10
LUMEN | PROGRAMMES
We Came , We Suffered
but
We Aced
By Zachary Lim Zhe Ping and Liam Tipene Burridge
Adventure Camp Expedition ( ACE ) had been a rite of passage for Secondary Two students in the past but now it caters to the Secondary Ones who are given the opportunity to toughen up even in our urban jungle .
It was early in the morning when we assembled at Changi Ferry Point for the annual SJI ACE at Pulau Ubin . This camp would mark our transition from being the most junior in SJI to Secondary Two . The ritual , of course , was four days of hardship that would make men out of boys . It was not hard to sense a general reluctance among the campers . Certainly no one in his right mind would volunteer to leave the comfort of his bed , the constant company of the computer and mobile phone to spend four days in a tent .
After a briefing , everyone filed class by class to the docking area where we boarded the bumboats to Ubin . Upon disembarking , we learnt that we would have to hike to the other end of the island to reach our first campsite ! It was no comfort that that we would have to do this every night to get to our different campsites . However , we took the long hike in our stride even though we were lugging three days of food supply , clothes and cooking equipment . As we plodded on , we could hear the occasional landing of a