Competing as a block has never been an easy task. Working as a group means you have to agree with one idea and you really have to work as one.
At first, I was not really motivated in this kind of task because I know that we have different personalities and perception that might lead us to conflicts and misunderstandings. But we have no choice so we have to do it anyway. First, we decided who our leader is going to be. At first no one wants to do it but in the end, Beca ended up volunteering together with Gem as her assistant leader. They asked us and to come up with the lyrics for the cheer by asking each and every one of us to write poem related to the theme which is is "The Challenges and the opportunities building the SOMA and SOE student blocks."
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We are practicing really hard. I know there are times that we're having trouble in terms of the synchronization, the voice quality, the movements, the gestures, and especially the memorization of the cheer. Some of us is having hard time catching up because I know that not everyone in good in this kind of competition, but at least they're trying. It's better trying than doing nothing.
As we practice along the way, this happens all the time where we can't really fully trust each other. While we're discussing our lives and differing views and opinions, we observe an action, behavior, or comment that causes us to perceive a threat. Our minds immediately jumps to "protect and defend mode." Our minds fill with assumptions in an attempt to make sense of the situation and make ourselves feel better. I think it's just natural. If we let those assumptions run rampant, though, we can create a lack of safety in our groups, invent false stories that become the basis for our interactions, and, ultimately, lose the ability to love and care for our group members well. I can never forget the part when we talked as a group about our feelings and comments about the cheer. Some of us opened up their feelings about their concerns which really made me happy because that honesty and trust made us stronger as a block.
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We poured all our hearts, effort and dedication as we performed at the competition. At that time, I know with 100% certainty that everyone on our class was fully committed to the team and would do whatever it takes to beat our opponents. We counted on each other as teammates and we all did a great job. The feeling is almost magical – together we felt invincible. It was probably the most motivating feeling I’ve ever felt. We placed 2nd runner up in the competition. We're really happy because we won. We won because of each and everyone of us worked as one. Like as we said in our cheer, "We may not strike gold, but honor we will hold." An honor to prove our block as one of the best!
The strength of our camaraderie is one of the most thing that I won't ever forget. The camaraderie formed by everyone during this time will surely last a lifetime, and have an enduring, exceptional effect on the rest of our lives. I believe that power of camaraderie can change you more than you first think.