The dust has settled and the results are out. You cannot change them. They are cast in stone. Sure, in every game and every experience in life, some people will be happy with their 'victories'; some will be disappointed and /or sad with their perceived failure. Others will be lost as they have no inking on the implication the results will have on their life. Sadly, that's the case. Things are decided by us for the future, even before we know what it really means. Regret is often too little, too late later.
Regret was what I told myself not to feel when I received my PSLE results many years ago when I was a primary six student. You see, I had done well enough in school without needing to study in the past and my teachers had thought of me highly enough. You can imagine the shock I had when I received my results. Numbness was what I felt. My classmates mostly scored twenty or thirty more marks than me and went on to prestigious schools like The Chinese High School and River Valley High School.
Nobody was on hand to advise me on my choice of schools. I had no relatives near my age and I was ashamed to talk to my friends. I did not know how important the six choices I had meant. I foolishly wasted my first three choices, without doing research about cut-off points. I went to my fourth choice - Commonwealth Secondary School.
It was perhaps lucky of me for fate to deal me such a kind hand. It was not the best of places for me to study but I got to know some great people there in my time and bettered my sports skills (or I would not have become your PE teacher!). Though I wasted my first three years of my secondary school life, wallowing in self-pity and turning my attention into a host of other activities (studies was definitely not one of them), I 'woke' from my 'slumber' in the final year of my secondary school days and studied whatever I should have imprinted in my brain only in the fourth year.
The result? A lucky pass in 'O' levels and was fortunate enough to be accepted into the polytechnic. The rest, as they say, is history. The four salient points of my lesson published. Take notes now.
1. Distance is a deciding factor. Not 'THE' factor. Friends from old school? Not a factor; you'll make new ones anyway. What is important is that you go to one that you will not say, "I regret coming..." The choice now is YOURS (okay, it may be your parents'). Whatever you choose, you are going to LIVE WITH IT for years to come later. 'Regret' is a waste of time. Make use of the time you will have in the next four or five years.
2. Don't live in your shadows. Don't look back and ask yourself what it could have been. Don't waste time with these. Work for the future. Think far. Think big. What do you want to be / work as later? It is NOT very far away, you know. Work towards it. An honest job is not degrading. Nobody can look down on you but yourself.
3. Express or normal? I normally tell people, "Whatever you feel comfortable." Really? No! Go to 'normal' first, and work hard in the first year? You would have missed out the extra things being taught in 'express'. By the time you switch to 'express' in year two, you will have a steeper learning curve. Take the plunge. Go for 'express'. If you find that it's not your cup of tea later, switching to the other stream then is not going to be too late.
4. Most important lesson - STOP WASTING YOUR TIME PLAYING! STUDY! This is the ONLY time that matters - to make it to a junior college, or not. To ensure yourself a 'smoother' journey to the university later. Lose these years and you might find yourself like me - at a stage of my life lamenting how lowly paid I am as a civil servant, just because I do not have a degree. Do not rely on others. Do not turn left and right now. YOU HOLD THE KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS IN LIFE.
Do not ask me which secondary school you should go to now. You will not, if you have understood me well. Going to a 'good' school just gives you a better environment to pave your way to success. All the best for your future and feel free to keep in touch.
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