By Keng Yi, Nicole (25S03S) and Isaac Chan (25A01B)

Photos courtesy of Isaac Chan

Every Wayfinder needs a guide; every tribe, an elder; every Orientation, a team of hardworking, dedicated Y6s committed to making it the best experience possible for their charges.

This was no different at Orientation 2025: Wanderlust. Over four days of Orientation, Y5 Wayfinders fought and strove for their tribes. But behind the scenes, their Orientation Group Leaders (OGLs) and the 44th Students’ Council’s Orientation Committee were on duty throughout to ensure safety, energy, and fun. In this article, Raffles Press gets an inside look at Orientation 2025 from the lens of those that helped make it happen.

On the ground: Memories from the OGLs

For most OGLs, Orientation felt like coming full circle. After all, the memory of Orientation 2024: Polaris was what spurred many seniors to apply to experience Ori for a second time, albeit from a different perspective.

“I definitely had a sense of nostalgia,” Chin Yi Hao (25S03S, BW01) comments. He recalls how helping his OGLings design the weapons during Maritime Madness paralleled his own Ori, where he was the one attacking other Houses’ ships. 

Taking on more responsibility also gave OGLs greater insight into the struggles of their own seniors. Yvan Jia Qian Segram (25S03S, MR11) brings up how, “as an OGL, I get to see how much effort is put into organising all the activities and also all the preparation… it’s very hard work, and now I have a deeper appreciation of my OGLs that took care of me the year before.”

The OGLs play back a handful of their favourite memories, some overlapping, and some completely unique to their OG. Lee Ze Pin Aretha (25S03S, MR06)’s was when “our dance pair represented our OG for the intra-House dance… and they eventually did win second place. But I was happy to see them support their friends, with or without the second place.” For Sung Xiuhui, Cheryl (25S03S, MT09), it was how “their school spirit developed over the days because at first, they were a bit shy and reserved. But then on the third or fourth day of Ori, during Team Raffles Hour, the whole OG went up to lead the cheers, which made us OGLs super proud.”

BW OGLs might recall a distinct moment with more fondness. “BW had this mass OG dinner at the Hockey Pitch on Monday,” Yi Hao recounts. “It’s just the vibe — you get to know your OGLings more. Because you play burning bridges, you play card games under the sunset, and all that.”

An even more eccentric favourite memory comes from an anonymous OGL. “Actually, my OG was a little late to one of the bonding activities… Although we may have been late, I feel like the time we spent was just as important. We were having deep conversations about school life.” Thinking back, though, they admit to regretting being “a bit irresponsible at the start.”

Other things that OGLs wish that they did differently include “trying to be more enthu[siastic],” “trying to engage other people more, especially those left out because they are from JAE, or DSA,” and “bridging the gender divide.” “I do wish we had more time together so I could understand them better,” Aretha says. “It would have been nice if we had more time to interact, maybe not during Ori but in a more chill setting.”

A different OGL considers how “Last year, as OGLings, we had to deal with so many other things — making friends, doing things outside our comfort zone, OG challenges, winning, and if you want, crafting your new personality.” They highlight how they wanted to focus on “building this relationship with OGLings, because when I was a Year 5, I didn’t have any senior I could rely on. I really wanted to be that OGL they could rely on.”

Orientation didn’t come without its sacrifices, though. About a week after Ori, when asked if they’ve caught up on work yet, the OGLs either laugh or take on a look of cold despair. Yi Hao brings up his plan to “grind through the March Hols (famous last words)”, while another OGL argues that “the opportunity cost was negligible because I benefited a lot more from going for Ori than for lessons.”

“I don’t think I was set behind by Ori,” Aretha reflects. “As in, I feel like I was set behind by myself. Even before Ori, I was already behind. So Ori was just a small bump which made a minimal impact.”

Yvan is more direct. “No. I’m three weeks behind in every subject.”

They wrap the conversation up with messages to their OGLings, while Aretha admits that “most of what I wanted to say was already written in my letters. I had a lot of fun doing Ori with them.”

