Thursday, January 28, 2010
-Soccer-
That day will always be the happiest of my life, other than the day I received my PSLE results (251.woohoo!)I was selected to play in the East Zone tournament. In secondary 1, I was as proud as a peacock, ignoring the orders of my seniors. As I was the best soccer player in my class in primary school, I thought that my standard was high enough to place me in the soccer team’s starting 11.But this was not to be. It turned out that the soccer player’s fitness and skill were sky-high, and I was not in their league. I was lucky to be even in the CCA. Soon, I was despised by my teammates, as I kept doing fancy skills and would lose possession of the ball very often. There was a rumour in the team that whatever team I joined, that team would lose. I felt extremely demoralized and even hated myself one. I kept asking myself: “why did I have to be so proud? Why?” I started skipping training sessions as I knew that there was no difference in the team without me.
I started talking to my cousin, and she is the one that I have to thank today. She gave me all the motivation I needed, saying that if I did not go training, I would not improve and my skills would go from bad to worse. She also told me that nothing is impossible. Although I may not have gotten in the school team, there is always space for improvement.
I thought about her advice, and decided to work harder. I worked my heart out for the following 10 months and throughout all obstacles, I persevered. Asthma was one of the biggest hurdles in sports I had to face. My asthma attacks would strike anytime at night ,so I was breathless and needed my inhaler the day after. I still take care of myself, but it’s really unpredictable.
I felt over the moon when I got into the school team. It turned out that all my blood, sweat and tears were not gone to waste. I was handed the number 39 jersey ,the same number that one of the Barclays Premier League strikers, Nikolas Anelka, wore. He once banged in 12 goals over the whole season ,and I hope, with him as my inspiration, I would follow him in his footsteps, scoring goals for Victoria.
401 words
scored this goal at 11:01 PM
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
-Sickness-
Sickness is unforgiving .It affects ministers, principals, teachers and also, handsome people like me. I caught the dreaded flu disease that kills over 20 thousand people a year. Luckily, Singapore is a hygienic place, with spick-and-span surroundings, my flu symptoms did not get complicated with other infections. When I coughed out phlegm, the first thought that struck my head was “Did I get the infamous Influenza A disease (h1n1)? Am I going to die?” These thoughts were then dispelled when I visited the doctor, and he simply said. You have flu. Being very “kaisu” or scared to lose ,I then asked the doctor: “ Will I be out from sports for a month?” I was thinking of the upcoming East Zone Soccer Tournament, where I was already in the 20man strong team, representing the almighty Victoria School. If I could not play , my heart would be shattered into a million pieces. The doctor stared at me blankly and just said " no you will be out for"….. “The moment of suspense came….Was it more than a month?”... " two days. "
I heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Looks like I could take part in the East Zone as well.
These few days, I have been coughing out phlegm that is yellow and is absolutely,100% disgusting. The gooey substance chokes up my airways and it feels very uncomfortable. In school, some lessons require me to go to air-conditioned places where my sinuses acts up, leaving my nose blocked and me, talking like an elephant. It feels uncomfortable also during sports ,as I tried to keep my fitness up to standards, by playing a quick and easy match with out friends from 2I.During the 15 minutes game, I was breathless, and activities like running up the flanks left me gasping for oxygen. Flu is dreadful; yet I must thank the gods for allowing me to be born in a hassle free place like Singapore, without any complications to the accursed flu disease. I am truly grateful for that and will never take my life for granted, enjoying every moment I can spending it with a smile.
350 words
scored this goal at 10:34 PM
-The problem I encountered and solved-
The biggest problem I face in my life is none other than procrastination. It started when I was in primary 3.I got a piece of Chinese worksheet that I had to hand up the week after, on a Wednesday. Thinking that I had lots f time, I did not bother to even take it out of my bag. The week came and went in a blink of an eye. Wednesday came. I had already forgotten about the Chinese homework .Desperate, I copied my friend’s answers. But lady luck was not shining on me. Wendy, our class monitor caught me red handed and brought me to the Chinese teacher. Mrs. Foo, the Chinese teacher, shouted at me, and called my parents. I felt disappointed in myself, but the procrastination did not stop there. I did my homework, but it was often slip shod and last minute. My grades started to fall and soon, they hit the doldrums. Primary 4 came and went. No improvement. Primary 5 came and went. I scraped through most class tests and had flunked others.
I felt pathetic as the bright boy in Anderton had been lost to laziness .In primary 6; I decided that it was a crucial year as it would determine my secondary studies. I started pulling up my socks, utilizing any free time I had by studying. I passed my prelims with flying colours and was really glad that I did not procrastinate….
They say that a leopard never changes its spots. In secondary 1, I repeated my mistakes and ended up failing math. I couldn’t help it, the urge to just slack and wait till the last minute was too alluring.
