My High School Life
Contents:
1997 was my final year in High School. It was a year filled with examinations and tests. Even though there was exam stress but that year was the most happiest year for me in High School. Old wounds are healed and new understandings were gained between friends. In particularly, I had an enthusiastic teacher, Mrs. Hope Ho, who have guided and taught the class a lot about humanity. Remembering that I was a reserve speaker for the school debate team when I was in Form 4, Mrs. Hope Ho has contributed so much to our team. Her contributions were countless, based on the amount of time and energy she put into the team. With her guidance and support, we became the National Speakers in Penang (1996). We not only brought glory to our school but it was something rather memorable and to be proud of because no one in school has ever achieved this before.
High School, to me, was a roller-coaster to my life. There was so much ups and downs, bumps and holes in the past 5 years. However, being in high school has earned me several credits. Leadership qualities were one of the many credits mentioned. I was being selected as the class's assistant monitor for at least 3 months when I was in Form 1 and was then selected again as a school prefect for the rest of my high school life. Not forgetting a few positions in the school's extra curricular activities. My greatest achievement was in the year 1994, where I was chosen to be the School Captain. On the surface, being a leader is not that hard. What we do is to command people and they will have the jobs done for us. This is absolutely the wrong idea. A leader has a huge responsibility. Not only that. To be a leader, we need to confront all types of people. In essence, there are three categories- one category falls into a group of people who pay you the highest respect. This type of people will do whatever they are told to do without further questions. You can call them the OBEDIENT followers.
One extreme category is the group of people who treat you like a goddess. Perfect in every way. There are people who admire you so much that they tend to go astray. It is quite unbelievable! Well, for certain, I became a POPSTAR for a while. Can you guess how many fans I had? I called this group of people my SUPERFAN(s). In this world, you can't expect everyone to love and like you. Hating is just the opposite of loving someone. But I can't disagree with the fact that Hating=Loving because it takes an equal amount of feelings to love and hate someone. This introduction leads to my explanation for the third category. These people hated me and would just do anything to jeopardize my positions in school. The fact that there were too many backstabbers gave me a hard time in school. Just think about this. Someone you trusted and befriends with are now against you because you are in a position higher than them.
I am not trying to dig the past and trying to take any revenge on anyone who was against me. If I wanted to do it, I would have done it long ago. I do not have to wait till today, do I? My intention is just to share my feelings of being in high school, as well as to give you a picture of how it was like being a leader. This picture has been painted in such a way that it clearly shows me a lot of lessons in life. Either you can give up power to obtain peacefulness or having power and taking up the challenge. The choice is entirely ours. The second lesson to be learned is this, you can't satisfy everyone's needs. Neither can you expect each and everyone in the world to love you. The most important thing is that you are conscious of what you are doing. If you think what you are doing is right, go ahead and do it. You will certainly end up in the right path. Besides that, keep out of having enemies. As I have said earlier, it takes an equal amount of feelings to love and hate someone. Why bother to hate someone when it does not worth your time, energy and feelings to do so? Hating someone just means that the person still occupies at least 1/4 of space in your heart. Think about what I said.
In conclusion, apart from the strict regulations and the sad moments that I have been through in high school, I did have fun in school. There are far too many things that you will never be able to dream of once you enter college or university. In times to come, I hope, these sweet memories will still be carved beautifully in my mind. Thanks to my friends who brought me joy and happiness while I was at high school. My appreciation extends to people who hated me because they have led me to think over my weaknesses and improve myself.
Studying overseas is something I have dreamt of when I was young. My dream came true in 1998 when I obtained a place in Trinity Education Centre (TEC) or more commonly known as Trinity College. History has shown us that Trinity College was a pure Catholic School decades ago. Yet today, it appears to be a well-established college in Melbourne. It is affiliated to the University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Being in Trinity College has introduced and exposed me to a different culture, surrounding and style of Australian education. My interest in creative writing and understandings of English Literature were fully enhanced in this college. This is especially true as one of my poems, "The Poet" was being produced during this period. Thanks to Paul Mcnamara, my Literature Lecturer who has given me the inspirations and ideas to produce this poem. It is a pity that he did not have the chance to read this poem because he moved to Hong Kong before it was finished written.
