Always be thankful (Formal Blog)

Remember me sharing with you about our weekly runs? Well, we just had our cross-country run on Wednesday.

True, I was exhausted and tired out by the run. But that’s not the main point of my blog post. True, we are going to be getting LEAP points from the run. But again, I’m not going to revolve my blog post around my excitement about how the run is going to help in building my portfolio for JC. Instead I’m going to talk about how the run applies to us in our lives.

Let’s split the run up into three stages: the start, the journey and the end. I’ll use a year of schooling as an example, but I believe this can still be applied no matter what you use.

The start, is the part which everyone, or rather, most people would have enjoyed. Everyone was bursting with energy and zest. It wasn’t surprising to see many people person sprinting forward with strength and energy that did not seem to falter. Let’s link this to the start of a schooling year. We are usually excited to be back at school and back with our friends. There isn’t any homework yet so we are all quite relaxed. Apart from getting up early, the days past by effortlessly.

The journey, is the part where things started getting a bit tougher. It seemed like a “sooner or later you get tired” situation, where many people stopped running and started walking. Sounds like us? Definitely. This is the part where the homework, tests and stress start to hit. “Life’s tough” or “I hate school” are common phrases used. The run doesn’t seem that fun now. We just want to give up and take the easy way out. Suddenly, life isn’t fun anymore. In fact, the days pass by so slowly it hurts.

The end, is the part, which I felt was the most difficult part of the run. My energy had been drained off almost completely. Almost everyone was walking. There was a strong temptation to stop running and just walk to the finish line. The end actually very much represents our end of year exams. This computer game is suddenly so attractive and addictive. That book suddenly engages us so much we can't put it down. Are we disciplined enough to do our work, or do we give into temptations which only provide temporary satisfaction and joy. Despite the temptations, I persevered and made it to the finish line, full of fatigue, but proud of my efforts.

Do we take on life with this attitude? Do we persevere on when we are facing problems, or do we decide on taking the easy way out and giving up? Everyone faces temptations. Everyone will feel tired after being exposed to some form of continuous activity which in this case, can be either running or studying. But it’s how you tackle these problems, that is the significant and important part. The choice is ours to make. What do you choose? I choose to press on. I choose to persevere. I choose not to give in to temptation when it strikes me. I choose to be victorious.

I returned to school, stomach still churning away at the heaps of goodies consumed just a day or two before, tired and bleary eyed, but resigned. What I had been looking forward to for an antagonising one month(or two), had ended abruptly in five days.

Yes, you got that right. I am talking about the Chinese New Year break. Though I must admit that I enjoyed this year's celebrations, I felt that five days just wasn't enough, taking visitations and homework into consideration. Why?

Day 1(Friday): - Morning was whiled away in school for new year celebrations, no work done.
Day 2(Reunion Dinner): - Occupied with entertaining guests(which I enjoyed), one piece of work done.
Day 3(Visiting of relatives, Reunion Dinner): - Out the whole day, no work done.
Day 4(Karaoke at night with mum's family): - Out only in night, second piece of work done.
Day 5(NIL): - Out only in night for dinner, last piece of work done.

Looking at my timetable for a second time, I realise that I am actually quite privileged to have had such a relaxing Chinese New Year. And it's wrong to say the Chinese New Year break was too short. I think without "Chinese New Year", the sentence would still make sense. This being taken into consideration, I realised we as humans, are never satisfied.

Before the end-of-year examinations, everything seems so interesting. You're constantly tempted, for example, wanting to read a storybook instead of revising, or playing a computer game and trying to ascend to the next level. When the end-of-year examinations are over, the book which had seemed so irresistible initially is reduced to dust in less than a week; the computer game suddenly becomes boring and is unable to engage you like it did before. Soon, we are complaining that the holidays are too boring, and are dying to return to school. The first week of school starts well, but when the homework starts to flood in, we start complaining once again, that life is tough and cherish every single holiday we have. Then the end-of-year exams arrive, and the whole cycle starts again.

It's wrong to say that I've gotten the post-chinese-new-year blues. If you would rather, I think "post holiday blues" is a more suitable term. Let's pray I will be satisfied.

Paper 1 – Writing 1h 45 mins

There are two components in this examination paper: narrative writing and situational writing. Let me start with how I feel we can prepare for narrative writing. We have been taught and guided to write tightly and choose important and vital words to enhance our narrative piece instead of spending time elaborating on insignificant and irrelevant subjects. Hence, I feel that perhaps spending some time to write a few pieces of micro-fiction would probably be helpful. Another important thing to take note is time management. I personally feel that this is very important in producing a good and complete narrative piece as there have been times when I spent to much time on the introduction, resulting in a good start and a very abrupt and slipshod ending. Perhaps one way to improve on this is to practice narrative writing at home and timing myself to stay within the time given. An alternative is to map out a detailed timeframe to alert me when I should be moving on to the next part of the story. The last thing to be taken into account is the ability to concoct an engaging story idea within a very short period of time, say, five minutes. This will not only be able to capture the marker's/reader's attention but give me adequate time to pen down the whole story. A good way to prepare for this is actually by reading more model compositions or even novels and discovering their strength in managing to hold the reader's attention.

Now, on to situational writing. Although the idea for the letter has already been provided, reasoning and tone are very vital. Hence, the ability to write well in these two aspects would prove beneficial in the examination. Solution: reading up. All the notes to producing a convincing and powerful letter have already been provided. We have to familiarize ourselves with all these points in ensuring a well written letter. A key note to remember though, during the exam, is not to dwell too long on the situational writing.

