Monday, April 21, 2008
~ 4/21/2008 08:39:00 PM ~
Hi, hi, I’m back.
Things I want to say are overwhelming.
There is a paragraph I like the most. Here it comes.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way
---- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
And,
“Arise, arise, Riders of Théoden,
Spear shall be shaken,
Shield be splintered,
A sword-day, a red day,
ere the sun rises!
Ride now! Ride now! Ride now!”
---- King Théoden, the King of Rohan,
the Lord of the Rings,
the Return of the King
Okay, they are totally not pertinent to what I am going to talk about in this entry. But I wrote it any way. Between the end of January and this very day I post my entry, many events happened. Road run is something I do not intend to mention too much. I was in front when it started. Got pushed from behind by the anxious runners. Tripped, landed flat on the track, and injured one leg badly. Other runners were 20 meters ahead. Cursing, spitting, gritting my teeth, I pushed on, ranked 88. The rank sucks, good number nevertheless.
JC1 is the year during which I want to participate as many events and activities as I can to fill up my portfolio. So I end up signing up for HC, Nanyang Research Programme, Titans, and Kids Reading Programme (which I quitted as my timetable is seriously full). I got into NRP and I did not even know how I do that. My choice was a sociology project even though I have a high possibility of going to physics faculty in the university. Strange right? Just like I am in Science Council but I go join Titans anyway. It is like – no link. The interviewer started asking me about food in my hometown, Tianjin. At first I thought she was just asking out of curiosity, but soon I realised that the interview had begun. I did not say anything impressive. But there is one thing I always remind myself to do. Shake hands firmly. That is that. Or to be more colloquial – That’s it.
Titans is something I always wish to go. I like to keep fit. Muscular? Erm, that one can wait. But hopefully lah. If I am too busy to go gym recently, Titans is definitely a good alternative, and I can work on the glory of Alpha House in that way. No, I am not just “saying” without action to be done. I really love my House. Maybe, no – that is the very passion that drives me to run for the post of Vice-House Captain (Sports). And I really hope I can get in. Here comes the thing. When I worked with other Alpha House Nominees and did the Group Proposal, or, okay, fine, GPP (for heaven’s sake, do not mention it, but by the way, I finally get my PI presentable), we made friends. And now, two of my friends wished to run the same post that I intended to run. It is hard to know what to do right? Somehow, I thought of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. You are all too familiar with the plot. But, okay, in the story, Neville Longbottom tried to stop Harry, Ron and Hermione from leaving the House at night, who were actually trying to stop Voldemort from laying his hand on the Philosopher’s Stone. Neville’s purpose was just to prevent more points from being minus from Gryffindor. Dumbledore had commented this way: “It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.” For me, it is hard for me to compete with my friends. Hence I avoided mentioning this with them. I thought this may be the way. But my friend has phrased it this way: “Friends may be friends, but that’s only when work is not involved. When it comes to work, just perform to your best ability then let them judge who’s better and who suits the post most.”
It has not been long before the last time I heard something really classical and true. JP even quoted that for his speech at the end of OBM, which is “A leader has to be a good follower” by Clarence.
Got chemistry to revise. Do not know when will be the next time I could possibly blog. Hopefully soon. I will blog if I could get into HC. The HC post? See how it goes.
Adios amigos.
