You can do anything! You ROCK!

I can do anything I set my mind to.
I can make dreams happen by the things
that I do.

I dug out this motivational poster from my classroom drawer. The academic year for my dear 4N pupils is going to end in less than a week’s time. Very soon, they are going to face one of the greatest challenges in their lives, and perhaps the most daunting (intimidating / scary / frightening) one for them so far: the GCE ‘N’ Level examinations.

As I chatted with some of my pupils during my English lessons (which now are slacking time for them), some of them admitted to me that they only started doing serious revision from this week onwards, just a week before the start of their national examinations! I am appalled (extremely shocked)! But soon, I realized one possible reason for their half-heartedness in their preparation for the ‘N’ level examinations. It was their fear of ending up in Institute of Technological Education (ITE) despite having studied till secondary five.

No doubt, this is something that can possibly happen, but YOU CERRTAINLY HAVE CONTROL over your academic performance. YOU CAN DECIDE whether this ‘tragedy’ will happen to you or not.

Don’t set limits to your own capability! Once you have the fear that you can’t make it, your body will subconsciously produce the inertia (a feeling of not wanting to move or do anything) to influence you not to take so much action or put in too much effort to achieve your goals. Without much hard work put in, how can your goals be achieved? This is a self-fulfilling prophecy (a statement made about something they believe will happen). On top of that, the fear or the so-called limit will distract you and obstruct you from achieving success. This is a vicious cycle that just further reinforces the apparent notion that you are a born failure, but it's just an ILLUSION! You have to get yourself out of this trap!

Sound too philosophical or psychological? Well, I recently had a similar experience and let me share it with you. I usually take a long time to finish my meals, especially if it is my favourite vegetable rice. One day, my timetable was so packed. I knew I did not have the luxury to spend one hour for lunch but at the same time, after eating my breakfast in the canteen, I could not resist the tantalizing look of the fresh green leafy vegetables that was just cooked. I stood at the vegetable rice stall, gazing at it for a few seconds. I calculated the time that I could spare for lunch that day, only a mere twenty-five minutes during the upper secondary recess period. However, the temptation was so great that I decided to pack my lunch back to the staffroom, casting away all my concerns of the time constraint.

After teaching for two hours, I returned to the staffroom and quickly sat down to treat myself the packed vegetable rice. Usually, I love to multi-task by checking my e-mails and eating at the same time. But at that time, I did nothing except to concentrate eating my lunch. Of course, I managed to complete consuming my satisfying meal within half an hour. Another reason why I found that meal very fulfilling is because I broke my shortest eating record time, which would at least be forty-five minutes. If I had been afraid that I could not finish my meal in time, I would then have to starve till dismissal time, which was exactly what my colleague had to endure. She looked at me with envy and exclaimed, “Wow! You really manage to finish eating that delectable (delicious / very attractive) vegetable rice that you bought just now!” I smiled back at her with glee.

Well, hope this simple story can illustrate what I meant by not setting limits to your own capability. As long as you are not doing anything morally wrong or illegal, then go ahead! FOCUS, cast away all your worries and JUST DO IT! You will enjoy a BREAKTHROUGH in your life.

Remember, YOU ROCK!

Prayer for a Student

(This prayer is dedicated to all students who believe in Jesus or hope to ask for Jesus' help in your studies though you are not a Christian or a Catholic.)

O Infant Jesus, eternal Wisdom made flesh, who shed your blessings so generously on all, and most especially on school-children and students who trust in You, please look kindly on me as I implore (beg / appeal)You to guide and assist me in my studies.

You, O God made Man, Lord of all learning, source of all understanding and memory, come and help me in my weakness. Enlighten my mind, give me an ability to acquire knowledge and truth and the capacity to remember all I learn. Be my light, strength and comfort in moments of special difficulty.

By the grace of Your divine Heart, may I do all my school tasks to the best of my ability and gain the utmost profit from them, so that I may get good marks and, most important of all, be moved up next year.

To merit such favours, for my part, I promise to perform faithfully all my duties as a Christian and to love You more and more. O Sweet Infant Jesus, keep me always under Your protecting mantle (a loose, sleeveless cloak or cape) and be my guide, not only on the path of learning, but above all on the path to eternal salvation. So be it!

Making a comeback!

Finally, finally, I completed all my preliminary exam papers marking, prepared the examiner's report and model essays and distributed to my 4N pupils today, on their first day of the GCE 'N' level examination. It is such a relief, like a huge burden removed! Although there would be always some pupils who detested being held back and forced to listen to my feedback briefing, I did not care. I told myself not to be bothered by such unwelcoming gestures and remarks. All I know is I have done my best to prepare you guys and I am clear to my conscience.

After the invigilation and sorting out of my abandoned exam papers and notes, I decided to slack for a while to reward myself after working soo extremely hard for the past weeks or even months.

First, I checked my blog and saw Boon Hao tagging me. He has started his own blog, and through his blog, I saw many other 4N boys' blogs, like Chuan Yong, Xiang Yi, and the well-reputed Soon Yang's blog (Mr Labi's livejournal). I thought these boys were not interested in blogging initially. What prompts them to suddenly start their own blog at this stressful period? I pondered. To improve their English? Very unlikely, maybe it's true for Soon Yang. Or are they getting emo too so they need to blog to pour out their emotions? To relieve their stress? Perhaps.

My virtual journey in cyberspace then commenced. Visiting one blog after another and tagging one blog after another, including old ones and new ones, and soon, around two hours passed. I then start to type this apparently meaningless entry. Funny, the whole experience is just like catching up with some long lost friends when actually, I get to see them EVERY DAY! Really ironical!