The 14th of February has come and gone, with its heart-shaped chocolates and overpriced roses, but the prospect of new couples – especially within the Year 5 batch – remains a hot topic. From Orientation – some OGLs claim their OGLings began ‘making moves’ on the first day – to the long stretches of free time many Year 5 classes seem to be spending in the Amphitheatre, Year 5 is a period characterised by its many opportunities to socialise.
By Zara Karimi (18A01A)
Illustration by Yu Ke Dong (19A13A)
“The first thing we were all told on the first day was to not pay the gender divide any heed, [because] we’re all ‘One Rafflesian family’.”
These are the words of an RGS girl, one of many new Year 5s who felt uncomfortable with certain remarks made by presenters during the January Induction Programme this year, better known as JIP.
By Nicki Chan (18S03C), Abigail Ang (18S06B) and Elizabeth Leong (18S06G)
Photos courtesy of Raffles Photographic Society
With a prominent focus on personal sharings and stories, this year’s Raffles Science Symposium (RSS) Mental Health Strand offered not only information about the important issue at hand, but also a message of hope for those struggling with their own mental wellbeing.
By Clarine See (18S03G) and Zacchaeus Chok (18S03O) Photographs courtesy of Raffles One Earth and Raffles Photographic Society
After months of planning, Raffles Community Advocates’ environment-focused advocacy group, GlassArk, and Raffles One Earth rolled out Ecoweek 2018. A week meant to educate and inspire students to take responsibility for their actions on our earth, the event featured a poster exhibition on various forms of wastage, a Pledge Tree where students could express their commitment to reducing wastage in their own lives, an activity booth where students could give newspaper and plastic bottles a new lease of life as bags and pencil cases, and a clothes donation drive for students to take the first step towards being environmentally conscious.
That said, how did the student populace respond to Ecoweek? To gauge the school’s reception to Ecoweek, and to reflect on its effectiveness, Raffles Press administered a quick survey on a random sample of the student population, and conducted informal interviews with some students and members involved in Ecoweek.
If you have recently received a text message confirming your acceptance into RI, congratulations! Your course code is already in the MOE’s systems – 28A or 28S. For better or for worse, you are about to become a Rafflesian.
Yet when it sinks in that you have enrolled in a JC where the majority of your peers will have been from an entirely different programme for the past four years, everything suddenly appears incredibly daunting. What if everyone already knows each other, and you have trouble fitting in? What if you are unable to keep up?
These are a few of the many anxieties that initially plague the minds of students who enter Raffles Institution in Y5-6 through the Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE). Coming from all walks of life, and a wide variety of schools all over the island, Raffles Press decided to embark on an examination and discussion of the experiences of JAE students as they entered RI, as something of a guide for this year’s batch of JAE entrants. Most JAE students reported that the majority of their initial concerns pertained to academic and social pressures.
