I skipped yesterday to stay at home to hardcore Chinese. Monday & Tuesday is study leave, Wednesday is The Big O’s, Thursday’s free and Friday’s farewell assembly. Then that’s it, officially. I’d have graduated. Of course I’ll still be going back for guitar practices, but that doesn’t count.
It’s been four years, since I’ve left the comforts of primary school. Amazing, it’s been that long and I’m still very attached to it. I went back there yesterday to settle my brother’s secondary school applications and I met Mrs. H. She remember me, and what I used to do in primary school, and it all came back again. Memories of short desks and trips to East Coast as and when we liked after PSLE, the handphone ringtone craze which earned me and cK hashbrowns, cooking parties, chalets, touch rugby…it all came back. And then I thought, will the same thing happen if when I graduate from JC, come back to RG for a day and have all these memories awakened. Will that even be possible?
I never really liked my secondary school experience very much, much less treasure it. What was an innocent unknowledgeable twelve-year-old to do when the whole world encouraged joining the Raffles family? The only reason why I said no to Nanyang was because I had issues with the pillow case uniform.
Secondary One whizzed by so fast I never really got the hang of the RG culture. My class was pretty much separated, and I was quite a loner, spending recesses and lunches on my own while everyone was busy making new friends. 
I also remember that I wanted to join golf but I was rejected, and band didn’t reply me, and then so I joined guitar. 
Now this was a true blessing in disguise. I sprained my right ankle while jumping over boxes during P.E. and missed a lot of afterschool activities so I went home really early for about a month or so. I remembered crying after Espressione because I only received one flower while the rest of the sec one batch had their friends showering stuff upon them like it was raining presents. And on the way home my mom broke the flower in half so I was even sadder. So that sparked off my dislike for the school. And yes I missed having boys in school because in RG we never played soccer or touch rugby or catching anymore, because everyone was just so muggerish and there was no space in the school to play anyway.
Year 2 was just as terrible, because I was stupidly coerced into quitting Japanese, suffered a bout of depression throughout the year and my grades plunged, just to show my parents how quitting Japanese would affect me. I remember crying tso hard downstairs while waiting for the bus the day my parents told me to quit Japanese. Being in the AdvMath class didn’t help one bit, because I felt so stupid amongst everyone else it was a total fluke, how I managed to get in. :O I wanted so badly to go to VJC-IP because I thought it was a cool arts school but looking back now I was just desperate to get out of RG so anywhere was considered a viable option, just that VJC was introduced to me by a friend. I even filled in the application forms and all that red tape…then there were many talks with Emily, which made me realize that there were better things to look forward to in life, and that I should give everything one more chance…so I stayed on. Things took a turn for the better, made good friends, lost good friends but got stuff out of the process. You win some you lose some that’s just how life works.
Sec Three was a test of committment and time management, with Guitar, PSB, Waddle and academics to juggle. Learnt about organizational politics, arrangements, and for the first time I liked my class. 
I remember I joined Hollaback Crew and we sucked so much I had no idea how we got into Semis. Went for a radio interview at 98.7fm for that, thus skipping a full day of school. Realized how much I sucked at the sciences still, and was terrified of our Literature teacher. Joined acid rush and played at quite a few school events; that’s pretty much about it. I started learning how to play the drums that year and realized that guitar’s my true calling. I don’t get as much satisfaction drumming as compared to strumming. I went to America for the first time it was pretty cool and dandy.
Sec Four was pretty much amazing, my time in Guitar especially. Gold with Honours, though now it really doesn’t mean that much to me what mattered was the whole spirit we had when we played. It was just…magical. D.ITN formed this year and it’s been a wonderful journey so far. Played violin in public (in the Esplanade!) for the first time, and played guitar at the Esplanade as well. Never really thought much of this year since it was rather smooth-sailing. I just feel thankful for everything, the little random things I’ve learnt from everyone.
So. Maybe I do have memories; untouched and unearthed memories that have hidden itself from my view the past few years. It’s been a rough journey, but I’ve many takeaways from the school. Realized my worth and I’ve made some, not many, but some friends, at the very least. I’ve played in so many concerts and outside gigs it’s so cool I bet I’d never get this experience in other schools.
If I’d gone to Nanyang (huge kickass campus with damn nice people) I’d totally be different. Probably happier in the process, but if I’d gone to Nanyang I’d never have learnt how to play the guitar and D.ITN wouldn’t be here, no? And I still regret quitting Japanese…I’d really love to learn the language again, but I doubt it’s possible in the near future.
But look how we’ve all grown man, look how we’ve all grown! It’s been a wonderful journey, 4 years. They say you don’t know how much something’s worth until you lose it. Maybe it is so. They say that everything turns out fine in the end. If it’s not fine, it’s not the end.
