only poor people know how to share

I've been reading the speech by Severn Suzuki in 1992, delivered at the UN Earth Summit. And it really made me think about us people in this world. And about what I'm going to be next time.

We are humans. We have two eyes, one nose, one mouth, skin, organs. You get it. We are all equals.

Be it you are a CEO, a minister, an engineer, a hawker, a student, or even unemployed. We are the same. We breathe the same air, we drink the same water, we eat the same food. It's my world as much as it's yours.

But why is our world like this? Why is it that teenagers are cutting themselves to let the blood flow and the feelings out? Why is it that people are throwing themselves off bridges over a failed relationship? Why is it that children are crying for their workaholic parents? 

Because we are selfish, greedy people. We live a good life. We have food, water, shelter, warmth and love. But it's all overlooked by us. We are blind. We only see ourselves. We appeal to our needs and wants, we ignore the facts lying straight ahead. 

We hurt when we cut ourselves. We think we're alone in the world of pain and misery. But have you ever stopped to wonder how people would think when they saw those scars? Do you stop to see the look of pain flickering through the eyes of your mother, whom you don't wish to speak to anymore? We are not alone. There are people out there who see your pain, feel your pain, and try to stop your pain. But you don't acknowledge. You think that you are suffering so badly that the world has to do nothing but appease you. Did you even care when someone put a hand on your shoulder and said, "Don't hurt yourself." You didn't. It's not their fault. Someone may have made you cut, but you should be accepting the help, or even acknowledging it at least. You could have chosen not to wallow in self-pity and pull yourself back up. Remember, there are people suffering more than you out there.

Do you think that if you're just going to end your life right there, everything will end. Wherever you are, it won't stop. You are just running away from it, not ending it. Have you not wondered after your body has been fished out from the river, what would happen? Do you think that no one would cry over your body? Someone would. There would be someone grieving for the loss. And you had voluntarily caused that pain, selfishly, because you're just pushing it to someone else.

Working for money will not change your life by very much. Nor your children's, thank you very much. If you bother to get home once in a while to play with your child, to talk to your teen, to share his joy and lessen her sorrow, something would be different. If you're not even doing that, just caring about your own life, how can you expect your own child to respect you, to listen to you, when he doesn't know you? You say you're doing it for him, but tangible objects like money will not make a difference. We are humans, we need you to appeal to our emotions. We need to trust you, and it's up to what you do to earn the trust of others. Even your own children have a choice. 

I still see myself as a child. I see myself as someone who has not experienced a lot in my life. I see myself as someone who still has to grow up. But I know what I speak about. I know what I'm doing. I know what I will do for whoever who needs me. There are children my age, who have gone through so much more than I did, that I cannot compare. But I want to make my point no matter what.

Be it a child or an adult, we are equals. Rich or poor, we are equals. We are equals. If we try to be less stubborn, to learn to listen to the hearts of others, maybe the world would be better place for us all. If adults would learn to listen to the little things their children want them to be, maybe we would be different. But no, grownups never will. Because they are too egoistic of themselves. Because they pride themselves to be of a higher rank than their own children. Because they don't want to droop to what they would call a lowly position by asking for help from someone whom they look down on. Us. Children.

They make us do what they want us to do. Not what we want to do. They make us fulfill the dreams they failed to fulfill, not the dreams that we want to come true. They teach us to respect them, to respect people, to listen to them no matter what. They teach us to accept criticism, to learn to ask for help, to share, not to be selfish. And as children, we do it. But sooner or later, we adopt the same thinking style of adults. Because we were made to listen.

My case is no different. I am made to listen and I still am. I accept that now. But when I break free from the "reign" of my own boundaries of my parents, it'll change. I will not think like them. I will do it differently. I will be fair. And for my own children, I want them to know that I will always listen to their hearts, and that I will not force them into fulfilling my dreams. And do you know why? Because I will fulfill ALL my dreams by myself. There is no need for them to make my dreams come true, because I will do it and prove it to the world and to those who doubted me, or us. I only have one dream, and that is to make a difference. And I know I can.

