The shifting sands of the Sahara are now but a distant memory.
And the bruises on Miss Loi’s butt from the camel ride have finally recovered.
All that’s left now is for Miss Loi to reflect on her long journey three weeks ago, when she rented this rickety car
and took her tentative first steps into a whole new world, like a Sec One student’s first day in a new secondary school.
A step into the vast unknown …
where things were a little different.
She found herself drowning in a sea of strangers
and missing the food back home,
On a journey along a road that can sometimes be winding,
sometimes rocky,
and at times fraught with obstacles.
A journey where she crossed the highest mountains,
traversed the deepest gorges,
and passed ancient cities.
A journey where some days were cheerily colourful.
Some days spectacular.
And some nights … umm … cold.
A journey where friends were made,
and seemingly insurmountable dunes, looming before them like a series of y = ax1/n (a > 0, n > 0) curves, were conquered.
Only because Miss Loi picked the ones with the lowest values of a and n 😛
And whenever Miss Loi contrived to get herself hopelessly lost,
an oasis was always nearby to cool her down and help her figure out the right direction to hold the map.
Now that we’ve come to the sunset of our journey,
it’s time to take a moment to think about your journey from Sec One to your O Levels, before some of you prepare your supply of tissue paper for today’s 2pm ceremony:
How many mountains have you conquered?
How many gorges have you traversed?
How many stretches of rocky roads have you travelled?
How many seemingly-insurmountable dunes have loomed before you?
How often were you lost?
How many times did you turn back and walked away when you encountered each of the above?
And after this may you find it easier to look your most loved/hated teacher in the eye when it’s your turn to stand before him/her, since the final judgment would’ve then already been passed by you, for the only person who can really judge you on Judgment Day is yourself.
In any case, no matter what the outcome is, be comforted that you have simply done your best and let this be a celebration of an end to an epic journey since Sec One.
And in true Jφss Sticks tradition, Miss Loi shall repeat the same thing she said last year, last, last year and last, last, last year:
One exam simply does not determine your entire future and what you do in your lifetime.
For there’s still a long road ahead, where taller mountains, deeper gorges, rockier roads and softer dunes await all of us.
P.S. That last photo is actually a sunrise pic.
