The Cradle: SMK Seri Kembangan

This school, somehow is the best mistake I've ever made. Here's some ugly facts about me (maybe I've posted it somewhere in this blog), that I didn't take the application for secondary school thingy seriously and failed to enter Catholic High School, the one that I once dreamed of. Even till today, I kept on thinking whether could I achieve greater heights if I have taken that path at first place. However, what done is done, and can't be mend. All I could do, was to choose a better school.

And to SMK Seri Kembangan it shall be.

I've learnt a lot in many aspects of life through this school, dealing with peers, competitions, teachers, nasty things and awesome stuffs as well. From a 142cm tall little kid, I grew up to be "taller", both physically and mentally. The most interesting part, I grew up on how a New Village boy should have (although he still suckzzz in basketball), rather than a student who was brought up "formally well" from the urban schools. 

The prefect. The protagonist. Perfect? No. Pro? Yes. Through this organization, I sense a greater transformation in myself. Timid at first place (not daring to ask where's the toilet). Strict and fiery then (easily-could-have-got-into-a-fight-kind). Finally, a calm young man...that sometimes don't take things too seriously and could be really blur at certain times. Most of my friends are here, all united with a badge. Despite being a role-model to the other students, we have our ugly moments, too. Normally, skipping classes under official reasons ; and occasionally skipping classes with the so-called official reasons. Headcounts? The least, but take serious cases pretty seriously. Oh! And I learnt how to organize a dinner fit for 100 pax! 

Camps. The more you go, the more you gain. The exposure is totally different from the context of National Service. You get to go jungle trekking, soak in mud ponds, play in waterfalls, experience the thrill of a real Flying Fox (believe me, NS's flying fox ain't taking you anywhere far), surging lakes with your shoes stuck in the mud, tomato fights, night exploration that somehow so peaceful with a boy partner clinging on your arm, gazing at the universe and the stars, sleeping with a guy that sweated so "heavily" and felt his warmth, bitten by leeches, learnt how to rescue people from drowning, struggling yourself through obstacle courses, gathering firewood to build a fire and cook dinner with it, amplifying the spirit of teamwork etc.  

I'm somewhere in there....

Projects. Teaming up with friends to get things done. Or at least, copying each other's work. Working through the night, trying to complete the project, but ended up watching The Demon Barber of Fleet Street instead. Visiting historical buildings with friends (Jun Lek and Gze Xie) and taking photos of pages of books in Borders, Times Square. Finishing the whole Geography project in 2 days, and got an A. Spending 1 hour just to draw the front cover. 

Books. Reading and making notes, but not really understanding the content. So, we scribble the pages instead. Trying to answer model questions, but to no avail and have to refer to answers. 

Teachers. "This is the system" as the answer to most unanswerable questions. Giving nicknames to teachers. Having to study the wrong chapter for exam because of the teacher's amnesia and hence, failing the exam. Nurturing minds of all sorts. Listening to teachers sharing the own life experiences which were priceless. Laughing to teachers jokes, falling asleep on teachers' lectures. Came to realize that I've just occupied one page for my Biology notebook. Praying hard for not finishing homework. I'm sorry and I thank you. 

Friends. Being in the same class together but rarely speaks (that's just miserable). Hanging out together for parties and gatherings. Playing Aruba on people's birthdays. Teasing each other. Revising together, but ended up hanging around playing. Having group discussions that probably won't to anywhere. Listening to people's stories. Going on field trips. Cycling downhill and ended up to exhausted to cycle back up, and had to drink tap water due to extreme thirst. Go on "expeditions" with friends after tuition. Having lunch at hawker stalls and spending time in Popular doing personality quizzes. Comparing who takes better photographs. Arguing whose right whether it is mist or clouds. Singing and whistling songs. Jamming together on the guitar. Class goes mad while teacher's on MC. Encouraging each other. Cam-whoring. Study hard, play harder. 

Crushes. Dare to like but chickened out to confess. Trying to act cool and smart in front of her. Burning a CD of her fav. artist and run away from giving her during her birthday. All linguistic and speech went short-circuit when facing her. Stalking on her FB profile, blog, etc... Printing out her photo to be kept in your file. Having small discussion groups about crushes. Feeling so empty without her. Almost cried at the last day of school, facing the fact that I'm actually older and am graduating...There's only 2 things in life that I found most challenging at my time : girls and love.