Prologue

This is one of my favourite months.  After a whole year of travelling and learning from books, people, sights, smells, and God, I just feel so great to have days all to myself.  Some regard it as boredom but I call it FREEDOM.  After gruelling 10-hour (or more) study days, jet-lagged days, running-around-for-projects days, training days, and not-enough-time days, I just feel so so so great to have a day where I get to do nothing.  Once in a while that is :)

With all the hype about college, I realised I haven't thought much about it.  It's hard when you have six months of your life planned out and at the same time, you have no idea of how it would turn out in the end.  And also because you have so little control over it.  In some ways, it kills me.  In some ways, the possibilities excite me endlessly.

Applying for the Youth Exchange & Study (YES) Program was very planned out in a way that my eyes never left what I was yearning for.  I really really wanted to go for the six-month student exchange programme to the US and yet so scared that I wouldn't get it.  So scared that I never dared to think about the possibilities beyond the selection camp.  So, when I finally got the news, I was just...flying.  Even though I'm not very good with expressing myself in general if I didn't want to, I was definitely on a high in my own little mind.

The whole US thing has finally hit - not fully - but it has hit me and it came along with a hundred and one questions.  Where would I be placed?  How are the people there?  Am I going to be on television?  How are the schoosl there? Does discrimination exist? How much do they know about Malaysia? If you're good at something, will the kids there hate or love you? WILL I SURVIVE? (:

Well, I guess if you put it that way, everything seems scary. And much to some readers' surprise, I don't know the answers to all of them.  But, I guess it doesn't matter.  With many days of thinking (months actually), I've realised that perfection, smooth communication, a total know-it-all, overwhelming patriotism, and excessive friendliness is not what makes up an exchange student.

Personally, I think exchange students are supposed to be people who are willing to learn new things and accept differences. I think, to a certain extent, dreams are important because they are what keep us going every day in facing whatever challenges life throws at us.  Two things. First, Passion.  I just feel that as long as you want to do something and your passion in learning something new everyday continues to excite you, it will never fail to contribute to the whole experience and growth as a person.  Second, God (obviously surpassing passion).  Ultimately, knowing and never forgetting where you came from, to me, is what makes you or breaks you in times of struggle.  It would be such a lie to say that the coming six months are going to be entirely filled with happy moments.  Emotional highs and lows are inevitable and very important actually.  What matters to me I think is the ability to know what is right and what is wrong, where the limits are and that God is with us.  In my opinion, exposure is better than being kept in the dark about things that are happening in the world that you and I are living in.

It is a greater achievement to say that I have faith in God after never letting go of His hand in overcoming temptations than to say that I have faith in God without the courage to test my own strength in overcoming temptation for fear of defeat.

So, even though it is roughly three weeks away, I just want to say,

See you very soon Malaysia, Hello United States of America!

Long ago, I had a dream.  A dream to go to the United States of America.  And now my dream is coming true but it is not the end.  As a traveller in this world, I say it is just the beginning. (:

God I have faith in You.

The sorting hat says that I belong in Ravenclaw!



Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose intelligence is surest."

Ravenclaw students tend to be clever, witty, intelligent, and knowledgeable.
Notable residents include Cho Chang and Padma Patil (objects of Harry and Ron's affections), and Luna Lovegood (daughter of The Quibbler magazine's editor).

Take the most scientific Harry Potter
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2010

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better year. It was my last year in high school and the most...compact year of my life. This year was filled with me doubting myself, believing in myself, and wondering how in the world I ended up like this. I guess everyone has their own little moments when they criticise themselves but I guess this year really pushed me. And it pushed hard.

With high spirits, I began my year just like any other student - excited and full of enthusiasm to get those string of As. The first quarter of the year was exhausting surrounding the Rhythmic Gymnastics hype. Training was a must and it got me slightly worn out and forced me to up my tempo in my studies. March holidays came and nationals arrived in a blink of an eye.

Executing a dance routine in a group is harder than you think. When you've trained with the same people for months, you start to have that silent telepathy as you dance and try to catch your apparatus. There were endless days that saw us frustrated at each other and having to repeat the routine again and again because someone dropped their hoop. This was my final year as a senior and even though my team knew we were not at the same level as the KL or Selangor team, I learnt that winning wasn't everything. It taught me that a team means having each others back - when someone makes an error, the whole team goes down with her.  It's never a one-person thing.  Thanks guys.

Majlis Anugerah Kecemerlangan gave me a chance to try my hand as an MC and I'm glad everything went okay.  I was also pleased that the attendees loved the Alice In Wonderland-inspired backdrop that my friends and I worked on for weeks on end!