So, children do things the way adults make us do. If we are all equals in the world, shouldn't the adults do the same? Shouldn't they learn to accept criticism, to share, not to be greedy, to ask for help, to listen to others? The world isn't a fair place. So, no they don't do it. Because they only care about themselves and their own 'face'. They say they care about us, but we are not their priority.

IF YOU TRULY CARE FOR SOMEONE, YOU WOULD LISTEN TO TO HER HEART. NO MATTER WHAT. YOU WOULD ACCEPT HER CHOICES. YOU WILL NOT FORCE HER INTO ANYTHING. YOU WILL SUPPORT HER.

If everyone understands the concept of being equal, the world will be so much more beautiful. It is actually very simple. But adults complicate it so much that they themselves forget that it started off with them.

You don't need a reason to follow your own heart. You don't need to follow what others think. You follow your gut; your instinct; and that will lead you down the right path for you.

We want a better world. And we must know how do we do it. We must learn to let go of our shortcomings, of others' shortcomings. We must learn to accept what others say, but stand firm with what we believe is right. We must learn to share and not be selfish. We must learn to treat others the way we want to be treated. Fairly.

We have so much. More than so many others out there. We suffer pain, but so many suffer much, much more. We have more than enough but we don't want to share. People who don't have anything wish to make the Earth a better place. 

Shouldn't you be ashamed of yourselves? Shouldn't you be doing what you tell people to do. Do as you preach. Words are empty without action. People see you from what you do, not what you say.

Wealthy people only want to be richer. Wealthy people are afraid of losing their wealth. They are afraid of losing out. Poor people just want the basics and give away the rest for a happier world.

No matter how educated we are, or how smart or respected we think we are, it doesn't mean what we do it correct.

If only we knew how to share. If only we knew how people felt when we controlled them. If only we knew that respect and trust is earned, not gained.

If I can end poverty and create peace myself, you wouldn't be seeing this right now. If I get a dollar for every person who reads this and spreads the message to someone else, I can feed as much as a chicken. This is how selfish we can be.

Show me. That we still have a heart.

Please, PROVE ME WRONG.

Fight for your place

Today marks the end of Phase 1. Or NWK for the girls.

I was in for just one event, K2 500 Junior, which is technically Under-18. You have no idea how stressed out I was over the race. I was scared because I was going against the A Div or even the JH3s. I thought I was just going to 感受气氛. Ruiting and I had only six trainings together in the K2 Tiger? Not to mention that we are up against Peishengs, AKs, Nelos. But the Yingrui/Christine Tiger was just WOW.

It was raining like hell, so races were called off at first. I reached at 11, 2 hours before my race, and Race 1 haven't even started... The rest were at Boat Control, so I just dropped off my kopi and read a book and hobo-ed with myself. After everyone was gone, I spoke with Jinni. She's a really adorable girl from CGS, my age. We talked about school, jokes, trainings and races. (According to Yingrui she's very cute and I'm not, and my reason is because I'm tall. Conclusion: Tall people cannot be cute eheheh)

Okay, so about my race.

For the heats, we were up against Siongyee and Jingwei, who were in a Nelo. They came in 1st and into finals. There were 2 other CGS boats and 1 from SAJC. If I'm not wrong, the SAJC boat was an AK, and CGS had one Tiger and one Peisheng. We came in third and into semis, beating SAJC and the CGS Tiger. The girls from CGS were 15, both with 2 more years of experience than me, and 1 more than Ruiting. I was really proud of both of us (and I still am) that we managed to defy the odds to race into semis despite the obvious disadvantages. I kept telling myself that I couldn't be a dead weight on a boat and I really gave my best. It's better than our trainings, and I'm glad for that fact.

For the semis, I was determined to get a better timing than heats. Even though Ruiting had back-to-back races, she really gave her all, I could see it. We didn't manage to race into finals, but it was better than the heats, in my opinion.

I'm not sure if it was because of her K1 or K2 race, but Ruiting seem kind of upset? Or disappointed, I'm not sure. If it's for the K2, I'm really sorry that we couldn't get into the finals, but I know that we gave our best for it. As a junior, I know I can't match up to the power of the seniors you've raced with, but I really tried not to be a dead weight. It's been a wonderful experience racing with you, and training with you, I just hope you know that. Hope we get closer for B Div, jiayou!

