So 2013 is nearing its end it's time to beckon in the New Year. Isn't it strange how in time to come, we'll have years like 2020 - it's so weird to pronounce. Okay but for now it's really just 2014 we'll have to deal with and get used to.
How has 2013 been like for me? To say the least, it's definitely been one of the most empowering and life changing years of my life; a year where I was forced to come out of my comfort zone on numerous occasions but undoubtedly gained so much from the processes. It's been a year that hasn't been smooth sailing at all but I've become a lot stronger and my mindset towards many things have bent towards the positive spectrum, something extremely important to me and something I'm incredibly proud of!!
I think some of the major events that have happened this past year would be Year One Orientation, my Dwen An trip, Annual Assembly, Sports Fest, the Singapore Writers' Festival (yes this one is a little bit weird but true) and my little holiday work stint at Toys "R" Us. They were experiences that allowed me to not only discover and learn things about myself but were also events where I had a ton of fun and thoroughly enjoyed despite challenges and difficulties. It's insane how everything just flew by but I'd like to do a quick recap in pictorial form (with links to their original posts), as well as to feature some of the people who have been in a prominent part of my journey this year.
Orientation 2013 - Probably one of the craziest period of this year, having to handle my new commitments all at once because it was the peak period for every single one of my roles and responsibilities - as a House Captain, a Prefect and a SIMU member! I remember night surprise where I was already so incredibly exhausted from the day's activities but still had to emcee and act out major roles in both the Channel 5 and PB skit and while dancing as an RI dude in front of the Year Ones, I completely blanked out and couldn't see anything except white and felt like I was going to faint anytime soon but I just kept moving my body acting all high and weird. Fortunately, I didn't plonk on the floor and all was (kinda) well in the end :-)
Of course, the Orientation concert was one of the highlights of the year as well, being Channel 5's first ever emceeing stint and it was actually one of our bests as well! It went really amazingly, thank you guys for everything :')
Dwen An Trip (both in Taiwan & Singapore) - Skipped precious precious days of school for this, especially the one in Singapore - it was campaign period for my little ones! (even more critical for the RI guys actually, with their EOYs super close) but this entire experience allowed me to step out from my comfort zone and work with people and working styles I've never interacted with before - referring to both the Taiwanese and well, the opposite gender). Made lovely friendships as well :') And of course, it was really beautiful in Taiwan and it was really quite cool to skip school to go overseas. This journey was sometimes frustrating and weird but eventually everything worked out as well!
Iskandar Learning Journey - Learning Journey week's always one of the most exciting weeks during the school term because it's just excursions all day long which is always fun and this Iskandar one stood out for me because it was overseas and it was rather special (hehheheheourchaperone)
House Comme - First ever proper overnight House Comm Camp! :-) Was quite a meaningful and lovely bonding experience for all of us.
Annual Assembly - Still in awe at how 13atch managed to pull this off but hey, we have a record number of President Guides within us, of course anything is possible! ;) Super proud of this and it's definitely a great milestone for all of us. We were all insanely busy because it was the PT/ AA period and it was quite stressful as Concert Comm I/C with Valerie but we did it. Dancing with this group of people was pretty fun too hehe.
House Practices - Always looking forward to Wednesday afternoons with House Practices even though I'm stressed or tired from an entire day of lessons in school because spending time with House Comm and the Year Ones never fail to make me incredibly happy :') It was such a good year of House Practices, with Waddle nailing Mass Dance all the time (which is like the major thing) - I am so very blessed.
And this was the last ever House Practice of the year - thank you so very much once again, Waddle Year Ones (wow they are Year Two next year hehe) and House Comm :') You guys are genuinely the sunshine of my 2013!
Of course, thank you JING EN once again hehe I love you very much and you know that :-) And you also know that I wouldn't have survived this year (or the past four years actually) at all without you - your constant support, guidance, and encouragement through everything.
Sports Fest 2013 - An incredible day that was hectic, busy, fun-filled, emotional and WONDERful indeed :') Winning the cheerleading trophy (well - not me exactly) again since our Year One win just felt mind-blowing and amazing and really, I can't be prouder.
Channel 5 Outing - Well, well catching up with Channel 5 (minus one, because Van couldn't make it sigh) during the June holidays was pretty life changing and it'll always stay in my memory because of the valuable conversations we had then :') I love them sigh.
Guides Striping - To be entirely honest, the event itself wasn't that emotional for myself but recently, I was packing my room and clearing out stuff and re-read all the letters and cards I got from Striping and it impacted me a lot more than the ones I received for my birthday/ other events (all the same appreciated though!!) Not sure why, but I think there's something really special about the bonds made through Guides and it reminded me that I should come back to visit often.
MP3 Experiment - The first of its kind in Singapore, had a lot of fun though I thought the whole thing could be improved. I think the best part was spending time with Phion, Wang and Swan after the event, laughing our heads off at McCafe, something I miss a lot.
Handover - Passing on the yellow responsibility (HAHA what?) to these two amazing, lovely, capable and wonderful girls - Karyn and Jiaying. I think they'll be able to bring Waddle 2014 to heights never reached before because the two of them are incredible alone but even better together! Perfect duo hehe really proud of them then and I still am. Can't wait to visit Orientation/ House Practices to see how they are doing.