From Cheryl, “I genuinely don’t think I could have had more fun with another group. Also, your house spirit is fantastic. I love that you all didn’t feel sad, even though MT got third.” 

Yi Hao says that a piece of advice he would give is to experiment more in Year 5, without worrying too much about academics. “Because Year 5 isn’t really the grind year… take this time to experience what you want to experience in JC life. So if you want to try out a new sport, if you want to try for a new enrichment, just go for it.”

And, finally:

Behind-the-scenes: Sitting down with the Ori OICs

We also had the opportunity to sit down with the Orientation 2025 Overall In-Charges: Joni Ng (25A01A), Guan Ziyue (25S02C), and Zhang Boya (25S03H). These were the Councillors that stood at the front of Orientation: planning out schedules, brainstorming games, and coordinating the many, many hands that went into making Orientation 2025 possible. 

Orientation, for these three, didn’t start in February, or even October, when OGL results came out: it started all the way back in May, when they were fresh-faced Councillors who had just joined the 44th Students’ Council. Planning picked up after Y5 Promos, and most of the planning had to be done by October or November so that dry runs could be conducted. “What some people don’t know about the planning process is how many rounds of paper play we have to do with the games and the flow of things,” Joni remarks. “What we give to the OGLs is a schedule and training for the games, but we also need to test that the games work and that the schedule doesn’t mean certain OGs are bumping into each other or causing congestion in the hallways.” Boya adds, “For every day’s schedule, we sat down for two to three hours and talked to the teachers just to run down each day’s schedule.” Turns out, the rest of the Students’ Council also poured in extra work into playtesting and planning Orientation: two internal dry runs were held before even the OGLs’ Full Dry Run was held.

Indeed, planning Ori seems like a monumental task. So what for? What was the Orientation the OICs wanted to create, and did it materialise? Joni says Orientation had a few different goals — to integrate all students, especially JAEs, into the Rafflesian environment and culture, for Y5s to make new friends, among many others. It seems this all worked out, with many Orientation Groups sticking together long after Orientation ended: Instagram stories of OGs out eating lunch or going to the beach were everywhere for a while. “I’m really quite heartened that people are connecting with each other even post-Ori”, Boya says. “There are limited things we can do with our timetable at Ori, but the focus was to create the relationships that can blossom after Ori,” Joni agrees. “The OG dinners, the OG outings wouldn’t happen if you didn’t fight through something together in Ori, like fighting for your house.”

OGLings and OGLs alike definitely found that joy and place at Orientation. But what was it like for the OICs? What did they take away from Ori? As it turns out, the start, end, and everything in between.

Ziyue says her favourite memory was “the first time we stood onstage on Day 1, as the OGLings were coming in, it felt like us last year. It finally felt so real — for 6 months, there hasn’t been a day the chat hasn’t been active, and so many people from so many functions came together for this one thing.” Joni instead remembers the very end: “at the final closing, I realised 6 months of preparation culminated in this— this is it. I saw everyone having that finale look, the oh-my-gosh-it’s-over look, and I remember stressing over every minute of Orientation and looking at it from everyone’s perspective, and that really felt like all our efforts came to fruition.” Boya remembers “the heart-to-heart talks and late night meetings throughout the process; there were so many inside jokes and funny things and that’s what I’ll remember the most.”

What comes next?

Almost a month has passed since the close of Orientation 2025: Wanderlust — time enough for Y5s and Y6s alike to settle into the normalcy of JC routine. 

Despite this, things have shifted irreversibly, even if just a little bit. Remnants of Ori are everywhere for those who care to look: old OG boards scattered throughout campus, shy waves between OGLings or OGLs crossing paths, or even cringy challenges filmed at OG dinners, forgotten in the depths of TikTok drafts.

Next year, ex-OGLings will be the ones taking up the roles of OGLs or Ori OICs. Then, they’ll think back on their own Ori experiences — things they remember with fondness or wish had been different — and usher in a new batch of fresh faces, all eager to see what Orientation holds in store.