Paper 2 – Comprehension 1h 45 mins

Comprehension is based solely on understanding the passage and the questions posed. I don't think there is much we can do to prepare for comprehension. Perhaps just noting a few salient points: answering in the correct tenses, interpreting the question correctly and not lifting from the passage but using our own words to explain. The summary is very much like writing micro-fiction: writing tight. Although a summary is supposed to be written in our own words, we have been encouraged by the school English department to lift from the passage. Basically, we have to be precise so that the gist of the passage remains.

Paper 3 – Literature Strand 1 1h 45 mins

Unseen prose/poetry analysis is also based on being able to understand what the passage or poem is trying to put across. For unseen prose, we are supposed to take note of the characterization of the character in the story, the diction used by the author, sentence structure, treatment of subject and figurative language. As for the poetry analysis, the main thing we are supposed to keep in mind is more or less the figure of speech used in the poem.

With regards to the Animal Farm test, I feel that familiarising myself with the storyline and the different types of characters and who they represent in the Russian Revolution would be enough for the preparation of the test.

The song that I chose which very much represents myself is "A Place In This World" by Taylor Swift. Since it's been written in the point of view of a girl, do note that any mention of "girl" should be changed to "boy" (: Although it may sound weird with the word replaced, at least it truly represents me.

I advise you listen to the whole song before reading my analysis. Lyrics are in blue below for you to follow the song better (:



Song Title: A Place In This World by Taylor Swift

Verse 1:
I don't know what I want
So don't ask me 'cause I'm still trying to figure it out
Don't know what's down this road
I'm just walking, trying to see through the rain coming down

Even though I'm not the only one who feels the way I do

Chorus:
I'm alone, on my own and I'm starting off
I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh, but life goes on
Oh, I'm just a girl trying to find a place in this world

Verse 2:
Got the radio on, my old blue jeans
And I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve
Feeling lucky today, got the sunshine
Can you tell me what more do I need

And tomorrow's just a mystery, oh, yeah, but that's okay

Chorus:
I'm alone, on my own and I'm starting off
I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh, but life goes on
Oh, I'm just a girl trying to find a place in this world

Bridge:
Maybe I'm just a girl on a mission but I'm ready to fly

Chorus:
I'm alone, on my own and I'm starting off
Oh, I'll be strong, I'll be wrong, oh, but life goes on

Oh, I'm alone, on my own and I'm starting off
Oh, I'm just a girl trying to find a place in this world

Ending:
Oh, I'm just a girl
Oh, I'm just a girl
Oh, I'm just a girl


Analysis:

In the first verse, "don't know what I want", "still trying to figure it out" and "don't know what's down this road" all relate to struggling with decisions and being unsure of one's self. This happens a lot to me because I do have my daily problems and these may lead me to the state I have just mentioned. "I'm just walking trying to see through the rain coming down", shows one trying hard to see what might just hit him next. The word "rain" here is used as a metaphor, to describe the problems and setbacks that might just be arriving. This can once again relate closely to me, because once I am unsure of what to do next, all I can do is brace myself and try to predict what will hit me next.

"Even though I'm not the only one who feels the way I do" makes no sense if read alone, but if you link it to the chorus, it does sound logical. "Even though I'm not the only one who feels the way I do", "I'm alone on my own", expresses that even though I'm not the only one having this kind of problems, at the end of the day, I still have to face it alone. "I'm starting off" refers to having a fresh start, be it at a new school or learning a new skill, this statement applies not only to myself, but everyone. "I'll be strong, I'll be wrong" is a paradoxical statement as it means that toughening yourself will still lead to losing out at times. "Oh I'm just a girl(boy) trying to find a place in this world", denotes that I find it hard at times to fit in, and just move as the world does.

In the second verse, the general mood makes a big change. "Got the radio on, my old blue jeans" gives some hint of happiness, and later on is backed up by "Feeling lucky today, got the sunshine" and this is very much my personality: happy-go-lucky. Another metaphor is used here. "sunshine", is used to represent a happy mood or feeling. "And I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve", expresses that I'm letting everyone feel my mood and get influenced; at the same time, my "heart" is vulnerable to being snatched by someone else, in other words, my mood can change in the snap of a finger.

"And tomorrow's just a mystery, oh yeah, but that's ok" gives a new perspective to the future: though I don't know what is coming next, I'm going to face it.

"Maybe I'm just a girl(boy) on a mission but I'm ready to fly", still depicts someone who is unsure of himself, but is ready to face a mission and unleash his highest potential.

There is some situational irony in this song. Though the first verse portrays someone who is unsure of himself, the song develops and the person changes into someone full of confidence and self-esteem. Instead of lamenting over life, he does his best to accept it and live each day to its fullest. The reason why I chose this song is because I do have both my good and bad days, happy and sad temperaments, but in the end, life still goes on and I have to make an effort to live it to its fullest.

Top 5 Best Learning Styles:
Appreciation Musical
Linguistic Sensitivity Linguistic
Managing Feelings Intrapersonal
Reading Linguistic
Getting Along With Others Interpersonal

Response:

Verse 3
Meet with failure again
It's not something I would love to have happened to me
But everyone has to experience pain
Only then can we really succeed

Oh life is just what you make it, so don't ever give in

Mother's Response:
Well I am not surprised to know that he has chosen this song. He has been frustrated and experienced much struggles with school challenges eversince he joined Hwa Chong. The wonderful fact to note is that he will brace through all the storms and live each day to the fullest. I hope the next time Mattheus gets to choose a song it will be an inspiring one that he has sailed through the setbacks and soared high because he "has found his place" and "is ready to fly!" As what we parents have championed him daily "enjoy the journey" and marks do not define him but character does!

My friend
He lies against the wall
And every now and then
He'll call
He has hands
Which always keep still
But when I look again
They've already moved
He is weird
And he is strange
But most importantly I'm hardly late.