Many Thanks

The following is a public note I posted on my Facebook profile, and I decided to copy it here as well, should anyone care to drop by.

You have every right to be disappointed. In fact, I would question your level of personal investment in terms of time and energy, if you were not disappointed after yesterday's results. I would like to say I know exactly how you feel, because I (and my fellow members in 2005) felt the same way when our results were announced.

And yet, I cannot make such a claim. Because while we had our late night practices as well, they were different from the ones you had. Because while we had our own determination and vigour, each person ultimately will have his/her own unique motivations for striving for the top prize. Because ours was the first SYF where GWH was introduced, so there wasn't as much 'expectation' from within. Because only one school got GWH in our year, so there was less pain to go around, and more people (outside RJCO) to share it with us.

So I cannot claim to know precisely how you feel right now. But I will make an educated guess, based on my own experience. Perhaps you feel empty; dejected. After the dust has settled, perhaps you will question, was it worth your while, all that stress and late nights and overdue assignments, and above all, all the hopes and aspirations you had pinned to this single day. Perhaps you feel a lingering sense of anticlimax, because the emotions and dreams you had built up over the past few weeks, nay, months, would either be fulfilled or destroyed in an instant; a mere collection of words out of the announcer's mouth. That was how I felt back in 2005, and I'm certain that most of my batchmates had their own personally-customised rollercoaster rides as well.

But not all is despair, for there is also much to be grateful for. I was grateful for the times I spent with friends and peers. Of course it wasn't always smiles and rainbows, but such experiences are the ones we live for. I was grateful for the opportunity to taste failure in a serious, yet practically inconsequential situation. By definition, all members of RJCO are accustomed to succeeding at many, if not most, of their endeavours. The danger of this is that we may become too complacent, and expect things to drop at our feet at will. (don't get me wrong, i'm not accusing anyone of complacency here, just emphasising the risk it brings) Yet it is also a boon, for addiction to the sweet taste of victory is the only motivation we will need to recover from such a setback.

So, by all means, despair a little, cry a little. But always keep looking towards the future out of the corner of your eye, for further challenges await.

~ ~ ~

I would like to thank all of you, the current members of RJCO, for reminding me of my days in school. (I would use the phrase "the heady days of my youth", but I don't think I meet the age requirement for that yet) I'm sure many of my fellow alumni members would agree with me when I say that visiting school, sitting in for your practices, watching the concert last year; all these experiences are exercises in time travel that bring us back, momentarily, to the wonderful times of the past. It has been exceedingly depressing, for we are reminded that we will never have such experiences again, but it also has been invigorating, for we look forward even more to what is to come *cough30thmaycough*

So in conclusion to this rambling note, be grateful for everything you do now, and appreciate the people around you today, for they are a unique collection of individuals that you will miss dearly when you are eventually out of school.