Oh, and about my title, "Fight for your place". This is the first race I've ever fought to enter semis or finals. The other times I were in semis and finals were by default. Either having my opponents capsizing, or their boats being underweight. Or the fact that there are only 3 people in the heats. It's the first time, and I was really happy.

This is just one step towards our fight for B Div. Just like what Mad told me, whatever it is, fight and give our opponents the hardest race of their lives. Whatever the results, as long as you've given your best, it'll always be satisfactory.

Thank you, for everything. :)

Look closely

Okay this is gonna be a short post. I'm flat out from training and school, and I don't even have the energy to lepak around, but this is just a quick message.

I was just looking through some tweets and blogs just now, and I see people complaining about how asdfghjkl-ing annoying it is when "perfect" people complain about their legs, their brains, their boys, etc. You get what I mean.

And I just want to say this.

I'm not perfect. None of us are. We are different, unique, special in our own way, our own touch.

To every person out there in the world who needs a hug, remember that you're still living. There's still people who care. Stop hurting yourself, you are beautiful. Know that you are gorgeous, just the way you are.

Quoted from someone:

you deserve flowers on your doorstep and coffee in the morning

you deserve notes left on  your dashboard and ice cream sundaes at 3am

you deserve honesty every day and to be kissed every hour

you deserve to be reminded how beautiful you are.

Stop for a moment and listen to their hearts, watch their hands, learn from them. Let life slowly pass by while you stand there for that rest we all need, once in a while.

Fight and Live, Forgive and Love.

That's all you need sometimes.

it's been 14 years

Many times in my life, or more of teenhood, I wish I was a kid once more. With no troubles, just enjoying life the way it should be. There's no need for true and false, because I believed in everything. No right or wrong, because it was just so simple. Innocent, young child. It doesn't stay for long. We go through so many things that during one period of time, we are forced to grow up, older than what we're supposed to be. If I had children of my own, I'll let them stay as pure as they can be, for as long as they're supposed to. Not a prince or princess, but one who cares for everything without judging. Only a child can do that. Only a child can see beauty in anyone; in anything. We have lost that essence so long ago. I wish it would come back.

It's not that I'm not happy where I am. But I know I was happier last time. Ignorant of evil, seeing good in the littlest of all things. Like a flower would be in pain if picked.

I've learnt a lot in this fourteen years. Many chapters have gone by, but it's far from the end. I don't know if this is the peak of my life, but I wish the climax will just keep on going, till the day I die. That I experience new things with each breath I take, that I learn from different people and lessons, as I go through the stages of life, happy always.

There are four main things which taught me life lessons. People, passions, dreams, myself.

It's ironic that you can teach yourself something, but every night before I fall asleep, no matter how tired I am, I pause to run the events of the day through my mind. I think about what I learnt, I think about what I did, I think about what I could have done. I think about my troubles, I think about the next day, I question myself about everything and everyone, I create scenes of what my life should be. And most importantly, I thank God for giving me another beautiful day to experience. Cherish every day no matter how good or bad it is, there's bound to be something that made you happy.

People. My family, my friends, my team. There's so much to explain, but to put it simply, the incorporated all the values I live by into myself. The main things I live by.

- Live each day with no regrets.

- Live each day being happy.

- Live each day knowing you've made a difference.

- Live each day knowing you've gave your best.

I believe that I get better each day. Not just physically, but I learn the good of the world and appreciate it. I wake up knowing what I will do. I set myself a target of what to do, and I will do it. As best as I can.

Passions. My sport. A CCA is for school, but being an athlete is for life. To sum it up, it made me learn to love the different people in the team, for who they really are. It's the people that made me love canoeing, they were the ones that made me learn to do my best in anything else I do. Reading and writing. Whatever I read influenced my beliefs, my values, my decisions, sometimes. And writing is the way I pass along messages, when it's hard to say them aloud. And finally, football. Seven years and counting, since the 2006 World Cup. Sometimes, the things you never thought you would ever bother with made a difference in you.

