Curtin Young Associates organises fourth annual camp

Miri – 9 April 2014 – The Curtin Young Associates (CYA), an exclusive club for secondary school students established by Curtin University, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak), recently organised a 3-day, 2-night camp for its members at the Curtin Sarawak campus.

The camp, themed ‘Your Future, Dream It, Live It!’, was attended by 190 secondary school students from Miri, the annual event’s largest participation ever.

The aim of the camp was to inspire the students to pursue tertiary education and improve their communication and interpersonal skills through various activities such as ice-breaking sessions, outdoor activities around the campus, interactive discussions and academic presentations.

It was facilitated by members of the Curtin Excellence Educational Facilitating Team (Curtin E-FacT), Curtin Sarawak Student Council, Model United Nations Curtin Sarawak (MUN.CS), Curtin Oratory and Debate Society (CODES) and staff of Curtin Sarawak’s University Life Department and Office of Student Affairs.

At the closing ceremony, Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Jim Mienczakowski gave a speech and presented certificates and prizes to the participants.

In his speech, Professor Mienczakowski said, “I trust all of you will have gained a new perspective on teamwork, critical thinking and cultural awareness, in addition to valuable soft skills that will enhance your learning, communication and personal development for a long time to come.”

He also urged them to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the CYA and hoped they would eventually become students of Curtin Sarawak.

He said Curtin Sarawak believes in offering its students the best possible facilities and environment one would expect from Curtin’s largest branch campus, with ample opportunities for practical experience, a truly multicultural environment, as well as a lively campus lifestyle with a good mix of academic support services and social events.

“We want our students to get the most out of their education and make their experience here productive and fun. Our facilities are by no means comprehensive, but we are continually improving on them, and are always exploring new ways of enhancing campus life,” he added.

Meanwhile, CYA President Mohd. Adib bin Abd. Ghani said that, based on feedback received, many of the participants wished the camp was longer as they had a very enjoyable time on the campus.

The CYA is a youth outreach programme administered by the Student Recruitment Department of Curtin Sarawak and coordinated by students of the university. Currently, it has over 500 members.

It regularly organises self-improvement camps, educational talks, pre-examination workshops, sports events and other activities for secondary school students. Its objective is to create a community for young students of different social and cultural backgrounds to interact and expand their learning experiences as well as network of friends.

The benefits of membership in the CYA include up-to-date information on higher education, online academic support, useful study tips, access to updates on happenings and developments on the Curtin Sarawak campus, as well as participation in interesting competitions, activities and events exclusively for members.

For further information on CYA, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CurtinYoungAssociates, or Twitter profile athttps://twitter.com/CURTIN_CYA.

Student Recruitment Officer and CYA Coordinator Norsari John briefing the participants at the start of the event.

The participants taking part in the ice-breaking session.

Group photo of the participants and camp facilitators.