ODAC! *poot*

What makes a great CCA?

Great people? Great teachers? Great activities? Or the combination of all three and more?

It always made me wonder, why do Odacians always look forward to ODAC more than almost anything else in school? And this occurs to not only one, but every batch! Some may not say it out openly, but they DO look forward to it.

There must be a reason why the superseniors [alumni] still come back, even just to say hi. Every investiture, we'll see many superseniors turn up, even when the teachers have changed. Neither do many know any of the superjuniors. They still come back, because they still identify with ODAC.

I am sure that the teachers have a big part to play here. Back in secondary school, my CCA had indifferent teachers, which obviously leads to indifferent students, and the downward spiral continues. It was the same in some parts of my army life. Same thing - indifferent people 'up there' led to a sickening chain effect. All very unpleasant.

I have to commend the ODAC teachers for being as dedicated as they are. Mr Lim KW took charge of my batch. He was tough, yet balanced in his approach. No, he didn't really like me =) I guess the most important thing about him was: he had authority. So many people were scared of him, especially those CCA presidents who liked to break the rules. You know, like tucking out their shirts. They FEARED Mr Lim. hahah. But Mr Lim had a soft spot for Odacians. Not that we could flout rules - we knew better. Mr Lim would always have a good joke with us. But we knew when he meant business.

Mr Jae Chia was a funny teacher too. Now, why are ODAC teachers all jokers?! He shared in our conversations, laughed with us; he was really close to us. We thought of him more of a student than a teacher.

Now we have Mr Andrew Chin. Looks like he hasn't lost the child in him =D More soft-spoken compared to the Mr Lim I was used to, but no doubt just as effective.

As it often turns out, Odacians are a great bunch of people to be around. Always with a knack for excitement or just messing around, there's never a dull moment.

I'd read in a magazine some time ago, that happy people weren't those who had the simplest of tasks, but those who participated in moderately challenging activities together. Now that's ODAC.