Dreams. Daydreams, nightdreams. I wake up feeling happy from my dreams, even if I can't remember them well. I dream of myself, I dream of people, I dream of things. They may or may not exist, may or may not happen, but I appreciate it. Dreams make me see things in a different light. Just like how I see life in another perspective.

So, fourteen years. I've been very happy through this short fourteen years. I have many chapters, and beautiful ones of course, to go. Thank you for being with me all the time, teaching me, learning with me, watching me grow up into what I am now.

Most of all, being happy with me.

Social Work - Giving back

This isn't an ambition. This is just what I want to do, to give back to those who need, who in turn will hold another hand when they finally can.

I don’t know why I suddenly wanted to do this. All along, I was pondering about what sort of person I was going to be, whether I would really become a lawyer or doctor, just like how my parents want me to be. It’s just common to hear that a friend of mine will be going to study law in Cambridge, perhaps, or for someone who wishes to follow in her three hundred and forty-sixth cousin’s footsteps to go to Yale. Or maybe Ivy League. They say, “If you want to go overseas to study, you must either be rich to afford it, or be smart to earn a scholarship.”

Well, well, well. Many aspirations, definitely, and I’m not mocking them in any way. But what are you going to achieve by going overseas? Is it going to be special that you came from the University of Siberia? Your portfolio will be dotted with little details such as you went on a Leadership Programme in the Himalayas and you spoke with the tribe leaders and received rare berries picked by ancient monks in exchange for the canned sardines and tattered books you scrounged out from your storeroom. Or you rode on a wolf, leading the people up the Tibetian Mountains. And even saved an octopus from choking on salami with Heimlich. Or you were in Chess Club, the swim team, the person on the Honour Roll every quarter. Not to mention the President of the Student Council, Homecoming Queen, Miss All- Rounder. Beautiful on appearance, but a witch inside who couldn’t care less about others.

This doesn’t apply for everyone, definitely. There are lovely people who do care, and yet are just so good. But again, I’m just mentioning a point here.

So, I’m just planning to stay here, in Singapore, and do what I can. We have many charities and societies that can help, but there are just so many others who don’t get what they deserve. I read in the papers about how a man offered to pay for a family trip for a family who had never been overseas for a long time due to financial and health issues. While it’s a good intention, isn’t it far too good to be true? Use that money for the trip for something else. Rather than to help one family go for a weekend getaway, maybe it can feed ten families for a few days.

Singapore will be my first stop. I will complete my education here, walk into any place which allows me to do what I love, and ask for a job. Minimum wages, happy life. My number one will be hospice care, definitely. It touches minimally on the medical field, but mostly on the psychological side. I will still need to study hard for it, but Singapore would be a great place to start off. I’m doing it for anyone who needs a listening ear, when they’re leaving this world, or when their family is leaving them.

I have to say that I will have to keep my emotions in check very well to work in this field, but that’s going to make me into a person I truly want to be. My priority will be the young and the old, but anyone who needs a hug, I know I’ll have to be there. And I’ll definitely do my best to be there as well.

My second will be social work in terms of raising funds and awareness for anything I can. If what I do helps someone in the littlest way possible, I’ll do it. Singapore is a country that’s well-to-do, I really hope that if you can afford it, then do your part in helping. I don’t have the capital, so what I can do right now is to raise the awareness, that’s all. The situation here is nothing as compared to in other countries, and yes, I will only step foot into foreign places when I’m certain my home is safe.

So, in other countries. As what I always say, one step at a time. I’ll stay near to home, in the little villages in SEA. There’s so much to be done for those people out there. Proper houses, not leafy huts. Hot food, not scraps. Medical care, not all herbs can cure diseases. Malaria, Pneumonia, Tumours. So many things you can succumbed to.

I want to make a change as fast as I can, but SEA is just so big. Maybe I’ll be fifty by the time I’ve truly changed the lives of many families. Maybe by that time, I’ll have a family of people who does the same work as I do, to help others. But what I know that if I really get a guy, he has to support me in the work I do, and I know that if he’s the one, he will do it with me.

