School band VIA project

Through this VIA project, I learnt how to develop empathy with a target group I’ve had little experience with, as well as great leadership skills and planning events.

For context, I’m part of the EXCO group in my school’s symphonic band. As part of a school initiative, every CCA had to plan their own Values In Action (VIA) project to showcase their skills, having fun and entertaining those in need. In the background, we had to find a suitable audience to play, which meant sending emails back and forth between various different organisations, in hopes of getting a venue and an audience.

My main role was ensuring the smooth running of the entire event, including transport of band’s members, their instruments and stands, as well as planning an event timeline. In order to do this, we as an exco had to find a bus and lorry in order to transport our heavier equipment to an old folks home. On the other hand, I had to suggest 4 completely new pieces to the band to practice, leading up to the showcase. Whilst balancing band and studies, creating an event timeline was also stressful, due to various time limitations and distance restrictions.

In the end, we decided to play a card game to bond with the elderly on top of that, which meant more learning for the bandsmen who were going to have to teach the elderly how to play. The teachers in charge had also helped us charter the bus and lorry on the backend, so that was really helpful.

In the end, the VIA project to the elderly’s centre ran relatively smoothly, with the event timeline going almost to a tee. Moving of instruments back and forth was the most stressful part because it often takes a long time, however we managed to predict movement time quite well. The performance part of the exchange was also great, since all the band members came prepared with no massive hiccups.

I learnt that good event planning with contingencies makes the difference, especially when timeline is tight and can be unpredictable. Looking back I would’ve done everything the same, however maybe with a bit more thought for the fact that some elderly may not speak English or even Chinese. We had also forgotten to bring face masks to the old folks home, but luckily one of the teachers in charge came prepared.

Looking forward, I would apply these soft skills of responsibility and good management to my future events or projects, since these can be the make or break when it comes to hiring.