Luckily our form teacher, Mdm Farrah, told us a few tips to “cure” procrastination. I won’t delve into the details but one of the best methods I recommend is to paste post-its everywhere reminding you to do what can be done today. It really helps. This year is important as we would pick our desired subject combinations next year. I must increase my work rate by twofold, to achieve what I want in the future so that I can bring glory to Victoria.
362 words
scored this goal at 7:51 PM
-800 metres-
"Ready, go!" Mr Tan shouted. Half the class started running. It was 8am and the first period of the day was physical education. Coming from a family with a strong sporting background, with my father participating in the volleyball, table tennis and soccer CCAs in his youth and my mum playing netball for her school, PE was the subject I usually aced. Unlike my unfit classmates, I was like a fish in water during PE.
Mr Tan, our PE teacher took us to the Marina Lagoon, where we would be running our hearts out for the 800m. Our timings would be recorded and we would gain points for our respective houses. If our timing was under 2 minutes 49 seconds, we would gain 3 points for our house. The house with the most number of points would be crowned the champion on sports day, and earn bragging rights. Now, Mr Tan told us to choose a partner, and name ourselves 1 and 2. 1 would start first and 2 would take his timing, vice versa.
I was 1 and when Mr Tan said go, I started with an average pace. Many of my classmates, like Isaac, sprinted once Mr Tan said go, but I knew that he would run out of energy soon. At this time, I was already halfway through the race and tiring. Lactic acid circulated through me. I told myself to persevere and not give up. At the last 200 meters, I started sprinting towards the finishing line. I saw Nicholas' familiar back and I saw his strength was draining. I quickly closed up the gap and overtook him. Timothy was a few metres ahead of me, and and I thought "Why not?" These two words resounded in my mind and with all my reserves, I overtook Timothy. As I rushed through the finish line, I heard my partner, Joshua, mutter two forty eight. I had beaten the mark for 3 points by 1 second! Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I felt extremely elated that I had earned three points for my house. Although it's n
ot much, but those three points could make a difference between winning and losing. I look forward to the next PE lesson, where I can help my house, Glam, earn more points in Shot Put next week.
383 words
scored this goal at 5:30 PM
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
-A Moment Spent Alone Doing Something I Enjoyed -
It was 16th of January, a Saturday. My parents were out, bringing home the bread and butter. My hand phone shrilled the lyrics of “Billie Jean” and I consumed a gigantic amount of energy stretching to turn off the alarm. I glanced at my watch. The numbers 8.30 flashed back at me. My parent told me the night before to fetch my sister to her primary school for her volleyball training session. I dragged myself off the bed and to the cupboard, where I grabbed a Bossini shirt and shorts. In the bathroom, searing hot water rushed over my strained body in torrents. It made me feel reinvigorated, ready to face any obstacle that was in my way. When I emerged out of the bathroom, my sister was already waiting for me. Donning her number 2 jersey with pride, she grabbed her water bottle and we set off for the bus stop.
On the bus, we started talking about volleyball. Although I’m no avid fan of the sport, I still knew some tips about the game. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally arrived at the school bus stop. As her training was 2 hours, I was alone in my old primary school, and I did not want to make 4 trips(fetching my sister from school and returning home)to and fro, I decided to do some of the homework that I had brought along. I bought a 100 plus from the drink stall and gulped the drink down. Within no time, an empty bottle was what remained. Rejuvenated with a new wave of strength, I tackled the mathematics questions first. Algebra was always my nemesis, but I was surprised at the way I had completed the worksheet in less than 30 minutes. “Quality. Not quantity.” My mother’s ever-stern voice reverberated in my head .It did not matter how fast I did the questions but whether they were correct. I tallied the answers I got with the answer sheet, and to my great surprise, not a question was wrong. I glanced up and saw many other primary school students running around, making a cacophony of noises. But at the corner of my eye, there was a girl playing the er hu.It was a soothing rhythm that calmed my frazzled nerves. I did Chinese this time and within the next 20 minutes, it was done. I checked my script and edited my mistakes. The efficiency in just concentrating and completing my assignments appalled me. In less than one hour, I had completed two assignments, and it would usually take me 2 hours to do just that. The next hour was spent doing sewing for home economics. “ Time goes by when you’re having fun”. Although I wouldn’t classify doing homework as fun, I had completed a series of assignments without much distractions and the sight of no laptop on the table allowed me to focus 100% on the homework. I don’t enjoy doing homework, but due to boredom ,I had completed most of my homework and was enjoying the fruits of my labour.
511words
scored this goal at 10:04 PM
ot much, but those three points could make a difference between winning and losing. I look forward to the next PE lesson, where I can help my house, Glam, earn more points in Shot Put next week.