So, what is my true dream? Helping the less fortunate is just what I want to do, but my true dream is to live long enough to see that all around the world, everyone’s happy. In Africa, in America, in Asia. From elephants to the orphans sipping a hot drink on a winter’s night. Not just people, but everything else we have.

In Africa, people die from Malaria and starvation every minute of the day. Millions are homeless on the streets of America. I’m going to change that as best as I can. There’s no need for luxuries like Michelin-starred dumplings or the one-of-a-kind herb which kills mosquitoes. Just a simple net for each person to keep the insects away, and a plate of rice and vegetables for every soul who needs a hot meal. I can’t home everyone myself, nor can I feed the world. But I’ll start with it, be an example, and everything will come along, I hope.

I just want to say that you should be grateful for what you have. Be it that you’re a child, teen, adult or an elderly. You have a shelter; you have food on the table every night. You wish for a life of luxuries while so many wish for a life with the basic needs.

If you’re a child, you may want sweets and toys. Perhaps you are young, you are still learning and growing up. But there are many like you who already think that their hunger will never cease.

If you’re a teen, you wish for your parents to give you freedom. You feel that your parents are just so naggy and irritating. But at least you have people who care for you. Who love you for who you are. There are orphaned teens out there who have nothing that you have. All they want is a family.

If you’re an adult, you wish for riches. You wish for your children to excel and become very successful people, who are famous in their own way. You wish to lead a different lifestyle. But there are parents out there, who have children with autism, muscular dystrophy, Down Syndrome. All they want is for their children to be normal. They wish for their child who spent her life in a wheelchair to take her first step. They would give anything for it. They wish for their child to be out of pain. The only thing they want of their child is for her to be normal, to lead a happy life. Being able to tie his shoelace, or feed himself milk. Or even speak. Treasure what you already have. A healthy young one.

If you’re an elderly, you resent your sons and daughters for the lack in allowance. For not letting you visit the casino. But there are people suffering from dementia or stroke. There are old people who are abandoned by their children, yet they still love them so much. You have what they wish for. Their dying wish is to get to see their children for one last time. But you want so much.

If you’re reading this now, please do not take offense to whatever written. This is just what I believe in, and I’m not targeting it at anyone in particular.

I hope that from this, I’ve managed to spread the idea of love and care out to a few more people out there. It’s never too late to help, nothing’s too little. Every little act means a lot. And I hope this message passes on from you to another soul.

Little by little, the world will be a slightly happier place, with more mouths filled, more hearts warmed.

The kindness one does to another may not change the world, but it will change the world to that one person who received the love.

Just remember, there was a time someone was there for you when no others were. You came this far with that little bit of help. It's your turn to help others, who were just like you in the past, except that it's going to change, starting from you.

It doesn't hurt to give that little bit of love :) Move forward, give back. Every smile makes your day. 

That, I promise.

NWK Training + Council Investiture + Something else

Yesterday, we were finally in the team boats with the seniors for NWK. Was in the K2 Tiger with Rui Ting, very good training, but more tiring than usual. Never pushed that hard on the K1 myself before, so I guess doing with seniors is a lot better. We were doing strength training, so 10 sets of 600m, 5 sets of 300m and 3 sets of 100m.

The first couple of 600m sets were terrible. I guess I wasn't used to it and I wanted to conserve energy, so I didn't give my all. After Ruiting asked me to put in more power in the starts and last charge, we did considerably better, being on par or even overtaking the Yingrui/Wangwei K2 Tiger. The second last set of 600m was the best. I put in just as much power in the maintainence, as much as for starts and last charge. We were only behind Celeste and Peter, so it was a good set. Though I kinda died out at the 300m and 100m sets. But very good training.

And I went for Council Investiture today for audience duty! Only four per class, went with Ian, Hweezy and Megan. We were the reps of 201!! -confetti- Hehe we got one packet of Sticky for the four of us to share, so we just kept eating and whispering throughout the speeches, 'cause they were really boring. The GOH spoke for at least half and hour about his own achievements, technically, bragging about himself. We were kind of pissed off, but yeah, we got the sweets to survive on. But I was starving. So I just tuned out for most of it, then cheered for the councilors in 201. Jolene, Siyang and Demon :D We were excused from lessons till 11AM so we could slack slack for one hour because the event ended early.

