AN UNFORGETTABLE WOMAN

AN UNFORGETTABLE WOMAN

Note : This story is purely fictional. None of these experiences are actually real. All the experiences in the story are from my imagination. Sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes.

          Serena was a girl I could not forget even after I left college and the memories of her are still stuck in my head even until today. Her attitude was a mixture of caring, funny, and cheerful that made her a famous girl in my batch of students. I never expected to be close friends with her at first, considering that I was from an all-boys school so I thought that socialising with boys was more appropriate for me. After I met her, she made me realise how fun it was to talk to girls personally without any awkward situations and whatsoever. So it’s quite obvious that she could become my girlfriend but apparently the both of us didn’t have the interest of being a couple although we graduated from college. Although we remained as just close friends, we did not bother of what others had to say about us. 

          I still remember the day we first met in college, which was during physics class. It was the first day of physics class in college, and all the students gathered in the lecture room with their books, stationery, and of course mobile phones. I sat at the front row as I was short and needed a clearer view of the projector screen. Then I saw Serena for the first time stepping into the lecture room with a gentle smile which showed some strong interest in learning. Dressed in a dark blue shirt, and a grey skirt, she walked to the row of seats behind mine and laid out her stationery. Soon, the lecturer, Mr. Tan Wei Han entered and introduced himself. He instructed everyone in the lecture room to introduce themselves and he also asked us to enjoy the life of being Science students in college. We were then assigned to our laboratory partners and to my surprise, Serena was my partner. I certainly was not expecting a girl to be my laboratory partner but I had to learn to adapt to the situation. 

          During the times in the laboratory, me and Serena worked together to conduct experiments and record all the observations. She was easy to work with and luckily I did not have much trouble communicating with her. Sometimes, I shared jokes related to physics with her and she laughed at most of them which proved that she had a really ‘scientific sense of humor’. We spent many good times researching and explaining our findings in various experiments related with electromagnetism, velocity, and electricity. Some college students were a little jealous of our happiness but Serena and I were mature enough to ignore their jealousy. There were times when Serena fell asleep after really long experiments and assignments and I helped clear up the apparatus and books. As a positive response, she expressed her gratitude by helping me with almost all my problems in writing experiment reports properly.

          Outside of the laboratory and lecture room was a different story. I joined the college’s swimming club so that I can continue the sport I loved ever since I was twelve years old. On a fine Saturday evening, I went to the swimming pool with my gear and jumped in the water with a big splash. Immediately after I jumped, I heard a young girl’s voice from my right side and I turned to look for the person. I removed my goggles, and I saw Serena standing a mere ten feet away from me. “Hey Serena! Fancy meeting you here,” I said with a big smile on my face. She replied “Didn’t know you were a swimmer, Adam. I thought you were the introvert type of person?” My answer was “Well, that is sort of true. But, that does not mean I can’t swim”. She then said “Just kidding man”. After the brief conversation Serena wanted to race with me and I gladly accepted the challenge. The race started with Serena already ahead of me which was an unbelievable moment. We swam fast and the race ended in a tie. I was amazed by her speed.  

          Here’s another funny experience between me and Serena that remained unforgettable. I still remember when Serena asked me what I did for a hobby during my spare time and my answer was jamming with my band mates. She broadly smiled, and showed some interest in my hobby. I told her about my life as a drummer, the rock songs my band mates and I sang, as well as cooperating with the band mates. Serena asked more questions about my hobby like who were my band mates and where was the place we jammed at. I told her that I jammed with two college mates, Benedict the guitarist, and Liang Zhou the bassist. I also told her we jammed at the Joseph & Andrew Studio near college. Serena grabbed my interest when she asked for more details about the instruments used and how we played the songs that suite our tastes. So, I answered her with the names of the instruments in specific which were a white Fender Stratocaster electric guitar played by Benedict, an orange Fender Precision bass guitar played by Liang Zhou and a dark blue Tama drum kit played by myself. Besides that, I told her most of the songs we played were by Audioslave, Nirvana, Green Day and John Lennon. Serena was indeed excited to hear those words from my mouth and to my surprise she admitted that she was a fan of rock music. I couldn’t be any happier for the rest of the day when I heard that a 19-year old girl listened to rock n’ roll. 

          After our last exams and assignments were over, my college held a farewell dinner to celebrate the last moments of the students together. All of the students were invited and the turnout was great. Serena attended and I must say she looked pretty indeed as she wore a sparkling green dress. I sat next to Serena and of course my college mates smiled and some of them wondered if I was dating her. But then again, my very simple mind didn’t care much about dating. Sometime later, my band performed some classic Beatles songs to entertain the young ladies and gentlemen. Serena was impressed by my drumming and teamwork with the guitarist and bassist to the point where she clapped and cheered very loudly. After the performance, she continued to compliment on the band’s performance which made all of us as happy as kings. 