See the pretty backdrop behind! :)

Then, came mooting.  My last year and the first competition to land me in a different country!  I've talked about it in my other page but I just want to say that despite threatening to pull out of the competition the week before, I'm glad the team hung on.  This was by far, one of the best experiences in my entire high school life.  Yes, it was a risk to take it up during SPM year but I did anyway :)

I think it would not be complete without including my family trip to KL and Malacca.  Gula Melaka was close to heaven but travelling with my parents was definitely the greatest thing about the whole outing.  It had been a little more special because of it being my last year at home before going off to study.  :/

Funny story: My best friend and I decided to enter an online Clean & Clear model search just for kicks.  From joking about it with our History teacher to landing ourselves shortlisted in the Top 20 and on a flight to KL! It was surreal.  Modelling was way down in my list of things I thought I'd get into before high school ended.  In the end, we didn't make the cut but we gained so much more as best friends.  Amber, I shall not forget clutching your hand as we rode the roller coaster in Sunway Lagoon...twice!

Because of it's enormity in the impact it had on my life, I.U. Day Bazaar shall stand alone in this blog. *SIGH* Wow. I... this whole project was bigger than me and bigger than the whole Interact Club put together but I am so proud of the hard work, ideas, and time we put into this. We won 5 awards and OVERALL CHAMPION probably for the first time in Convent history.  But, believe it or not, that is besides the point.  To our teachers, thank you for keeping the club out of financial and physical *ahem* trouble.  Audrey, my beloved director (even though I probably got mad at you the most), thanks for your patience with my everything-must-be-perfect-or-not-at-all attitude.  BODs, your dedication and constant presence reminded me I was not alone. The Interact Club members, I may not show it, but the club is something very dear to me.  I am humbled to be elected President by the seniors and I truly am sorry if I had done anything wrong.  This year was not perfect, but believe me when I say I gave my ALL to this club.  Probably the most I could have given for anything.

In my head: Pleaselikethestall.Pleaselikethestall.

Who knew a little concert organised by the PIBG would get me and a couple of friends back into Gymrama?  Just when I thought I had come to a close for this sport, life was amazing and God even more amazing in His ways of making this event pop up.  I learnt to choreograph in a matter of days without professional help :P and got a little bit more into shape to execute certain stunts.  I was glad to show my school what Rhythmic Gymnastics was all about even it was just for 4 minutes on stage.

Going on a student exchange programme has always been my dream.  Call it cliche if you wish but I meant what I said. So, knowing I was shortlisted for the Youth Exchange and Study Selection Camp got me jumping up and down!  I had never met so many talented people in one place before.  There was a national squash player, a guy who owned his own web design company, a wushu exponent and so many more.  Knowing I was actually confirmed a place for the 6 months high school exchange programme to USA was even more unbelievable and I had to force myself back onto the ground days before trials.

The Youth Friendship Exchange Programme to Singapore organised by RCKK was another big thing for me.  It really really tested my patience as the team leader and taught me how to handle people who have conflicting views with you.  To my teammates, it was an achievement to see how close we grew during the four days we spent together.  Although choreographing the Magunatip dance till 3 a.m. and performing it the next day was unanticipated, I loved every bit of the experience.

Facilitating the Form 1 & 2 Sunday School students opened my eyes to how difficult a teacher's job was.  From students checking Facebook beneath their tables or playing the guitar when you teach, together with my partner-in-crime, Manson, I just wanna say "Whew! We did it!"  And I can tell you the feeling was great! I would do it again!...I think ;)

The Joint Installation Night for the Interact Club this year was great because I could perform the song I always wanted to sing for ages with my friends and actually attend an Interact event in which I was not required to run around the whole night.  Overall, I was glad that I could perform in front of an audience alongside my good friends before high school ended and JIN helped me do that.

School Graduation. When you've worked so hard for something and hope just creeps up on you, all you can do is leave it to God. Success is sweet and knowing that so many people have entrusted you with such a big responsibility is daunting yet fulfilling. But it can never beat the love you get from friends, the strength you acquire from your parents, the support you get from people along your climb. If you have experienced that, only then can you understand the true meaning of happiness.

And who could forget the SPM examinations during SPM year.

So, that was 2010 for me.  This is as much as I can write but there were many more great events that occurred actually! Studies wasn't all smooth sailing for me even though my results might not show it sometimes.  I think if you were looking from the outside in, you'd wonder why I took up so many things during this crucial year.  I am human and there were times I thought I'd explode.  Truthfully, for the sake of setting the record straight, I did not regret the decisions I made. I was aware that I might have gotten better grades or whatever if I hadn't been so 'active'.  No one forced me to do anything - I chose my path and it so happened to be the road less travelled by.

I chose this not because of recognition or the pressure of living up to whatever standards other people have set around me.  I chose this because I felt that it was the only path I could take without looking back and saying, "I wonder what would have happened if I..."  Countless people may disagree with my view of the importance of studies and co-curriculum but 2010 has ultimately taught me that THIS IS what life is about and THIS IS who I am.  If you asked me to focus on purely my academics and nothing more, I do not deny that I may or may not have scored better but I would be doing it not because I wanted to but because other people wanted me to.

It's hard to say this to so many people I know but life is not all about what's stated on a piece of paper. Yes, an education is important but what you get out of it is MORE important.

Thank you Lord for... all of this. (: