"Lucky"'s such a sweet sweet song.

Okay anw, it's less than 2 weeks before summer term starts and I gingerly take my first step into SMU. There's a tinge of excitement but even more so, an air of apprehension lingers even more ominously.

Once again, I'll step into an institution without anybody close accompanying me. Once again, I have to make friends all over again.
Once again, I have to endure awkward first chats. Argh!

I wonder if this whole networking thing's a flaw in the education system.

From Yumin Primary, I moved to Eunos Primary. I like being in neighbourhood schools actually. Because everybody's equal. And there, I learnt what its like to be truly multi-racial. So anyway, the transition meant I lost 4 years worth of Yumin friends just like that. Not that I didn't make an effort to, just that when you're 10, it's really hard? And then 2 years in Eunos Primary, I made really good friends. But 2 years.. It isn't nearly enough when everybody has had 6 years of friendships isn't it?

Then, after PSLE, I moved on to AHS. Well, I was the only person from Eunos Primary. Once again, I had to muster up enough courage to talk talk talk. Aye, back then, when you're ONLY 13, it's really difficult to crack dumb jokes and laugh freely. Yes, I was a damn introvert! Only comfort I could find was in my family. Thankfully, whoever's looking after me up there seems to always have a way. I made my first AHS friends through soccer. Raymond, Joseph, Ziwei, Kelvin and so on. We played bottle soccer and frequented the street soccer court with alarming regularity.

I finally felt I can be friends with whoever I wanted to. And the train chugged on...

I grew into band because of SYF. In band, I found a really close knit family. Maybe because it was the severe shortage of guys. The few of us formed a core friendship that I've never experienced before. Everything we did, it was as if we were a band of brothers. Hongwei, Huaibin, Henry, Chenghuat, Silas. And also the girls. You were all great too. Thank you. I'd like to think that together, we really changed the way people intepreted band. People tend to think that band's just another CCA for sissies or for fat people who can't do physical activities. (OK FINE I FIT INTO THAT CATEGORY) But we seriously changed that stigma. Just look at the people who kept joining band even after sec1. There was this 'family feel-good' vibe about band and through the band camps, day camps, night games, BBQs, I found myself throughly absorbed. This was the life I never wanted to end.

Then came O's and once again, I found myself wrenched away from familiarity and comfort. I joined VeeJay and okay, CH joined me but it was never going to be the same without all of us. I ended up in a class with so many strange people (HAHA). And to be honest, I felt all left out because VS and TKGS dominated the numbers. Once again though, the one up there decided to sprinkle little doses of other school students and I made my first few friends that way. It's quite amazing how the minority always end up with each other. The Maris boys and Cedar girls. Yet again, Band proved to be the catalyst for making friends. In no time, I integrated into the Victorian way of life and I even found myself singing the Victorian anthem on a couple of occasions. Thankfully, the small class size also meant we were always going to depend on one another sooner or later and I made alot of good good friends. The whole class was like a little family. So it was great. The band, though split into a few cliques here and there, I enjoyed it a great deal nonetheless. Especially since Lz made it a point to include me as much as possible.

And so, NS. Same old story. The usual vacant blank starts followed by slow but steady warming-up period and when we were all finally chummy and good friends,the inevitable separation. I think I was saved once again when I was sent to a small unit. Only 11 of us. There was no way we were going to survive without each other and true enough, I found myself befriending people I never would have dreamt of befriending. It really was a spectacular myriad of personalities in the 11 of us. Each so different and yet so similar in that we really counted on each other to keep ourselves going. Specific good commanders helped too. It was a humbling experience.

Yet again, Life rumbles on and I'm going to enter another phase of networking. I'm crossing my fingers that things will turn out fine again. But I guess I can look back now and really be grateful that I still have so many friends, all from different walks of life. It almost feels the education path I've had to tread so far was pre-determined. But I know things don't just happen. We make things happen.

Initiative ftw!

9:48 pm;

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