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A message that I wrote to my boys...:

Hey guys,

It's been some time I know. And I won't write long. Just some takeaways that I've had the past few weeks in the midst of my interactions which I thought would be good for me to share with all. It'll apply not just to your studies, but your CCAs, your competitions... and probably your life in general.

It's a consolidation of thoughts; paragraphs may not exactly link perfectly and they definitely do not refer to any individual, but they should form a common thread.

All of you are independent learners.

For those of you who play computer games or cards for the matter, you probably would have been introduced to the game by a friend or the media. You saw how fun playing it could be. You start to play... when learning curve became steep, you either asked your friends or you began doing your own search for the answers using guidebooks or the internet.

There can be many other examples: learning a musical instrument, etc. In all these, you would have been motivated by your interest in the subject.

Looking back at your academic subjects, you would naturally find yourself faring well for those subjects which you're really interested in. But I reckoned that for most studying the subjects is an obligation rather than an interest. What teachers can do is to do their best to enthuse you in the subjects. Apart from that, you would perhaps have to search for a motivation to excel.

Why are you studying in Hwa Chong... What are you studying for... and for whom?

And this applies to all other things you may be involved in as well.

You do not get what you set out to achieve... because you never really wanted to get it in the first place, or you've never wanted it bad enough.

Be it your grades, a competition, a match... any goal, for the matter.

When you sense that things are not right or can be improved, you choose status quo and nonchalance when you could be the one to make a change for the better.

Someone else will do it... someone else should do it.

You think that you may be labelled an extra for highlighting these things... then perhaps the thing/s your stood for where the issues stem from may not exactly mean as much to you... which you may think is a lot.

It's ironic I know, how you've been asked to do reflections upon reflections for every possible subject and topic and project... but most of the time ending up with generic replies. Perhaps you can afford a little bit of time to truly look deep within... and clarify for yourselves your goals, ambitions and aspirations, be it in your present studies, or a project, a competition... and even for life.

And perhaps once you've gotten it sorted out, you'll find things flowing more smoothly, heavy hearts lightened... triumphs more frequent... and smiles more often.

Journeying alongside,
Mr. Sng