For this particular post, I'm going to be more casual and laid-back in my choices of words and way of writing. There will be personal pictures too; those that my family and friends can totally relate to since they know my nature. :)
So, how did I come across the news about the newly-launched 1MET and manage to sign up?
I actually saw a post about it by accident. It was linked to a Facebook post and I clicked on it out of curiosity. To be truthful, I was never majorly interested in joining any bootcamp or convention-like event, especially when it concerns something that is fairly new in the community. However, I kept reading the description of the programme on its official website. I thought that the programme content was pretty impressive. Even though the programme was yet to take place at that time, I knew that the organising team had put a lot of thoughts and considerations in order to come up with a proper planning of the programme. The way that they listed down the vision, mission, execution, and other details was straight to the point and understandable. When I looked at the available dates and locations, I spotted my state Sarawak! Then, I saw the time slots and venue. I thought about it for a short while to be sure that I would really be able to attend the bootcamp session. Thankfully, I could and I signed up right away. Upon signing up, personal details needed to be filled up for the organiser's database. Other information that needed to be filled up was T-shirt size but it was informed on the website that 1MET T-shirts would only be given to those who would be chosen to attend the launching event in Kuala Lumpur (KL), in conjunction with the 4th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) 2013. I wasn't putting my hopes high to be one of the selected (earliest) participants but I proceeded with my sign up because I had nothing to lose. It was all free! I also thought that I could definitely learn some useful things with regards to entrepreneurship from real-life entrepreneurs.
A few weeks after the bootcamp session, selected participants were notified via e-mail. Frankly, I was secretly hoping that I wasn't in the list (Silly me, I know.) because I was occupied with a part-time job and wanted to do my best at it without much distraction. I was a little surprised that I got selected to attend the launching event in KL. Once I received the notification e-mail, I informed my part-time job manager. It seemed that it was not a problem for me to get a few days off for the launching event.
When the day arrived, I departed to KL. It felt a little different than my previous travels because I was traveling on my own without knowing anyone else who was also involved in the programme. I just went along with it. I'm glad I did. I decided to travel light for the particular trip. So, I only packed just enough items that could fit into my backpack and sling bag.
In the morning of the launching event day, we had to be ready even before the sun rose. I'm usually not a morning person but I had no problem waking up very early that day
I guess one of the advantages of being on your own is that you have better chances at moving and doing things faster since you only need to think of yourself. So, I was always among the earliest to get things done and to enter the bus and places for the event. I managed to get the front row spot in 1MET marquee tent. It was cold in the tent. Thankfully, I brought along my sweater. A few minutes after I entered the tent, a guy walked towards us who were sitting at the front row. He introduced himself and mentioned that he came from Texas, the USA. He even did the cowboy dance move. LOL He was funny and friendly. He is none other that EJ Carrion, our moderator for that morning. He chatted with the two guys sitting next to me, then he talked to me too. He even got our names.
One thing that I realised (but probably unrelated) was that I have always been pronouncing my name as "Priss-si-la" with an emphasis on "Pris". EJ, on the other hand, pronounced my name as "Pris-sill-la" with an emphasis on "sill". When I thought of it, EJ might have been more correct because the spelling of my name is P-R-I-S-C-I-L-L-A, with one "S" and two "L"s. But it doesn't matter because "Pris" is one of my common nickname, so, emphasizing on the "S" is no big deal. ^^
EJ started the 1MET event with a story about his skydiving experience with his friends. He was being so enthusiastic and expressive in his story-telling. Oh, other people may not realise it but in his story, he mentioned my name since I was in front and he probably saw me listening so attentively. He was talking about his best friend whom he "love(s) but can be so stupid sometimes", who was the last in line to jump from the plane right after him. *LOL*. It was like "My best friend was the last one in line, Priscilla...", something like that. The point of EJ's skydiving story was to tell us to go ahead and "jump" towards our dreams or goals. It may feel scary before the jump, but once you make the jump (with proper equipment, of course), you'll find that it's not so bad.
The rest of the morning went on with speeches by Sarah Green from Washington DC and Shama Kabani from Texas. These two beautiful ladies are both entrepreneurs who are now well-accomplished. Then, there was a live broadcast of the 4th GES that was happening in KLCC's convention hall. Media, both local and international, started to set up their cameras in front of the stage in our tent. Malaysia's Prime Minister and the USA's Secretary of State were on their way to our 1MET tent. Not too long after that, the drums and some-other-musical-instruments-that-I-don't-know-but-they-require-hitting-and-shaking were played. Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak and John Kerry made their way up on the stage. Let me tell you, once the two appeared on stage, the audience members were like.....super hyped! I was originally in the front row from the beginning of the event, but by the time the two guests of honour got on stage, there were some pushing and pulling that I ended up being in the second row...or the first-and-a-half row. It was just like being in the rockzone of a pop concert (or rock concert, if you prefer that genre), without the singing or fanchants.
After the visit from the two guests of honour, there was another talk by Norman Abdul Halim from KRU Group. Then, a panel of entrepreneurs from different countries went up on stage for a Q&A session. After the whole programme ended, we had our lunch and were free to walk around until our buses arrived to send us back to hostel. I just wandered inside Suria KLCC shopping mall while waiting for the buses.
I was already tired and couldn't wait to hit the bed for a nap. And that was exactly what I did when we got to the hostel. I took a long nap (for about three or four hours). I remember being woken up by my phone when someone called (or text messaged) me. I got hurt because of that! Well, my phone was charging on the desk and when I heard the ringtone (or message notification), I automatically got up from the bed to reach out to my phone. Predictably, I was wobbly and half-asleep, so, even a two-meter 'journey' from the bed to the desk was enough for a little accident to happen. The accident was that as I was walking in an unstable and subconscious manner towards my phone, I couldn't make a safe stop when I reached the desk. So, I almost fell to one side and in my attempt to stop myself from falling, my right foot accidentally hit the edge of a wooden stool that was right next to the desk. I guess it was pretty forceful, that I got a 1.5 cm half-open(?) cut on my right foot. I instantly felt the aching. Thankfully, I brought along handy plasters and made use of them.
All in all, I feel fortunate to be given the chance to go through a learning experience such as 1MET, especially since it was the very first batch of that programme. I really hope that a lot of the people that I know, be it my friends, my family members, my relatives, or my acquaintances, will grab the opportunity for the coming batches.
