and well, she feels lucky and extremely blessed (nevermind if she's a free thinker)! she means, can anyone not feel blessed if she gets 12 free (and can she say, interesting) books, around 194 dollars in cash, and her very first scroll (which, y'know, makes a 'pop' sound when opened because of the hydrogen!)? and can anyone not feel blessed if she gets a picture (plus a very firm handshake) from the prime minister? and can anyone not feel blessed if she goes on radio (never mind if it was only for 1 minute, or even less)?
she admits that she sounds awfully arrogant. but seriously, everything on 22/8 (ah, finally!) was and still is very much like a dream come true to her. just read this post, dated 07june06:
"i mean at the end of last year on the day they released the psle results i was crying myself to sleep because i got such pathetic marks. and to think i had such high expectations of myself and all i got was this mark that made me feel like the world's greatest loser or something. and then the second thing i thought was, okay there goes my dream. this was what i had like hoped to get for ages, and just because of this really bad score everything just went down the drain (or the toilet bowl, if you like). throughout this year, i thought all my hopes were dashed. and last year was a really bad year. everything just had to go wrong. until this came along."
so, she's really really lucky. when she was at seameo for the presentation ceremony, she was basically surrounded by super-achievers at psle and what-not, and it dawned on her that she was utterly lucky to be part of this group of people, particularly when her psle results don't even bring her anywhere close to the top. seriously, when she first got the letter, heard about it and everything, she couldn't believe her eyes and her ears.
that's why she's really really happy, and maintains that she's an absolutely lucky person.
so imagine the happiness that overwhelmed her when she finally understood what the crosses at the back of her nametag was for. even though it was only for the radio (and well, she had to speak in chinese), it was a great, great honour for her. and when it was actually aired, she was, umm, shocked and happy at the same time? [hmm, she peeked and she saw that she was actually supposed to be with jingwei, the extremely brilliant triple award winner? but on second thoughts, she would rather not, because it would make her feel really inferior, and would be a great insult to jingwei. hmm.]
and anyway, she saw, with her own eyes, the pm's son being interviewed! and she got a handshake as well as a photograph with the pm himself! HAHAHA. talk about being lucky! (uhh, she wants to upload photos, photos and more photos, but wonders if she can put the one with the pm. she means, is that, uhh, illegal or something?)
okay fine, maybe you won't understand. or maybe you'll just think that she's a great big show-off or something. don't worry, she's just going to keep this as her fondest memory and move on. and sorry if you were appalled or something, but she's just so overwhelmed with happiness that she needs to write this all down before everything goes into a blur and disappears with a 'kawoosh!' xD
MICHELLE IS A HAPPY, HAPPY PERSON.
"Over the next 12 months, create opportunities to share your abilities with those around you[...]Or lead an effort to reach out to those in society who are less fortunate[...]In essence, the challenge is not only to be excellent individuals, but to be catalysts for excellence in whatever position, school or organisation you find yourself in."
perhaps it may be too early to do anything of that sort, considering that we are all still coping with academic work, ccas and all the other commitments we have. and maybe, i'm not exactly what you can call an "excellent individual". but well, the possibilities are really infinite, and we should, if we can, really reach out to society and the people around us. truly, the best thing that you can ever do is to help someone in need out. hmm, we'll just take one step at a time, and see what the future holds for us.
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oh, let's just put a self-explanatory photo here. (:
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