A journey to success begin with a helping hand.

Dato' Peter Ng briefing En. Rusli when the guest-of-honour visited the UCSI University booth.

With perseverence and teamwork, we made it!

Kuala Lumpur, 16 January 2011 - “I’ve been refreshed, renewed and re-bonded!”, “Thanks Freshman Camp 2011 for the wonderful friendships!”, “I miss Freshman Camp”. These were the testimonials from fellow campers of the UCSI University Freshman Camp 2011. 

Held at the Dusun Eco Resort in Bentong, the 2nd UCSI University Freshman Camp 2011 met with a resounding response from 131 students who had rallied together to bond for fun. 

The effervescence among the campers was evident even from Day One. Despite coming from different nationalities, faculties and backgrounds, the campers’ deafening cheers accelerated the groups’ bonding for a solid foundation of great teamwork for the ensuing days. 

Awaking much earlier than the facilitators themselves on Day Two, the excited campers congregated at 6.15am for the morning race to the hilltop to win points for their groups. 

Aside from the Eco Park Races 1 and 2 as Day Two highlights, there were also the Obstacle Courses, Rafting and Hanging Bridge to test the groups’ physical prowess. The teams demonstrated excellent teamwork as they cheered each other towards completing the courses and conquering their height phobia. 

Their next challenge was preparing for the Talent Night entertainment performances to the theme of ‘Change’ and the workshop, Evolving You. 

The Workshop elicited positive responses from the students. Ms Amy from the SDCU gave a talk on Change, and moving out of one’s comfort zone. Day 2 ended with the game “Friend Request Accepted”, done amidst much laughter as the campers established friendships with each other. 

Day Three began with a hearty “nasi lemak” breakfast to introduce the international students to a local dish. Then, there was a networking game that required a high level of teamwork as each member concentrated on balancing a ping-pong ball on tubes. Despite several failures, members were stimulated to succeed for their groups. 

This final camp day ended with a Student Forum which enabled students to know the Student Council and be familiarised with the upcoming university events. 

However, it was the camp’s last sharing session which warmed everyone’s hearts. The campers’ touching testimonials and heartfelt gratitude, as described in ‘We came to camp as strangers and are going back as friends’ touched the hearts of both campers and committee alike. True to the words of the Camp Song sung at the end, “We were strangers, starting out on a journey...Now here we are, I’m suddenly standing, at the beginning with you” summed up the feelings of Freshman Camp 2011 campers perfectly: everyone returned Refreshed, Renewed and Re-bonded!