i was looking thru my old yearbook a few days ago and it was a very memorable trip back to when i was in form six, at St John's Institution. i knw i have told lots of people this, going to form six really changed me, changed my perspective on things.
when i was in secondary school, from form 1 to form 5, i realised that i didnt quite have the same passion for school, and i looked for ways to skip school as often as possible. i didnt really take part in any school activites except for the occassional performances but that also was as a favour to my favourite english teacher.
and may i add, the only reason why i go to school at that time was because of my two friends, them and only them.
however once i arrived in form six, it all started to change, i knw it sounds so typical but it was as if i got a premonition that things that were to come will be much better. its true, because i met lots of different people that took me out of this shallow comfortable world that i thought i was living in. and to top it off, there was this whole camaraderie where everyone was just looking out for each other, along with orientation, and the rich history and culture of the school. it was definitely a huge different experience compared to what i had encountered before. i had a great two years, one of which was that i was chosen to be a councillor prefect (CP) and from there, things just had just begun to get better.
one thing that makes SJI so unique is that we had celebrations, all the time.teachers day, schools birthday, whatever, there is always a reason to celebrate..hehe.. of course the ones in the black blazers had to be on duty to prevent those who do not feel like partying go home early, but the female CP's (yup, there are only SIX of us) could always go off a little bit earlier since we had such nice fellow CP's in the lower forms to help us out. however, doing duty was fun so we always stayed til our shift was over..
however, when there is a party there is always the issue of funds, so it can be a huge headache for people like me who happens to be the class treasurer. having to go round asking your classmates for money can prove to be a very, very tedious task indeed.
but i think my classmates will agree with me that all that hassle was well worth it, right?
my alma mater was approaching her hundreth birthday, and there were all these events, such as fund raisers and gala dinners that we had to attend. being prefects, we had the usual task of assisting the teachers from every aspect including pinning of corsages, maintaining the dscipline and ensuring the noise level do not go to the extreme. one of the perks of being a prefect is that there are certain functions and events that we would be chosen to attend, and we knew what was happening behind the scenes most of the time
i remember there was once we had to attend a royal gala dinner at the grand ballroom in mandarin oriental, and we the prefects had to sell souveniers and run around doing errands.. (for the gala dinner, only the exco and the girl prefects were chosen to attend,oh lucky us hehe..)
other than that i was also a member of my school's editorial board, the garudamas. though i remember not handing up my assigned pieces on time i know that i have many wonderful memories of how fun it was to be part of a crazy editorial board. and when i say crazy, i really mean, crazy..it was just next to the school office and there can always be constant laughter in the garudamas room all the time. and music. LOUD music. :S
it was also through garudamas that kiko and i are very close to each other eventhough i was told by a jealous friend many times before that kiko hated me which i later found out to be completely untrue.
i had great memories of when the prefects all went for our Leadership Training Camp (LTC) in some place in Selangor.. gosh it was in such a remote area (to me,at least) , i can't even remember the name, what was it again? Bagan Lalang i think, hem...
not only that, we had lots of social events like the prefects high tea
our prefects dinner night
the orientation ball
as i look through the yearbook there are things and events that comes to mind, some of which if i had a chance to relive them now, i would most definitely do it differently. things like thinking real hard before acting. and about listening to others before i make my own conclusions. about seeing through people for who they really are. and oh yeah, studying a little bit harder :) but the thing that struck me the most now is that despite the unpleasant events that might have marred an otherwise perfect two years at st johns, it was all in all a perfect two years, full of laughter and fun. most importantly, it was a place where i grew up and begun to see the world for what it really is, a much bigger place than what i used to think it was.
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