My involvement in Drama has boosted my confidence and improved my speech and communications with people. I still remember the first Drama assessment (the Mime) where we had to think of a mime and act it out in front of the whole class. I did a simple Chinese traditional dance. I can never imagine myself to be so daring, taking the risk of being a clown to the whole class because I have never been to a dancing class in my whole life. Just before the class ended, a friend, Samantha came up to me and said, "wow, where did you learn the steps?" Without thinking further and my face red with embarrassment I replied, " No! I did not learn them. I just made them up myself." My tutor made quite the same comments and added that I was graceful. He must not be blamed as he is an Australian and I am sure he doesn't know how to make reliable judgments! But my friend? Oh God, I really can't trust her! So, do you consider this a success or failure? For me, I think I only succeeded in fooling people but failed to convince my own self!!
Summing up, college life is lively and interesting. The best part of being in college is the ease of getting a place in the University of Melbourne!
My first year in the university was back in 1999. That was after a year in Trinity College. To tell you the truth, 1999 was the worst year ever in my life. It was a year filled with failure and sorrow. Looking at the bright sight, it was also a year where a good friend has been found. She's Kelly Lam from Hong Kong. Most people have given comments such as we are like twins or inseparable. The misunderstandings that occurred between both of us have actually bond us closer and let us appreciate each other more. I realized the fact that I love and hate her at the same time is mainly due the similarities between us. Two questions often formed in my thoughts, "Do you love her cos she's pieces of you?" AND "Do you hate her cos she's pieces of you?"
Many times during the year, I felt as if I was standing in a middle of a crossroad and did not know which way to go to. In the past, making decisions was never that difficult. Nevertheless, as we grow older more things enter our lives, which means that more decisions to make. The level of difficulties also increases. A wrong decision may lead to a disastrous future and affect our whole life. On the other hand, it would also mean that after making a decision, we would need to face the consequences of it. This is the reality that we need to face no matter what. Notice how these two situations conflict each other.
I would say friends are really hard to find after the departure from high school. This is mainly because everyone comes from different background or is educated differently and that everyone has his/her pasts. Looking at a different angle, I would say so much as true friends are difficult to find, they are equally important to our university lives. Before I entered the university, I have always felt that studying alone is much better than studying in groups. Opportunity and mistake prove me wrong. In fact, the reverse is true. No man is an island and two heads are definitely better than one. You can’t depend on yourself alone. You will never succeed this way.
For the past two years, I never put high hopes in friendship. University to me, is a place full of intentions, deceit and lies. Everyone is using each other to achieve their goals. Or it could be that students destroy and tear the pages out from books to refrain other students from accessing the information. This is the most extreme case I have ever heard of so far. The word, "kiasu" best describes some students. Not only are they intelligent, but they are also popular for their selfishness and cruelty. To them, they are the most successful person in the world. However, in reality, they are failures. They fail because they are not confident with their own abilities. Have a think about this : if they really believe in themselves, then why should they cheat? ( I am pointing to the case mentioned at the top). People cheat because they know they are not capable to succeed without cheating. Some students are reluctant to share the wealth of knowledge. Again, they are afraid of losing out in the race. Do they know the best way to learn is to teach?!!?!
Since 1999, I have fallen in love with Economics. Despite the fact that I have not done any Economics subject in high school, it did not affect my interest in it. It is a subject which I did not do well but it is also a subject which I excelled after taking it for the second time. I have never given myself excuses like I am not meant to be doing Commerce. Even though I am more suited to be doing Arts instead. I would like to share with you about a funny story told by Robert Dixon, my Quantitative Methods II lecturer. According to him, a Commerce/Law student was disqualified from taking last year's Economics exam because a dictionary (I can't remember the exact title of the dictionary. It was some sort of an Economics-English dictionary) was found on his table during the exam. The university law says that only a foreign language-English dictionary is permitted in the exam hall. When being interviewed in front of the disciplinary board of directors, he argued that Economics is a foreign language. The whole lecture theatre roared with laughter. In my heart, I was agreeing with that guy's statement. However, he was still guilty of the offence. The lesson to learn here is, even though you are doing Law, do not practice your skills unnecessarily!
To be continued.......
