Having gone through at least 11 years of education, I had been a prefect for my last two years in my secondary school. Undoubtedly, it was an enriching experience which was more than just earning a few bonus co-curriculum marks to make your scholarship application form presentable. Below are reasons on why you should at least try to be a prefect. (Even if you feel you are incapable of being one)
1. It’s not a dull job, you get to take part in all sorts of activities.
During my years as a prefect, we organized many prefect outings (to the jealousy of our previous seniors because they had not such experience due to lack of funding). We had whole tons of fun during a trip to a beach and even played the RunningMan-styled race. We had our prefect’s night (which was one of the SUPER RARE events to watch the girls as they transformed themselves from ordinary pinafore-wearing, hair-bundled female students to BEAUTIES.) Trust me; you will be surprised at how amazing your female friends look at such events to the extent that you doubt they are the original ones.
2. It tests greatly on your abilities and soft skills.
To those who don’t believe in this, try persuading 40 students in a single class who never fail to give excuses to remain in their own class, and thus skipping the weekly morning assembly. When I was a junior, I simply gave them deadly looks with stern expression, which were returned with the same response! They wouldn’t even care if you haven’t done your job well. Thanks to my seniors, I later learnt the alternate way of persuading them, which is ‘pujuk-pujuk’. Instead of going mad at them, try starting a conversation with them with lines such as ‘Bro, nice weather man. You should get outta your class and go for assembly now.’
3. You will know anything about the latest happenings in your school.
As a prefect, you will know the dates for school events such as the teacher’s day because you will be involved in them. You might also be the first few ones to know about any happenings in your school, for example a fight between a student and a teacher (which will really be A BIG NEWS). The highest privilege you will own is to know when the next spot-check will be. This ‘highly-confidential’ secret is usually shared among the leaders in the prefect committee only. I’m sure you can remember how kepo your friends (or even yourself!) used to be in secondary school, always eager to be part of the gossip community.
4. You get unexpected rewards, by this I don’t mean it in material form.
As a prefect, I have widened my circle of friends because I interact with many people, ranging from teachers to my juniors. One important thing about this is that I became friends with a few blind students as I guided them to their destinations, and along the way we would always have short chit-chats. (my school also offers special education for students with visual disabilities) I admit, sometimes I would feel really down due to many reasons, especially during my Form 5 year as it was the SPM year. When your trial results were not on par with your efforts and the time was ticking fast, you would feel completely frustrated and at the same time, hopeless. I lost my aim several times, but managed to drag myself up because I was really inspired by the blind students. With their world in utter darkness, they do not flinch at the idea of walking in the midst of a crowd, depending solely on their senses and a walking stick. One even sensed the depression in my voice when I talked to him and encouraged me to stay strong.
5. Let’s get real; the co-curriculum marks rewarded is really good.
With high co-curriculum marks, you will have an extra edge to spare when it comes to standing out from your peers. One of my friends, a Biasiswa National scholar, told me that he was really grateful for taking the right decision to be part of the prefect’s community. If he hadn’t, he would not have earned the scholarship as one of the criteria was good performance in co-curriculum.
In a nutshell, being a prefect is not about being a teacher’s pet in every case. Believe me or not, I initially joined the committee because I was the only sibling who had not been a prefect by the time and my younger brother had always teased me for that reason. But I can tell you this; I never regret being a prefect.