          To summarise my story, Serena was indeed someone I was glad to study with. She changed my life and perception towards socialising and she helped me become a more open-minded person. I hope I will meet Serena one day and share some experience of my life after college.

                                     

BEING A TEENAGER, BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE

BEING A TEENAGER, BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE

          As we grow older, we gain new experiences throughout our lives and these experiences teach us various life lessons. Eventually, all of us will experience the stage of life known as adolescence which is the stage we start experiencing new physical and mental changes. This is when we call ourselves teenagers whereby we are supposed to become mature. Although the age of 13 is considered the first year of a teenager, puberty kicks in at the age of 12 for most boys, and a little earlier for most girls. Some adults might say being a teenager is fun, but it really feels like a dragging pain due to the new changes in our lives. Personally, being a teenager is quite a confusing stage of life for me as I am unable to make my flow of life simple and clear. 

          Let me start with the problems of making better decisions as teenagers. We humans make decisions based on the logical thinking and the more obvious facts we observe. However, teenagers are little different as the brain interprets information using the different parts which are meant for other situations. For example, an adult may read a certain facial expression as feeling shocked, but a teenager may read the same facial expression as feeling surprised. This is due to the teenager’s developing brain misinterpreting the expression therefore leading to the different answer. Another example is when a teenager makes a decision on whether to study or play video games, he is likely going to decide playing video games. The main difference between a kid and a teenager based on this situation is that the kid will be scolded by the parents if he plays video games while the teenager might not be scolded as the parents want him or her to decide for himself or herself. This is the tough part of being a teenager as we don’t get much help to make a decision and we are more likely going to make the wrong one. 

        The next change in life for any teenager is sleep deprivation and laziness. Many teenagers have a tendency to lose motivation quickly which leads to boredom. So, if a teenager is instructed to finish his homework or study, he or she might not do it properly and could even fall asleep during the task. Often times, teenagers just simply can’t keep themselves from feeling bored and tired. There have been situations of teenagers falling asleep during class especially during History class mainly because they don’t have the interest or motivation to pay attention. Teenagers are often forced to keep themselves awake and active during school or tuition classes. Sleepiness is also a problem due to the developing brain producing melatonin as late as 1.00 or 2.00 in the morning. Melatonin is the chemical required for a good night’s rest and is usually produced around 10.00 or 11.00 at night for most adults. A teenager’s brain produces melatonin late therefore he or she falls asleep late and will have problems with staying awake in school. So, it’s quite normal for any teenager to have problems staying motivated and awake. 

          Another notable change for a teenager is the ever increasing interest to socialise. Humans are influenced by the people around them, but the influences give bigger effects on teenagers. There is no doubt that teenagers have a strong interest to socialise and communicate with more people to keep themselves energetic. Many, if not all teenagers enjoy staying around with their peers and having a good laugh with them. They just prefer talking and starting conversations with their peers rather than adults or even their own parents mainly because to the teenagers, parents simply can’t understand what they are going through. The lack of socialising for a teenager can lead to depression and loneliness. But there are some cases of teenagers who don’t like to socialise and prefer to stay indoors and lack the interest to communicate with others. Usually, these teenagers are computer-addicts, or study-addicts and they tend to be quiet and nervous.  To make things clear, many teenagers love socialising with their peers but some are introverts.

          Furthermore, being more rebellious is also another big change during adolescence. Teenagers nowadays have to increase their efforts to keep in track with their lives due to the new responsibilities and tasks. The stress from all of these tasks can lead to a more rebellious attitude and sometimes even more violent behaviour. There are many situations and cases whereby teenagers pick fights with teachers and sadly family members as well. The unstable emotions of teenagers will make them do actions that can harm others and themselves such as bullying, stealing, skipping school, smoking and consuming alcohol. These actions are done because teenagers want to show who are in control and that they are in-charge of themselves. Unfortunately, the rebellious behaviour of these teenagers not only destroys the mental and physical health, but also their relationships with others. In more minor cases, teenagers show their rebelliousness by being rude to their teachers, not following orders of their parents, and arguing with their mentors. Often times, these teenagers need to go through months or years of counselling to help them deal with these negative emotions and control their behaviour. 

