I gave a NSF engagement session to secondary school students.

I was invited by my secondary school as part of the alumni who have served NS to share about my own experience and takeaways.

Being someone who completed national service 3 years ago, I honestly felt out of place to talk about national service. Imagine talking about fitness after you gained 10kg during university. However, thinking back at the experiences and learnings I gained through my old secondary school, I felt I should give back in any way I could :)

As I thought about what are some pointers I can share to secondary 4/5s, I had to make sure that it is engaging and visual in order to capture (at least some) attention. This is in consideration of 1. them preparing for their upcoming prelims, 2. their national service being at least 2 years later. And so, I added pictures, stories to tell, visuals to imagine & relate to my experiences/thoughts. I segmented these students into 3 categories: Those that have interest in serving the nation, those that are neutral, and those that really don't want to serve. With that, I catered my takeaways accordingly.

One thing that I took away from this experience was, don't be afraid to try out new experiences. It can make you uncomfortable, it puts you out of your comfort zone. Its precisely because of this that lets us grow into a better person! Maybe I might embarrass myself. So what? Similar to the work that I'm currently doing, what matters is not what others might think. Its the value I am giving to them, and the experiences I gained.

I hope to get opportunities like this again!