Teen wins top guide award

EARLY last month, I was bestowed the 2021 Queen’s Guide Award, along with 58 other recipients in Malaysia.

For the uninitiated, the Queen’s Guide Award is the highest award girls can work towards in guiding.

It gives them an opportunity to develop their skills while contributing to guiding and the local community.

The award takes into account factors such as service in guiding, outdoor challenges, personal skills development and community action.

It had taken me five years to attain the award, having begun my Queen’s Guide journey as a Form One student in 2017.

Back then, I had never heard of the award until I learned that my dormitory leader, who was in Form Four, was working towards it. During our camping trips, I lent her a helping hand in pitching tents and we learned to form special knots to make gadgets with our bare hands.

We also learned emergency procedure and went on to champion environmental issues and promote public awareness.

From these experiences, I could see that achieving the Queen’s Guide Award was going to be much tougher than I had thought.

Girl guiding is not only a test of one’s competence and skills in physical activities, but it also develops soft skills such as our critical thinking and problem-solving.

One of the toughest requirements of achieving the Queen’s Guide Award is completing our logbooks.

Moment of pride: Aina Alyssa at the award ceremony last month.

Logbooks are essentially reports that capture the activities and events we choose to take part in and accomplish.

Girl guides are free to select from over 132 badges that they want to earn.

To achieve the minimum baseline for the Queen’s Guide Award, one must earn at least 16 badges.

Every badge has its specific requirements that must be completed and documented thoroughly.

Striving for the Queen’s Guide Award takes an average of three years. Although I started pursuing it more vigorously as a Form Three student in 2019, I’d recommend that one starts doing so from Form One as there are certain logbooks that serve as a prerequisite during one’s initial guiding years.

As I sought to finish one logbook after another, there were many challenges that I had to overcome along the way.

For one, I had to learn to juggle my academic work and my extracurricular activities.

There were times when I had to skip classes to join Girl Guides events, leading my teachers to think I had neglected my studies.

There were also the many sleepless nights spent on completing those logbooks.

Throughout 2019, I was asked if my effort had been worth it. Like so many seniors who came before me, I struggled to answer the question.

But towards the end of that year, I had something to show for my blood, sweat and tears – I had gained the Anugerah Pandu Puteri Remaja, a stepping stone to attaining the Queen’s Guide Award.

I was pleased with the progress I was making and thought I was on the way to clinching the award, if I kept up the good work.

However, in 2020, when I was in Form Four, the norm as we knew it came apart due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the ensuing chaos, we were at a loss as we struggled to make sense of what was happening and to respond to the situation.

As lessons were moved virtually, so did activities carried out by the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia such as our International Day of the Girl and World Thinking Day.In the early months of that year, it seemed like I never had the time to complete any of my logbooks.

Moreover, many of our camping activities that play an integral role in the pursuit of the Queen’s Guide Award had to be put on hold due to the enforcement of the movement control order.

It really did appear that completing the award online would be impossible.

When I finally had the opportunity to share my concerns with my friends who were pursuing the award and subsequently our guiders, the heavy burden that I had felt became more bearable.

Eventually, we found ways to adapt to the situation; problems were discussed and new guidelines were introduced.

Previously, the three-month community service, which served as one of the most important requirements of the Queen’s Guide Award, must be completed physically.

In light of the pandemic, this could be done online. Hence, my “Deafness in Disguise” community service project, which was aimed at bridging the gap between the hard-of-hearing and those who aren’t through sign language, was conducted via online platforms.

After the completion of my logbooks and community service project, I qualified for the Bengkel Selalu Sedia in 2021.

The last step towards attaining the Queen’s Guides Award, it was a rigorous camp that tested the participants’ ability and knowledge of the entire girl guiding association.

This event was also held virtually. Soon after, we were informed that all 59 girls who joined the Bengkel Selalu Sedia would be awarded the Queen’s Guide Award.

Those sleepless nights were worth it indeed. As I walked onto the stage to receive my award from Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah, memories flashed across my mind.

I remembered the hardships I had encountered and overcome, the friends I had made from around the world and the experiences we shared together.

The Queen’s Guide Award is a rewarding accomplishment for many including myself. The award will forever be a testament to my capabilities and growth, and my contribution to community service.

I would have never learned the extent of my potential, had it not been for my Queen’s Guide journey.Aina Alyssa, 18, a student in Melaka, is a participant of the BRATs Young Journalist Programme run by The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) team.

1. Aina Alyssa had set her sights on achieving the Queen’s Guide Award ever since she learned about it in Form One. Is there an award you would like to achieve? What is it and why do you desire it?

2. Imagine that you were Aina Alyssa. You have been asked to give a one-minute acceptance speech at the award ceremony. What would you say to the audience? In your speech, include some points from Aina Alyssa’s article such as her struggles and how she overcame them, people she would thank, and the advice she would give those working towards attaining the award. When you are done preparing the script, rehearse your speech before presenting it to your activity partner. Alternatively, record yourself via video and get your English language teacher to assess your delivery.

Since 1997, The Star’s Newspaper-in-Education (Star-NiE) programme has supported English language teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools nationwide. Through Star-NiE’s teacher and student workshops, annual contests and monthly English language resources for classroom use, participants of the programme reportedly showed marked interest in the language and progress in their proficiency. Now in its 25th year, Star-NiE is continuing its role of promoting the use of English language through a weekly activity page in StarEdu. These activities are suitable for use individually and in groups, at home and in the classroom, across varied proficiency levels. Parents and teachers are encouraged to work on the activities with their children and students.

In addition, Star-NiE’s BRATs Young Journalist Programme will continue to be a platform for participants to hone and showcase their English language skills, as well as develop their journalistic interests and instincts. Follow our updates at facebook.com/niebrats. For Star-NiE enquiries, email [e-mail].