Final House Comm GM - I guess this really kind of marked the end of the House Comm journey for us, which sparks a new one for the Year Two new House Commers and I'm so excited for this group of special colourful people to experience everything I have experienced and possibly, even more! Thanks for everything, House :')
IHG Closing Ceremony - Am very proud of Waddle and will continue to be, definitely :') Leading this House has been the best thing that happened to me in my four years in RG and I'm so blessed to have been given the opportunity.
Options - Spending so much more time with the people I love after EYAs and having the time to actually go for breakfasts in the morning, pilates in the afternoon and rather enriching lessons the entire day. It was a lovely period of time and I do wish everyday was like that, with the liberty to choose the things we'd like to do.
MPP Catchup - MPP was definitely one of the best things that happened in Year Three, mostly because of the people I was with. We are all fun-loving and full of nonsense which makes us wonderful, unless it comes to proper work. But anyway, catching up with them was lovely and I'll miss them a lot because I know I'll be seeing them a lot less next year, especially Jaclyn! :-(
Picnic 1345 - It was the first time I participated in an event like that and it was quite memorable, because of the people I was with :') Thank you Shermaine, Sarah and Swan - you guys are such fantastic company. And also, it's my first exposure to one of the places I was going to spend a bit of my time in later in the year hehe (at SWF!)
Dramafest - I think one of the perks of being Year Four (which I've never really quite realized until now) is that you're able to do a lot of strange and um cool stuff and get away with it without people judging you too much - or at least, they aren't exactly "allowed" to judge openly because come on, we're the seniors (heh heh heh) so it was crazy when the group of us decided to go all out for Halloween! It was my first time dressing up for the occasion as well so that was really quite exciting.
Graduation - It was such a surreal event for me, thinking that I've spent a good 4 years in this campus but there's always a time to say goodbye I guess. Thank you RGS for this emotional and physical rollercoaster ride, I've definitely emerged stronger than I was before so thank you for shaping me. Also, quick shout out once again to the most amazing form teacher ever, Mr Faizal!
You guys know how much y'all mean to me already - thank you so much for accompanying me on this crazy adventure in Year Four (some of you since Year Three) and I honestly don't know what I'd do without you guys ahh thank you :') Every single one of you have inspired me in so many ways and allowed me to try things I would have never done otherwise. I love you guys and I hope we'll continue to stay close!
They say "make new friends, but keep the old" and I know we're definitely still friends but I'm terribly guilty of drifting apart from you guys way too much than it should've been :-( Still, thank you for everything, especially during my lower secondary years and for constantly always being there quietly supporting each other even if we didn't show it all the time. I think what's important is that Waddle binds us together and I can't wait to see if I'll be in the same JC Orientation Group with some of you :') I love you guys too hehe.
Singapore Writers' Festival - Enriching, amazing, eye-opening 10 days :') Not just meant for writers, but readers as well - high encourage everyone to go if they have the opportunity, really! Thank you Shermaine, Swan and Sarah for spending pockets of time with me when we were there.
I like this photo so it'll claim a spot here :-)
Channel 5 Band - You guys are appearing way too often in this post (this is the sixth photo of us already) HAHA but I still love you guys :') Anyway, this was our last um "public appearance" as Channel 5, the House Capts of 2013 and again, we're super last minute, meeting only the day before our performance day and it's not even like we were doing something we are good at - we actually decided to play musical instruments and sing. Risk takers, but we pulled it off all the same because we are quite incredible (HAHA)
FAM - It was undoubtedly a night to remember and despite it being actually rather stressful and frustrating at times, it was actually quite enjoyable in the end, though I very much preferred solely the hotel stay compared to everything else.
Special shout out to Sarah who is always there with me every step of the way (not just for FAM specifically) - thank you so much for everything! :') You are stronger and more amazing than you think.
Catchup with Ragini - She's one of my closest friends in RG even though we have never been in the same class and I'm super blessed to have you in my life! I think it's super funny how we're super distant in Guides itself (which is where we even first met?) which is so weird but thank goodness we're close outside of CCA!
Catchup with Emily - Thank you Emily for always being there for me despite all the distance differences and not being in the same school (which is a terrible inconvenience). You are very very special to me and you know that. We have such differing yet similar mindsets to things it's quite crazy and weird but anyway I hope we'll remain friends for a long long time - that's actually something I'm super confident of! I mean, come on, we've done that for four years already :')
Catchup with Chris - WONG :-) You know how much you mean to me and you never fail to brighten my days by being annoying sigh. Don't even know why your annoying can be quite cute :-( Also yes sorry your selfies all get deleted ;) Thanks for all the get fat sessions and being a part of my life!
If you have been featured in the above, even if it's just a little face in a big photo, you mean a lot to me and I'd like to thank you for everything you've done because you've impacted my life positively. If you haven't, it might have been my fault and I forgot and I'll give you the liberty to smack me but also it probably means we haven't been hanging out/ taking any photos, which is a pity but thank you for still being a part of my life. 2014 will be a year of opportunity and lovely things - I'll make it count.
Hopefully everyone has have had an incredible year - sigh I was inspired by so many things, by people, books, events, places and discovered a mad love for cooking/ baking/ making food look pretty! Thanks 2013, you have been pretty darn wonderful and 2014, I have really high expectations of you.