Went to atrium for food and drinks. Very paiseh to take the stuff, but after seeing the others heap their plates (such as the parents, councilors and canoeists), I heaped my plate too. Noodles, spring rolls, potato croquettes, siewmai. And Sjora too. Had 7 cups of that, please don't judge. And besides my own food, I stole from everyone else. Took an 01 pic with whoever present xD

We slowly walked to class, taking the longest route we could, to kill time cause Megan and I had our LA speeches to present later. We played the step-scissors-paper-stone at the amphi. Ironman lost overall, then after that, we crawled to LA then back to lessons..

And yep, please switch the mood levels now.

Three in a day. One in the morning, one in the afternoon, one in the evening. Three different people speaking to another three different people. But talking about the same thing.

I'm not angry. I'm disappointed, that's all. I can forgive, but not forget. I want you to look for me, to explain to me, to us, about this. I'm waiting for you to make the first move. If you don't, so be it. I just want to see what you'll do. Two days so far, no eye contact yet. I'm still waiting.

Till next time.

Why are you like that? Tired. Why are you tired? Just tired. I'm tired.

NWK's coming up in 3 weeks, I suppose I won't be going for Phantom, since the people forgot that I have to take morning races.. see how first ba, but again, I'd rather NWK than Phantom..

Anyway, let me skip to training. And besides the usual pushing, what happened so far.

We got scolded on whatsapp, really badly. We means the C Div Girls. See it this way, there are only four of us left. From the 13 that started out, look at us now. We had a record breaking number of juniors entering the CCA. And the record number of people leaving too. Okay, I'm just gonna name those who were supposed to be in the team, I take no offense here to anyone.

Me, Wang, Miz, Jinwen (Aw and Tay), Leilu, Elly, Claire Yeo, Ohana, Nab, Rah, Jiawen, Shyann.

How many of us are dedicated? So little. If any of us leave now, which I really hope not, B Div is not a full team next year. If there are only four of us, how many people do we need to recruit for B Div 2015? It all lies on our shoulders. Let me state the obvious reason why the JH2 girls this year are so screwed.

NO RECRUITMENT. NONE, ABSOLUTE ZERO.

No one recruited me in, I came in because it seemed... fun. The rest left because they got in by chance. And people don't go into the CCA because of hearsay that it's so damn tough and makes you buff. Okay. That's what I'm ranting about.

If the 13 people were dedicated, who were truly recruited in, competition would be tough in the team. But we can do well. That's what that matters. With so little of us now, what's gonna be of us next time? Are we just gonna crumble?

Anyway, back to the scolding. We weren't going for enough trainings. Technically land is optional, but you know what I mean. "OPTIONAL". So we're going for 3 land 3 water from now on. B Div standard. And there was only 2 land last time. Okay, I shall still train like this. Hopefully, I won't just drop dead in the middle of macritchie. And be the second dead fish causing the stench. Noel saw the fish anyway.

Seriously, when land wasn't compulsory, we had compulsory land tutorials twice a week last time, during boarding. I hope my friday's free though. Since three land now, there isn't tutorial. I think. Just bear with it till NWK is over, then it's off season. Maybe we'll get into better crafts soon too. The best craft I've been in is the White Peisheng, which is more stable than the Tiger. JW, WW and Nab did AK though.

Okay, about the trainings.

We aren't conditioned enough, so we're in K1s. On thursday, I'll do K2 with Ruiting. Hope it'll go fine. I hope I'm at the back, because I'm better at following someone's pace, rather than try to get an inspiration to up my cycle rate.

I haven't capsized so far during these trainings. It's a good sign lah, but I had a couple of near capsizes though. Did mileage every training, still okay with it. Land was worse than water, for someone who can't run well. Ran for 30min straight in the forest, up and down, tripping over branches and stones. Then sprint up upper shed. But it's nothing compared to the other seniors, cause our group was the slowest. I would have died running with the others, but that's my motivation to train more on running. Because I'm not good enough yet.

