EUllumination: Case Files of A Student Detective

Written by: Avelyn Wee (25-A2), Steven Loh (25-A4), Kaidon Lee (25-I1), Megan Cheok (25-I6), Elliot Chew (25-U1)

Designed by: Avelyn Wee (25-A2)

Day 1

I recall the agonising wait as I wondered which school I would be posted to. Then, at 9 o’clock in the morning, I opened my text messages and read: “Dear student, you are posted to Eunoia JC under 2025 JAE.” My first thought was, “What will the people be like? Will they all be from Catholic High, SCGS, and SNGS? I hope I don’t feel too much like a fish out of water…”

I am glad to say that my fears were completely unfounded. When I stepped foot into the College for the first day of orientation, JC2s swarmed around me, beaming smiles and offering enthusiastic hellos that instantly put me at ease. Everyone was perfectly pleasant, regardless of whether they came via the Integrated Programme or the O-Level track.

As we sat in the hall awaiting the beginning of orientation, an intriguing narrative was revealed. Because of disunity between the five houses, the Euchanted Forest had been plunged into darkness, the gems of the Sun Sceptre had shattered, and perhaps most worryingly of all, the school’s furry mascot, Noya, had vanished. The hall went up in a buzz as we were told that we had been tasked with saving the forest from eternal darkness.

We kicked the day off with icebreakers, and I quickly got to know everybody in my orientation group (OG). Despite being extremely introverted, the experience was far less intimidating than I had feared. One OGling mused, “Yes, I suppose it’s because everyone is equally foreign to each other.” After the icebreaker games, we joined the rest of the OGs in the hall to learn our batch dance — “Shut Up and Dance” — which felt rather fitting because its carefree, playful vibe called on us to break free of our worries and enjoy our first day.

After lunch, our OGLs took us on a campus tour, with a few games along the way. One of the games stood out for me in particular — in the lecture theatre, we used no more than a few strings to manoeuvre plastic cups into a pyramid. It required immense teamwork and coordination, and when we left that particular venue I felt a sense of triumph and a new feeling of great attachment to my fellow OGlings.

At the end of the day, we were quickly ushered into the hall and told that thanks to our newfound friendships, the first gem had been restored to the Sun Sceptre. We were now a step closer to saving the Euchanted Forest.

On the way home from a thrilling first day of orientation, I wondered if the unity of the JC1s was really all it took for the gems to be restored. The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The first gem appeared to be completely pristine — perhaps only the spirits of the forest could have done it. And so I decided to find out more as orientation continues.

Day 2

On the 2nd day of orientation, when the ICs announced that we would be learning the house chorus, they were met with groans. After all, we had spent a good amount of time the previous day attempting to learn “Shut Up and Dance”, and if my failed attempts from yesterday were any indication, my ability to pick up choreography was about as refined as a baby giraffe learning to walk. 

As Akila’s house song blared and the first few steps were demonstrated, I already knew I was doomed. The OGLs were already bouncing with energy, demonstrating the choreography with a level of enthusiasm that was both impressive and mildly terrifying. I stole glances at the people beside me—some looked just as lost as I felt, while others threw themselves into the moves with surprising confidence. “It’s okay to mess up! Just have fun!” an OGL shouted over the music. It was easier said than done. The first few run-throughs were a disaster of flailing arms and missed beats. But as we progressed, learning dance after dance, something shifted. We stopped overthinking, laughing when we got the moves wrong and hyping each other up when we got things right. And suddenly, it wasn't about getting every move perfect – it was about doing it together and having fun.

After lunch, we dove into dry station games, our competitive spirit ignited by the chance to win the title of “Best OG.” Rapid-fire rounds of scissors-paper-stone had us scrambling for chairs to earn points, tension building with every decisive throw. The three-legged race was pure chaos—shoes slipping, people tripping as we ducked under and over obstacles. Cheers and groans filled the Indoor Sports Hall as we jumped across grids on the floor. Amid the laughter, banter, and shared drive to win, social barriers faded. I was cheering with people I’d barely spoken to, steadying teammates mid-race, and trading grins after each victory. somehow, in the midst of all the chaos, it felt like we were no longer just a random group thrown together—we were a team.

As we gathered back in the hall at the end of the day, exhausted but exhilarated, the ICs took to the stage to bring our two day OG orientation to a close. The lights dimmed, and a hush fell over the crowd as the projector flickered to life. A slideshow of photos from the past two days began to play, each image accompanied by laughter as we recognized ourselves and our friends on the screen. As the final image faded, they told us that the second gem had been restored. As the ICs wrapped up their speech, they reminded us that while OG orientation was coming to an end, the friendships we had made and the memories we had built were just the beginning. 

Day 3

By the third day, I thought I had orientation figured out. After all, the previous two days had mostly been about getting to know new people, playing games together, and hoping I didn’t forget anyone’s faces. But today was different - my OG was gone, and in their place was a whole new set of faces. These were the people I’d be seeing every day for the next two years. The thought was unnerving. 

We gathered in the hall for the briefing, but it was hard to focus. Around me, people were making small talk, but the conversations felt hollow, as if everyone was struggling to find something safe to say. The CGLs were the beacon in the sea of darkness - full of energy, trying to hype us up even in the early hours of the morning. “It’s not easy to get people comfortable so quickly,” one of them admitted when I asked about it. “We just try to stay enthusiastic, even if it feels awkward at first.”

