Some 200 young sports men and women from Victoria Junior College attended a three-day Basic Food and Beverage Service conducted by the Jumbo Group of Restaurants.

30 of them were selected at the end of the course, to be part of the wait staff for the college's 25th Anniversary Homecoming Dinner held at the school on 25 July.

We asked them for their thoughts on the training session and how they felt about becoming first-time waiter and waitresses.

Taken out of comfort zone

The intricate restrictions placed on the service staff when they went about their jobs had peeved me in the sense that I had been taken out of my comfort zone. During our service of water refills or the changing of plates, we were required to observe the use of only our right hands to serve, and also only from the right hand side. This had completely differed from my previous experience working in a restaurant where the staff did not even shed light on such etiquette.

What really impressed me about this course was the training staff present at my table. They had really incorporated the GEMs (Go the Extra Mile for Service) initiative in their hearts. Despite this training session for us students being not in their regular job description, they had still executed these sessions with such gusto, even adding personal insights and on-the-job observations which we otherwise not have been introduced to. This only goes to show how dedicated the staff are to not only their job, but also the company.

As such, the course had proved to supersede the expectations of a regular restaurant internship, with the gusto of the staff, the dedication of the company to this initiative and definitely also because of how each and every one of us wanted to prove that we students are not mere pampered kids, but that we can also participate and deliver service of quality.

Tan Yiwen | 17 | Male

Best part was the company

Perhaps the best part of Day 1 was the section on customer service. I never knew how much energy and effort waiters or waitresses had to go through! When serving a guest, one has to approach them from the right. One has to address the guest with either a "Sir" or "M'am" with a constant smile on one's face. The skit that our instructors prepared for us emphasised the importance of things most of us never took notice of previously. Our body language, our attitude and our appearance were all equally important.

What I really enjoyed most in these 3 days was the company. Nothing is better than learning a new skill with your friends, as well as meeting new people in the process. We could all bond quickly as we each shared a common interest - sport. This, I feel, would be very crucial for next year's sports season, as sportsmen can motivate and cheer on the friends whom we have made from this course.

I was really thankful that our principal, Mr Chan Poh Meng came all the way down to support us on the 3rd day. This course has brought Victorian sportsmen closer and I am very grateful that VJC had sent me for this course. Nil Sine Labore!

Danella Marie Foo Yaoxin | 17 | Female

Serving others a noble act

There were some murmurs from the audience in the lecture theatre upon the announcement of this piece of news.
Some of the people were probably unwilling to participate in this event. I confess: I was one of these people. The lack of enthusiasm was evident among this group on the 1st day of the training. We just weren't convinced that serving requires so much effort.

Having undergone the training, I am now beset with guilt. Being too used to waiters serving us when dining at restaurants, I had taken it for granted conveniently. The neglect had caused me to overlook the fact that being a waiter isn't easy after all. But now I know better. A smile is the key to good service and is compulsory too, especially in the F&B industry. Also, great tolerance brings about wealth and luck, or so they say. Thus, it is always important for a waiter to be polite and?accede to customers, even when they behave unreasonably.

This experience has taught think in another perspective and to be more humble and forgiving. Serving the others is definitely not demeaning, but a noble act to bring satisfaction to the consumers and most importantly, to play a part in the 25th Anniversary Homecoming Dinner. Besides that, I would like to express my gratitude to all the trainers at Jumbo Seafood Restaurant as they were the ones who went the extra mile to make sure all of us are equipped with the basics skills. The fact that studies are not everything in life was also made very clear to me. This training provided us an opportunity to mingle with those with whom we wouldn't usually mingle as students.

Banjamin Quek Wei Jian | 17 | Male

Newfound gratitude for being a customer

Despite my pessimism, I decided to go to the workshop with an open mind to see how things unfolded for me, for one would never know what could surprise him. And boy was I surprised. In a good way, that is.

What started off as a simple alteration (of a slight asymmetry in chopsticks alignment) became an obsession for me as I started to care about every single detail of the table set, from the distance the plates were to each other to the angle of the soup spoons. I was actually satisfied with a job well done.

My surprise didn't stop there. I turned out to be one of the 30 people to be selected to serve under the VIP section of our anniversary, with a chance of possibly serving his Excellency Mr S.R. Nathan. Reflecting back, it wouldn't have been possible if not for my self-imposed "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" approach in trying to achieve a perfect table setting. I look back thinking how fun it was to be recognised for something I just learned to enjoy, even though it was something that was of little significance to me before the whole experience.

Overall, what I have learnt from this experience is that it is never wrong to take pride in the things you do, even if it may seem as insignificant as the act of setting tables was to me initially. When you do not consider the process as a means to an end, you may end up enjoying it and it could surprise you even more when people recognise you for the results which stemmed from that "simple joy". And above everything else, it gave me a newfound gratitude of being a costumer, instead of taking hospitality and the work of servers for granted.

Navas Eduardo Antonio Roberto | 17 | Male

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