But again, I'm tired. Tired of listening to the scoldings, the demoralizing by everyone, to think about the eventual trainings. And to think about school. Personally, I think the canoeists are the strongest people, mentally and physically (weights training). If any of the JH2 girls try out our programme, understand what we're going through, I think they'll just quit immediately. Or just collapse.

They do encourage on water, but sometimes, those little "comments" do affect us greatly.

"After so long still cannot balance in Tiger. Why? Not enough training. So how to balance? Train more. Come for more trainings." Not quoting from word to word, but yeah, those words were like -stab your heart-

Okay, to the seniors, I know we're not meeting your requirements, considering we want the title next year. The last time B div got a title was during Clarissa-Madeline B Div. So, it's our turn now. But can't you see every single little comment on how bad we are just pulls out mentality down? You all started out the same way, okay? Maybe you guys were better, but there would be a time you were capsizing in a Tiger. You were once like us. You were once a junior. But you forgot all about that. You thought that you could balance in a Zedtech, Kape, Nelo, Advantage, Peisheng, when you entered. Yeah. Okay if that's what you think, you're no help.

The reason why I'm in the team is because of the people in it. Those who care. Those who know how we actually feel, how we struggle to balance in a Tiger. You were once like that. Remember that.

Okay, I don't know how to end off, but here is a shoutout to my team.

We've been through together for not a long time, but long enough to learn so much. Whatever happens, I hope we stay together for as long as we can.

Remember what John said today. Heart and Soul.

Not just in the sport. In what you do. You know we have your backs, just go out there and prove it to the world. That you can. That we can.

Love you guys <3

Where did time go?

We have had one and a half years of ups and downs, arguments, fights and blaming each other for everything, but we also had one and a half years of happiness, laughter, smiles, food and love.

Of course, 101'12 and 201'13. The mushroom onederland of 23 little kids and our 'daddy' :)

We started out very quietly, I must say. We splitted up into our little cliques (which changed over time), emoed at a corner, spoke quietly, not wanting to bond with the others. I admit, the first time I came into this class, I was like "Okay. 2 years of hell."

But no, I was proved wrong. As we slowly changed seats, had lunch, did projects together, we started to get to know each other. Slowly but surely, we found the groups we fitted well in, but all the same, we mixed about. We dug out tissue from our bags when someone cried, we offered food to hungry souls (I hope you know who I'm talking about here), we stole food from lunchboxes, we shared drinks, we got into trouble with the DMs, teachers, everyone in fact. But that was what made us happy. Those ups and downs, those cheeky little JH1 times. We were not so pure, but we had that tinge of childlike innocence, still. But we're slowly loosing it. We are serious, we study, we sleep.

JH2 now. We start to get stressed, we cry more, but remember, never laugh less. Never regret doing anything that made you happy, even when it's not politically correct. We came closer together against people who didn't like us as a whole. 201 is the most bonded class. On the outside, 205, 206 and 208 are the most bonded. But inside, I'm sure we're the only class who truly loves each other for who we are. The competition isn't so fierce. We are equals, we don't truly hate someone. We laugh everything off, we support each other in anything and everything we do. We try to be good but end up pissing others off, but making ourselves even happier xD

Two-oh-one, we have half a year left. We will slowly drift. But never forget to smile, to say hi, whenever we pass by each other along the corridors. You guys have been the best classmates I've ever had, and the best class I've ever been in. No regrets, none at all, and I hope you guys don't have any either. I can't think of how time has flown by so quickly, but I promise to treasure every single moment with you all. Especially right now. When we're gonna separate, I know there will be tears and hugs. But we will stop crying somehow to look back on those days and laugh about it. I know we will.

Thank you for watching me grow up through these two short years. You guys taught me so much, I won't forget it, I promise. You've watched me smile, laugh and cry. And I've watched you all too. Half a year of fun, alright? We have each others backs, you all know that. If you are ever sad, take out those ego boosters and read it once more. I hope you guys were happy in our little journey in life. I hope you've learnt some things from us. I hope you're a little happier than you were two years ago :)

One simple sentence for all of you.

Thank you for making me happy.