          As a conclusion, the stage of life in which we become teenagers is the time of massive changes that can be harmful if not managed properly. Parents and teachers should help the teenagers to deal and control their emotions as well as making more rational decisions. Parents should spend more time with teenage children to ensure a healthy life for them and to help them stay positive. The teenagers of today will be future leaders of tomorrow so some actions must be taken to build and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude in them. 

As for me, I would consider myself as a nerdy, slightly introverted, and constantly-mood swinging teenager.

Not to mention I haven’t fully understood the concept of socialising like normal people.

WE LOVE YOU TEACHER

WE LOVE YOU TEACHER

          The morning was dark and cold, just like any other morning in the month of January. I walked through the entrance slowly and wondered how it felt to be back in this institution of learning located in the heart of Taiping town. The sound of students talking came from places like the school canteen, corridors and even the assembly area. It was apparently the first day of school in the year 2014 and as a third-year student, I felt a little nervous getting back to the life of a pupil. But there was something a little different about this year and that was my batch began its studies in form three which means it was back to the morning session for us. In SMK St George, form one and form two students study in the afternoon while the rest study in the morning session. 

          The bell rang at 7.25 in the morning and so all the boys (and girls including the sixth formers) walked to the assembly area. Like any other school in town, the national anthem ‘Negaraku’ was played and we sang it ‘proudly’ with the music blasted out from the speakers. The prefect who wore a dark green blazer gave the basic morning assembly speech which basically talked about the teachers in charged for the week, the meetings for sports activities and announcements about the new locations of the classrooms. Finally, we sang the school rally and a teacher read the list of students’ names and the classes they were going to. Eventually, my classmates and I entered the classroom of 3A1 for the first time and it looked as though it was remodeled by a famous interior designer. 

          Not too long after we entered the classroom, the infamous God Mother of 3A1 for the past few years entered. It was our turn to face her as our class teacher and our hearts pumped harder than usual as we knew about the popular stories of her. However, my other friends in class and I knew her a little earlier than the others through some of the activities in the school chapel. So I tried to remain as calm as possible to avoid any unwanted facial expressions that my new class teacher could easily detect. The selection for the new class monitor, secretary and treasurer was held and so I became the new secretary, and it’s not something I wanted at first. Paper work wasn’t exactly something I like to do all the time, especially under that class teacher. 

          Apparently, my class teacher taught us English and she had many tricks in her sleeves stored for us as she would often use really interesting ways to teach us. One of her signature techniques was the Apology Song which many of us had to sing for any mistakes we made. From being rude to being lazy, nearly the entire class had to sing it including myself. Here was how it went :

I am sorry, I am sorry,

I am sorry for being (insert mistake here).

Please forgive me, please forgive me,

Please forgive me for being (insert mistake here).

Personally, I found it embarrassing to sing it at first, but somehow she praised me for my really deep voice (awkward moment). Another famous technique from her was writing a certain statement 100 times as a form of punishment. Statements such as ‘I will always wear my Scout’s uniform on Wednesdays’ or ‘I will not send my book late’. Our hands ached as a result of the punishment, but it was worth it.

        There was also one time, when the students of 3A1 had to play a little game outside our class during English period. It was a game based on the principles of homophones whereby all of us were given a card with a certain word and had to fine another guy with the same homophone as the word we had. For example, if I held a card which had the word corpse, I needed to find another guy who held a card which had the word corps. Those who couldn’t find their homophone partner had to walk and quack like a duck. Embarrassing wasn't it? Well, I had to quack due to my slow speed in finding my homophone partner. The quaking was loud enough that students from the science laboratory heard it. But in the end, we had fun learning like kindergarten pupils and I considered it a childhood flashback.

        Time is like a river, it moves, flows and bends. As time passed by, we began to accept the legendary teacher who always had a smile on her face. English class was really unique under her teachings and we learnt the subject differently compared to other teachers. She reminded us that for whatever work or task we had to do, we had to it with a smile. As the secretary of the class, I’m not going to show off or anything, but working under my class teacher was really a blessing. She was happy to see me help her with simple tasks like carrying the books, passing messages to the class and preparing the duty roster at the beginning of the year. Eventually, we admitted that she was the best class teacher ever.

          However, all good things must come to an end. In the month of May, she received a transfer letter to an all girls’ school. It was indeed sad to hear that she was leaving SMK St George. On a Wednesday morning, during the assembly our beloved class teacher gave a farewell speech. We were all sad as birds without wings and some of us even shed manly tears. All of us regretted that we didn’t really like our class teacher at first, but now we realised how kind she was. WE LOVE YOU MDM. MONICA! PLEASE REMEMBER US.