problem - the crisis - which would be presented, without warning, to the delegates. They would then have about an hour to agree on an action plan to counter this crisis.

The Committee planning session in final preparations

This year, the committee decided on a dramatic crisis: Iran declared that it would push on with its nuclear program, with the possibility of developing nuclear weapons in the future. As such, it had left the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Dressed in a suit with bodyguard and secretary, I stormed into the delegate's committee, looking nothing like an Iranian, to give a short question and answer session. Overall, I think it was a spectacular success, despite the delegates' disbelief in some of our acting.

Uncle’s Business - 7 hours (S)

My uncle Stuart runs his own modest accountancy in a small country town in the south of Australia, and when I went to stay with him and my cousins during the 2010  March holidays, I was put to good use. I had come during a busy period, so I had lots to do: opening,organising, photocopying, and filing letters; helping Stuart convince his clients on certain points (sometimes he needed some help explaining things to them) and most importantly, troubleshooting the new accountancy software on his computers. All in all, I was apparently useful more often than I simply got underfoot, and it gave a small taste of the office life - something I've since decided is not really for me.

Kid’s Activities at the RBYC 5 hours (S)

A friend of my family, Gray Wilson, was asked by the Royal Brunei Yacht Club to help organise and run a few Kids' Activity Days over a holiday, and he came to me to see if I could help him in turn. Together we planned games, races, sailing activities and plenty of fun things to do with the kids over the two afternoons. It was fun for us, as well, and the kids enjoyed it immensely.

Quiz Night Marking - 3 hours (S)

To help with the annual ISB quiz night, several Year 13 students volunteered to mark the answered sheets. This proved to be harder than it sounded, and were swamped, causing more than one delay during the event. By the end, we had a much better understanding of what teachers go through after every mock exam.

ISB BGIC XIII Committee Chairing - 8 hours (S)

ISB’s annual international issues conference, based on Model United Nations groups, is always one of my favourite parts of the year. Ever since the first time I was involved as a lowly floor secretary in year 8, I have been fascinated with the Conference. I endeavoured to be a part of it every year, getting as deeply involved in this wonderful event as I can.

Myself and my co-chair during debate

Since this would be the last year I would have the opportunity to participate, I tried to do as much as I could during the 2010 conference. While before I had been a floor secretary, a helper, or a delegate, this year I volunteered to be a committee chair, an important role. Along with my co-chair, I would be in charge of nearly 40 delegates, guiding them as they learnt all they would need to know to participate.

This involved weekly meeting, where we brushed up on our knowledge of parliamentary procedure, the rules and guidelines surrounding BGIC, and the changes which had been made at the end of last year’s conference, which turned out to have a major impact on how debate flowed. After several weeks of learning and remembering, we were finally deemed ready to unleash at our committees. 

My committee: EcoSoc Forum 1

There followed several days of intense, if somewhat amateurish debate from the delegates, which my co-chair and I helped guide and shape. Eventually, we produced three resolutions which continued into the General Assembly; only one of which passed there. 

International Day Haunted House(s) - 14 hours (S)

This CAS activity was actually TWO activities: the first seven hours came from the organisation and running of the haunted house in 2009, and the rest of the hours were gained during the haunted house I helped run for ISB's International Day in 2010. Both experiences were roughly similar - a few hours of planning and preparation in the following weeks and days, then many more hours standing in a dark, creepy haunted house in a mask and costume hoping to scare the customers. If I'm entirely honest, I think I was more successful in scaring people during the 2009 Haunted House - that year we were in charge of the junior haunted house, so they were all a lot easier to scare.

Amnesty International ISB - 3 hours (S)

This small group of people did some fund-raising work for AI missions including a carwash. In addition, there were several informative sessions about the problems faced by many people in the modern world.