By (Samantha Azu _Grade 11, Co-Head – Chocolate Friendship Day ‘17)

I always wanted to head Chocolate Friendship Day as I thought it would be a very interesting experience so when the conversation about who wants to head it came up in our skype group, I ecstatically nominated myself to be one of the two leaders needed. Luckily for me, a couple of my grade mates seconded the idea. In the beginning of the process, it was all fun; getting members for the various committees, coming up with a name for the project, deciding on a cause, settling on the prices of our products, designing a poster and lest I forget, eating the sampled chocolates in order to use the wrappers for the poster J. We had to meet the demand of about 350 chocolate lists with some having as many as 60 people on their lists. Hearts on Fire, the name we came up with for the project, was definitely the highlight of everyone’s month and we definitely couldn’t fail them. To rise above the standard set by the previous class, we needed to up our game; to be diligent, efficient and most importantly, trust ourselves that we could do it.

The night of the 10th, on the eve of Chocolate Friendship Day, was the real test. When we walked into the CAS block after school we knew we were staying till the AM’s and it wasn’t going to be easy. Yehowahi and I as leaders, with the help of the committee members, came up with swift ways to ensure a smooth flow till it was time to deliver the chocolates. As a head, I had to be everywhere at every time. At 2:30 am we headed towards the hostels and delivered the chocolates, my heart was still pounding till I heard someone running down the staircase saying “I got two roses”, I smiled, took a shower and slept! When I woke up I thought I was all done, until I remembered that we have a two hour entertainment to plan. We had what seemed like the longest meeting ever and finally we started decorating and putting things in place. It was a successful night and I never once regretted putting myself as a leader. I learnt a lot but not as much if you compare it to the chocolates I got. J