“I am going to release it slowly to you” were the very last words heard, before a bolting shock struck the hearts of both Genevieve and Huda. Both are active members in the Documentation team and of course passionate with how the whole Unspoken event is piecing itself together with all the teams working fervently. It would have been a shame if such a passion had not been caught and been put to good use, don’t you agree?
Let me begin their story with a predicament that we, as the Unspoken committee are currently in. You see, while we are organising this event, we are also students. And what better way to spell education with E-X-A-M. Oops…forgot to include another letter. E-X-A-M-S. That sounds more accurate. So yes, we are inching towards two impending examinations. One for working in healthcare settings, the other for working in correctional settings. Guess who is our lecturer for correctional? That’s right, it is none other than the same lecturer who is coordinating our efforts to present to you Unspoken, Saras!
One can expect that the both ours and Saras’ current week schedule have been plagued with consultations, drama rehearsals, team meetings and intensive study. (If you listen closely, you can hear the sobs of the teams backstage) So Genevieve, we call her Gen, and Huda were not an exception. Having still not recovered from their state of perplexed shock, Gen quickly told me their story:
“So right…last Thursday, I received a text message from Saras who is checking if I was still in school. I did not know what particularly drew her attention to call me out. To my utter surprise, after checking with Huda, we both found out that we received the same text. Could this be mere coincidence? We don’t know and we’re afraid. What have we done? Are we in deep trouble for something we were ignorant of? Over the long weekend, we allowed this incidence to fade from our memories as we conveniently both arranged for a consultation with Saras this Tuesday."
“As we entered her office for a consultation prepared with questions to ask her regarding the correctional examination, she warmly yet oddly welcomed us with a, “Okay good, both of you are here, great, take a seat”. Horror is the most fitting word to describe our emotional being upon knowing that Saras was unusually looking forward to seeing us. Saras continued, “I am going to release it slowly to you, you know that I formerly mentioned that I would be selecting two overall ICs for the Unspoken event…well…you both are selected…”
Pin.
Drop.
Silence.
Gen continued, “And then Huda couldn’t contain her sanity any longer as she broke out into fits of nervous chuckles. I had to check if she had a fever, just in case, you know. We both were very shocked and we are pretty much still in the same state of mind till now. When we both left the office, Huda exclaimed to me, “But I’m just an awkward potato!”
So that was how Huda and Genevieve are officially commissioned by Saras to be the overall in-charge for the Unspoken event. I probed further with more questions about their expectations and they responded:
“We hope to lead the event well and that things go as smoothly as possible on the day itself. Our responsibility as overall ICs is indeed a heavy one. We need to know the entire program flow of our event from the very set-up beginning to the pack-up end. We are also to make wise informed decisions or provide accurate information on the event day if someone were to approach us for help. Hence our decision-making skills need to be honed ready and sharp. We currently need to follow up with the other 4 teams within the Unspoken committee and update ourselves on all the work they had been doing. We are tasked to have a clear big-picture idea of how our event is piecing together and executed. One immediate challenge we faced was to absorb as much information bombarded unto us and to settle into our newfound roles, catching up as much as possible on our committee’s overall progress."
"Of course, Saras isn’t that mean to abandon us in the wild jungle of busyness. She will still be present during the event and supporting us in our decision making and event coordination. This added responsibility is a good opportunity for us to finetune our event management capacity and to steepen our learning curve. We try to take it in our strides as we eventually build our confidence and readiness as OICs. Though we may be initially hesitant, we are eager to serve as best as we can."
"We hope that the Unspoken committee would be able to go through this event with no regrets, all happy with how it was executed. We hope that they would also give it their very best, though it may be tiring, to make this event a successful one that all would enjoy."
"We would appreciate it greatly if you (our readers) were to come and support our event! This is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn more about mental health, a topic not widely discussed on the public arena. Come especially for our event as we are approaching the topic in a creative manner where you, as participants, are given plentiful of opportunities to interact in the experiential learning, exhibition booths and even the drama itself! This is an opportunity not to be missed (if that does not buy in your interest, we have one more thing to say…psst…it’s free!)”
That is all from them! But before I leave, I asked them a final question on how they felt working with one another. Gen’s reply was a sure and quick one, “We are good friends we are going to have a good time together (glance at Huda). She may need to expect me driving her up the wall more frequently from now.” Huda grunted at such a reply. As we lead up towards the event day, surely the self-proclaimed awkward potatoes would rise to the challenge.
I would like to also add that both Gen and Huda are involved in the drama production. They are casted as a mother and an elderly woman respectively, to which more details of their roles we’re not to tell. Where’s the joy of watching a spoiled drama plot, huh? Hungry to know more, why not come down and sign yourselves up for our event?
Their scenes are worth the watch and likewise so is our entire event worth the visit!