S'porean accounting grad rather be OBS Instructor than idle away at desk job

At an OBS course, the youthful Abigail Hoo hardly looks out of place – until you see her confidently leading OBS course activities and mentoring youths younger than her.

The 22-year-old is actually one of the youngest OBS Instructors, and despite her young age, she displays maturity beyond her years by inspiring youths through various outdoor activities.

Through fostering resilience and personal growth in participants, Hoo also encourages participants to continually challenge themselves.

But how did she get into this career of empowering young Singaporeans?

Everything fell into place after a 21-day OBS course

Hoo was studying Accountancy in Singapore Polytechnic, but decided to take an unconventional career path.

During an internship in her final year in polytechnic, she came to a realisation that sitting at a desk in front of a laptop for five days a week was simply not the life she was after.

“I’m okay with sitting in the office, just not every day! I like having a dynamic work environment and office jobs can be a bit mundane… I struggled through my three months of internship. I thought to myself, that should be my one and only office experience.”

Having been part of NCC in secondary school and then Adventure Club during her polytechnic days, Hoo excitedly told us that she has always loved the outdoors.

In fact, she previously went for two OBS courses – the first one as a secondary three student, and the second one being an intense 21-day adventure course during her Singapore Polytechnic days.

During these 21 days, intended as a “journey of discovery” before she transitioned into the next stage of life, her OBS Instructor inadvertently made a huge impact on her life:

“(During the course), my OBS Instructor talked to me. I told him, ‘I’m lost in life I don’t know what to do after (graduating)’. He found out about my interest in the outdoors and said, ‘Hey why not OBS?’... I had 21 days to reflect on this and realised that what I wanted and what OBS could give (as a career) were aligned. It kind of all fell into place after that.”

Had to go through hoops to become an OBS Instructor

While Hoo had set her sights on becoming an OBS Instructor, the path was not without challenges.

She told us the selection process includes briefings, interviews and also a three-day-two-night camp.

She also highlighted that the selection camp is very different from the OBS course that participants go through.

Many segments in the selection process are specially designed to test participants’ resilience, how they would respond to situations under pressure, and is “mentally and physically taxing”.

Once OBS Instructors are selected, they will also have to go through a rigorous training period before they can start leading courses.

Despite her enthusiasm for outdoor activities, Hoo revealed that she was often pushed out of her comfort zone during the training period.

The true test for her was when she had to swim in the open waters as part of the training programme.

“The first time I had to swim out in open seas, I actually started crying. It was a fear of drowning in open waters.”

As part of the intensive training programme, she also had to undergo a 4-star kayaking course requiring her to kayak in technically demanding waters with waves of at least 0.5m in height.

These experiences forced Hoo to confront her fears of being in open water, but having gone through everything, she said: “You realise it’s not that scary after all.”

It also gave Hoo a taste of what her participants would potentially feel while undergoing an OBS course, which in turn, made her more empathetic as an OBS Instructor.

Leading courses, going for trainings

As an OBS Instructor, Hoo has to lead between 20 and 30 courses of varying duration a year, most of which require her to stay at the OBS Campus from Monday to Friday.

The most common courses are those for secondary three students, but there are other more “advanced” courses for tertiary students as well. During these courses, Hoo encourages youths to step out of their comfort zone through a variety of outdoor activities.

In time, Hoo will also be expected to lead groups overseas where the learning experience is expected to be even more challenging.

When she is not on course, Hoo can be found doing course support work that can involve logistics and administrative tasks.

She also goes for competency trainings to upgrade her existing skills, which further hone her ability to lead and inspire course participants.

As an OBS Instructor, she has watched her participants grow

As she shared her experience leading students’ camps, it is evident that Hoo has helped her participants challenge and improve themselves in whatever small ways she can.

For instance, she recounted spending around 20 minutes coaxing a participant who was afraid of heights. After talking to him, he eventually took a step out to the raised platform during the abseiling activity.

While it may seem like a small thing to some, Hoo recognised that it was a milestone worth celebrating because it signalled the participant’s willingness to challenge himself instead of choosing to not attempt the activity at all.

“The fact that he stepped out onto the platform is an achievement in itself,” she emphasised.

Despite her young age of 22, Hoo’s confidence in her craft has inspired others–often much younger than her–to push themselves.

The most challenging part of her work?

She admitted that managing uncooperative campers can be quite a difficult task. However, the job is particularly rewarding when she witnesses how her participants have grown.

“Some are very happy to be here, some are just waiting for Friday to arrive. But generally, the best part is that you know the person leaving the camp on Friday is different from the person who arrived on Monday. It can be very satisfying.”

Age is not a problem. In fact, there are advantages to being young.

As one of the youngest OBS Instructors, Hoo shared that she was initially reluctant to reveal her age to the participants because she feared they would not take her seriously.

However, having gone through a rigorous training programme, she eventually realised that she was more than well-equipped to lead despite her youth.

In fact, she has highlighted how her age could work to her advantage when interacting with teenagers.

“It’s not a disadvantage to be young,” she said. “I somehow feel like I can connect better to the participants actually!”

She noted that most of the course participants come from schools all over Singapore, and some of them held preconceived notions or stereotypes of people from different backgrounds.

However, through facilitating interactions with participants, she said that she would notice these students becoming more mindful in the way they interact with others.

“After going through the programme together, they realise ‘hey, actually we’re not so different after all!’”

Hoo is mindful that it is extremely difficult to change someone’s behaviour and habits within five days.

However, by going through different activities, she explained that the course “plants seeds” in participants by getting them to be more aware of the change they are capable of making in themselves.

Hopes to keep improving

“When I joined, it was me wanting to help kids discover themselves in the outdoors. But in that process, I also grew a lot.”

Upon reflecting on her time at OBS, she said that this experience has allowed her to become more mature -- a change that her friends have pointed out as well.

“If adulting is what comes next after school, I feel like my process was sped up because of OBS… and (the experience of) dealing with participants. When I meet my friends, they also say I’ve changed in the way I present myself.”

But Hoo doesn’t intend to stop growing.

She told us that she hopes to get more certifications, and eventually become a training consultant who trains other OBS Instructors.

If you wish to have a career in empowering youths through adventure education, OBS is currently inviting interested participants to join their next recruitment briefing on Oct. 11, 2019.

For more information on the OBS Instructor role, you can also visit this link.

Top photo composite image, photos by Tanya Ong.

This is a sponsored article by the National Youth Council.