My life journey with CIMP, a memory worth remembering – EONG CHEN HAN

I wanted to be the Student Council President and also wanted to give back to the community while being able to learn in a manner far from having just one final test to determine my hard work.

As I ended my journey in high school in 2019 and stepped foot into CIMP in January 2020, we were hit in the face with a pandemic. For me, things started off nice as I was content with my current grade and had just been selected as a general member in the CIMP Student Council, but as March 18th came along, we were met with the movement control order. Having to adapt to the new normal of online classes and online events hasn't been easy for me, especially being in my first semester, still clueless if whether what I was doing was right. As semester one slowly closed off, I finally got that sigh of relief I was waiting for while being stucked at home. I felt as though my first semester wasn't that bad trying to juggle my time between work and council as there wasn't much responsibility placed on me as a general member.

As semester 2 came along, taking more responsibility in the Student Council, now as the Director of Community & Fundraising, while also trying to maintain my grades and tutoring my peers in my spare time were a huge struggle. Coming up with ideas for students to gain community hours with the tight standard operating procedures proved to be tough. Assuming the responsibility as a director overseeing the community work and fundraising, it was one of the most stressful things I have done throughout my time in CIMP as I had to host 3 different movie nights with my team while having to maintain my grades. As the semester came to an end, I realized that I needed ENG4U as a credit and therefore, I decided to hold off my graduation plans.

In my third semester, I was only taking one course and because of that I decided to run for CIMP Student Council President as I knew I wouldn't be able to if I was taking 3 courses. This semester was particularly tough for me as most of my friends had already graduated and I was taking my ‘most challenging’ course, and my result wasn't appealing to me throughout the semester. Being the Student Council President also had its own struggle as it was my first time being on the executive committee. The Exco had to give hard NOs to our committee members due to all the restrictions and also had to host hybrid meetings with online and in person committee. We also had to ask for permission constantly trying to help our committee member's idea be brought to light. In addition to being in Council, I was still tutoring my friends in my spare time and completing some dosomething.org campaigns to earn the extra community hours and I managed to complete around 367 hours.

Personally, I really expected my time in CIMP to be vastly different from what I had described, this pandemic had really put a toll on me as half the time I was extremely demotivated and always procrastinating on my work. There are definitely a few things that helped me through all my negative emotions and most importantly, I have also learned that taking things one step at a time really helped me understand what my limit was and to never bite off more than I can chew. As for community service, it is always best not to leave it to the last minute as one will definitely struggle in finding opportunities. Student Council often gives community service opportunities and all CIMP students should always take full advantage of it and it is better to complete it early than to struggle to make ends meet in the end.

Though my experience in CIMP was far from picture perfect, it was a memory worth remembering.