Wind In My Head: To those who have finished their A levels..
Wind In My Head
Saturday, November 19, 2005
To those who have finished their A levels..
--Soppy post below, so for those who feel the need to roll their eyes, take off contact lenses or go read someone else's blog--Dear students who read my blog,
Congratulations on having completed the most gruelling and intensive academic exercise in your life! I stick by what I've said. You'll never be so stressed again, in uni, except perhaps when it's dissertation time.
Let me just say, that I know it's been a harrowing two years and the journey for some of you was fraught with doubt, insecurity and much anger and angst. And now, you're free. On your blogs, you breathe this collective sigh of relief, almost audible even over the iridescent glow of the blog page. Well, even though you hadn't quite figured out how to describe tone when it was required of you, each blog post that I came across was filled with a great sense of exhalation and delirious, giddy gratefulness that it has finally come to a close. And for that, I am proud of each one of you.
I'll probably never see you in a formal setting anymore. Actually, most definitely and toward the last weeks, there really wasn't much time to talk to you about the life you're heading out to face. You will no longer have the protection and the sheltered environment of the classroom to shield you from the outside world and some of you are much more prepared than others to face it. So, instead of me trying to put it into words, this was taken off another teacher's blog and she in turn took it off a site that some of you should try to read(There are some hoops that you will need to hop through to read the whole thing, but I promise, it's the last piece of reading I am fobbing off to you).
So, the lessons I hope you take with you from the last two years aren't the ones that teach you how to write a good essay but the bigger lessons that I have taught in class. The ones that bear no notes but greater consequences. The ones that helped you remove some of the rose colour off your tinted glasses. And whether or not you end up as a teacher, the ones that you will pass on to those you teach in the future.
With that, go out there, see, feel, think, explore and discover. And occasionally, stop to get your bearings, looking back at where you've come from and ahead at where you want to go.
Godspeed.
Ondine tossed this thought in at 23:27
3 thoughts...
-
At 2:44 pm
the spear carrier said... hi, been reading your blog for a while after u got tomorrow-ed.
when u said that the A levels is the most gruelling and intensive academic exercise in your life! I strongly agreed.
when i was in my A levels year, my civic tutor who was damn super caring to all of us even though we were 3 yr Pre-U students, supposingly the stupider ones. She tried all ways and means to emphasize the important of A levels and that A level was by far the only make-or-break exam of our life. She said that she is very worried for us cos A levels papers were set by British and Singapore teachers were only told to taught accordingly to the syllabus so our students had it much harder. Once we get pass this obstacle, University will be no problem at all, it will be a breeze...
sigh... where can u find such passionate teachers anymore?-
At 8:12 pm
livestone said...
In TJ. :) Hello!!! *waves* It's val. from...3304. Remember me? Heh. I've still got 8 days. Argh.
-
At 11:27 pm
Ondine said...
Hi Val! Hang in there. I remember finishing a week later than everyone else because there was this darn history paper stuck at the end of the entire exam series. Everyone was hanging out and shopping for prom and I had to work on remembering why the UN sucked at their job! It'll be over soon and then you can shop to your heart's content. :)