It took a while, but I hope it was worth the wait.

(I couldn't find the picture of the Ambassadors full strength, so maybe next time!)

For probably umpteen times, I have complained about the inconvenience of returning to school during the holidays, having not enough time to complete my assignments(especially since I have 3 due this week and a test) and staying back at school till like 9PM (which is late for me cause it's already 10-11PM by the time I reach home) just for its prep.

Even during the 3 days, it was crazy tiring because everyone had to stand and run around for about 10 hours straight (I mean it no kidding), with only a 15 minutes break in between for our lunch. You'd think that we have shifts but nooooo. Anything lesser than 150 Ambassadors is not enough to entertain the crowd of 19000 odd. At the end of each day, everyone is just so starved with aching feet and yet, we only have "13 hours to eat, sleep and rest" - as said by the OIC - before the reporting time of the next day. 

At the end of Day 1, I was thinking how I was gonna get by the next two days. At the end of Day 2, I had a terrible sunburn but I was feeling much better about myself, because I knew I tried harder than the day before. At the end of Day 3, the sense of accomplishment and the various compliments on social media platforms really made my day, and I'm pretty sure it did too for the other Ambassadors. Many of the seniors kept saying "For the year 1s, I hope your first Open House Experience has taught you what it really means to be an Ambassador" and at the end of these three days, I perfectly understood the message that they were trying to convey. 

On many occasions, I wondered why I decided to become an Ambassador. I know that many wants to become one, and I know that it wasn't easy to get in because I myself didn't exactly breeze through all three interviews. But before you start hating on me for having these thoughts, I should mention that the commitment is a hell lot. I thought I could handle it easy but after a while, it was starting to take a toll on me. 

But after my Open House experience, I think I found my answer after going through all that struggles with fellow committee members and forging stronger friendships with other fellow Ambassadors who were just mere acquaintances before. It might not be a whole lot, but they are people whom I'd like to keep for the long run, and possibly more. Although RED Camp didn't do the job for me, my first Open House experience has.

It's just like Sofi (@dreamspells) said on her instg: 

"Student: Isn't Ambassadors like crazy busy?

Me: Yea it is but you gain a family out of it, so it's all worth it."

And then again, it's also just like what the seniors and Ping Ping have been conveying over the past few debriefs.

"I hope you feel this sense of pride when you're wearing your Ambassador duty attire and your badge."

And I do. I'm proud to be a Ngee Ann Poly Ambassador.