one year

today is the 3rd of november 2007. one year ago, i was wasting time, having fun, going out with friends, anticipating the enrollment into a whole new environment that promises suspense and excitement. i was still young then, and had such lofty ideals of joining awesome ccas, of meeting a myriad of interesting and fascinating people, of making new friends, and of studying hard and acing the exams. i wholly believed that jc life will transform me, and shall wholehearted invest all my time and energy into causes i have believed in.

one year later, council, scouts and a host of other commitments have become huge jigsaw puzzles in my life. each has its own significance and sentiments - oscillating through periods of unbridled happiness and disconcerting unhappiness, and each has distinctive events that coalesce into unforgettable memories and memories i can't wait to forget. throughout this scintillating journey of exploration and pursuit, dreams have manifested into reality, or they have been shelved; hopes have been realized, or sometimes dashed. undeniably, it has been an interesting and enlightening safari for the 'holy grail' - these consuming ideals of success and perfection that have permeated through the fragile membrane of our lives, influenced by the media and peer presence - and the hunt continues, for our expectations have yet to be met.

along the way, i have met people who have changed my life, friends who have reserved a place in my heart, leaders who have humbled me, strangers who have taught me values, acquaintances who have astonished me, artists who have amazed me, and a multitude of many other interesting characters.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting, that a new world is born.

it has been refreshing to see how great an impact our friends have on us. i often believe that a man should not be judged by how many friends he has, but by how many friends he cherishes.

i have known of friends who forsake the old for the new, people who abandoned unpopular causes to integrate into fashionable entities, and schoolmates who changed for the sake of changing. many of them have lost an integral part of themselves during this adjustment into jc life.

and i have also met great personalities who never fail to amaze me with their energy, tenacity, endurance, capability and commitment. these friends have left an indelible mark, and each carries with them a lesson, a teaching, that will hopefully serve as apt reminders for me in times when i lose myself to the frantic pace of life.

one year. i got to know of many people. but for some, i don't think i got to know them well enough. for some, we have worked together for many a nights, yet eventually what remains are memories. bonds we assume we have forged; once tested, we realized they were consumed by the mocking silence. laughter and joy, a moment of superficiality? nope. true moments of happiness they are, but transient in their nature, they come and go, with the passing dawn. now perhaps we meet in corridors, a healthy dose of cheery hellos follows. but do they echo sentiments of lasting friendship, or do they leave reverberations that accentuate the empty void of acquaintanceship?

step one you say we need to talk,
he walks you say sit down it's just a talk

in any case, one year whizzed past just like that, leaving behind a blazing trail of unanswered questions and unaccomplished goals. i have got one more year to go.

this year has been the most interesting year of my life yet.
hahaha i can't wait for next year and the unforeseen promises and adventures one might find along the way. =)