experiential learning

I feel that I've learnt a lot this week. It's been amazingly hectic and
mentally taxing, but now that I have the time to sit down and think
about it, I'm kinda glad I went through that experience.



because we're leaving for thailand next week, there was a lot of stuff
that had to be done the last few days. As one of the platoon
appointment holders, I had to run around a lot, trying to settle the
platoon stores and numerous other details. And because my fellow
appointment holder had a tendency to deflect arrows my way, the job was
a lot more challenging than it should have been.



still, like I said, it's been a great learning experience. I've learnt
quite a bit about other ppl: my instructors, the wing support
personnel, and my fellow platoon mates. I've learnt to dislike some of
them because of their laziness, ineptitude or other negative traits.
Similarly, I've found people whom I'm glad are around, because of their
ability, helpfulness, or sense of humour. Just finding out how vastly
different the values and mindsets of diff people are has been in itself
a valuable lesson.



I've learnt a lot about myself: how I react to pressure from
instructors, lack of sleep and other stresses. I've found that I have
to be more confident, and less crabby, uptight and impatient, and
to learn to be able to delegate/arrow jobs to others; it's kinda
sobering to find that I'm not capable enough to be able to do everything.



and finally I think I'm starting to understand why people can actually
like being an officer. It's not about giving orders, but more about
having your orders obeyed because your platoon is willing to follow
you. There's a tremendous source of satisfaction when things go well
with the platoon, because that means you're doing your job right, and
making a positive impact on the lives of the people under your charge.
It makes all of the frustration and fatigue worth it.



the last week has been stressful. It has been full of frustration - at
people and at the system. At times, it has been thoroughly depressing.
But now that I'm looking back, it's ultimately been a worthwhile
experience. After all, it's always good to be learning something.