Soon, we were off to Yishun for the Amazing Race. Northpoint Mall was our first stop, and suddenly, the awkwardness gave way to adrenaline as everyone put aside their differences to achieve a common goal. We darted through crowds, eyes flicking between store signs and cryptic clues as we raced against time to match the stores to the clues given. 

Then came the games. In the open space next to the mall, we stood in a circle, each of us holding a piece of a long string and attempting to make shapes while blindfolded. Under the overhead MRT tracks, we skipped in a circle and scrambled to make groups of the required number once time was up. In an amphitheatre, awkwardness turned into unbridled laughter as everyone threw out random words to string together illogical stories.  

By the time we returned to school, we were sunburnt, sweaty, and barely standing. But something had changed. We had worked together, laughed, struggled, and for the first time, we weren’t just a random group of students—we were a team.

And with that, the third gem was restored. Maybe bonding really was the key to saving the sun sceptre after all.

Day 4

As our fourth day of Orientation began, though, this only seemed more suspicious. How could bonding, of all things, be the key? Yet, as our CGs gathered on our second morning together, I couldn’t help but feel like something had changed. Our morning interactions were livelier than before; and as our house interaction time began, the campus hummed with cardboard horses and flags being painted. The CGLs never seemed to tire as they jostled to gather the CGs together – how that was possible, I had asked,  was anyone's guess. “It was a learning process,” one of them admitted. “The challenges that we faced in the preparatory stages of Orientation laid the groundwork for better decision-making, resilience and versatility during the actual Orientation event.”

Lunch came and went, and before I knew it we were off to the day’s next activity: the house walk-in dances. The buzz of the crowd turned to chaos as we watched our CGLs and OGLs dance. Amidst this all, too, came the cheers of the houses as our ICs moonwalked, waved house flags, and rode cardboard cars into action. The atmosphere was electric as they bowed at the end of their spectacles. For a moment, I thought that this would be the pinnacle of the day – nothing could top this.

All that changed when the dry mass games began. After the dances, we were thrust into a makeshift battleground as our houses fought to collect as many balls as they could. With numerous boxes of plastic balls and a mass of balls spilt in the middle of the hall, we formed pairs and blindfolded one of the two in our fateful duos – and with only the directions of our unblindfolded partner and pure intuition, we stumbled for balls in a senseless mass, collecting as many as we could for our house. I could only watch as my blindfolded CGmates haplessly grasped at air.

The excitement continued as we progressed to the next battle: besieging the other houses’ piles of balls while defending our own piles. To call it tiring was an understatement – after running about the hall for a full hour, snatching balls and staging raids, talking between half-breaths was the only thing we could do. Yet, through our tired laughter, it seemed that the school was cheerier than ever.

And yet again, our bonding had done something: the Air gem was bestowed to us by the spirits of the EUchanted forest. Could my theory be… correct?

Day 5

As the final day of orientation dawned upon us, the ties between our classmates were stronger than they were the first day we met. The hall was filled with animated chatter, as the students were engaged in excitable conversations with their classes. After assembly, we gathered together to learn the college dance. The encouragement from our peers and OGLs motivated us to learn from the mistakes we made and from one other, which pushed us to complete the college dance as one Eunoia. 

As we talked animatedly among ourselves, proud for learning the college dance, the second dry mass games began. We were faced with the challenge of working as a house to collect balls to change for resources. The role of the first class was to collect balls from the middle and pass it back to our house supply store with our elbows while the second class had to exchange the balls for resources such as newspaper, cardboard and chopsticks to build a structure as tall and sturdy as we could. As our classes strategised to ensure the greatest tower structural integrity, I felt our bonds grow stronger as we worked together to build the tower. I felt calm with these people whom I had travelled so far with over the last two days.

However, any semblance of order fell into chaos as the second part of the game started.

Our task was to knock off a gem placed on top of the other houses' towers but we could only shoot from safe squares allocated in the ring. Outside the squares were areas where anyone could eliminate you by simply tugging your bandana from your pocket. As the game started and one class from each house entered the ring, pandemonium ensued. As it all went down, I witnessed a truly breathtaking sight: the houses bonding among each other. Houses cheered when near misses on their gems happened and boos when gems were knocked from their pedestals. The houses cheered together, chanted house cheers together and laughed together. As the game drew to a close, I saw how truly magical this bonding was, uniting a bunch of people who just 4 days ago were strangers.

Finally, our last trial arrived, the wet war games. Our goal - to get as much water in the other house's bucket as possible. As houses charged out as a unit, cups full of water in hand, zigzagging around defenders to get a clear shot at the other houses' buckets, I witnessed great teamwork from both the defenders and attackers. The defenders put their bodies on the line to block while the attackers had to strategize to distract the defenders. Alliances were formed among houses as multiple attacked the same target. Despite all of us being thoroughly soaked and exhausted from the intense game, I saw huge smiles on everyone’s face as the houses mingled with each other to cheer on their buddies.

Then, the final activity of orientation was upon us. As we sat in the hall, with a party atmosphere all around us, it was announced that the fifth and final gem had been restored to the sceptre. It seems my thesis was right - bonding was the true secret to recovering all the gems. As I looked around me, I realised something important: the true gems were all the friends we made along the way.