Cue ridiculously overplayed Vitamin C song.

Alrighto we're finally graduating so I feel obliged to say something. I'm not very good at this sort of thing but still.

While many are feeling nostalgic and shit, I haven't yet begun to feel so. Maybe at grad ceremony. It's been 6 years in this hellhole wonderful learning environment, and though it has never hasn't always been fun all these 6 years, it's gonna be over in 2 months or so, whether we're ready for it or not. Speaking of ready, for all those gentlemen who still don't know how to tie a tie, yet for some reason are reading this blog before learning to tie one for tomorrow's grad ceremony, here. You are welcome. Back to graduating. From the obnoxious little buggers arriving in Malan Road campus on day 1, to the obnoxious buggers graduating from Boon Lay campus tomorrow, we've grown and learnt quite a bit. I wish the graduation ceremony, as impossible as this is, would be held at Malan Road campus though, so there's a sense of closure. But I guess it isn't really right to say closure, because it's not the end. As Gandalf the White puts it at the end of the Lord of the Rings, "End? No, the journey doesn't end here." He goes on to mention death but then, "And then you see it... White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise." So for people feeling sad, don't, because it isn't an end. It's just the beginning of the rest of our lives.

I was going to write down a list of thanks for everyone I know, but then it started feeling cheesy so for people who feel like you deserve thanks from me in one way or another, give yourself a pat on the back and feel free to approach me for a verbal confirmation of my thanks if/when you see me. Special mentions, however, are in order.

My subject tutors, without whom I wouldn't know anything. Not that I know a lot now. But a lot more than I would if they didn't teach.

All the people I hang out with all the time after lessons/stuff. I was going to list out all the names, but it started feeling a bit too homo so to avoid that I'll just leave it at that.

Everyone who has smiled/laughed (even a little bit) at all the stupid little jokes/puns/ I have made over the years, thank you as well. Whether you genuinely thought it was funny or not, sometimes these little bits of laughter and smiles are great ego/morale boosters. I promise to make more groan-worthy puns in the future.

Moving on. I've sometimes been asked, if given a choice, would I still have chosen to come to RV? Honestly, up till now I can't say for sure. I don't regret being in this school, per se, but I'm always curious about how everything would have gone down if I had gone to, say, RI or HCI. Probably wouldn't be there for long, looking at my results, but still. Or what if I had gone to a school which didn't have such prestige? I think the biggest difference lies in the people. I wonder, always, if I might have made as good friends as the ones I have now, if I had gone somewhere else. Whether good friends exist everywhere, waiting to be found, or whether it was an incredible stroke of luck that the people I click with happened to be in the school I chose? Sometimes I wish I'd gone to a poly after year 4, as the poly people whom I do know seem more adventurous and fun, but maybe it's because I don't know them that well. Ultimately, I guess it doesn't matter now, because, well, it doesn't matter.

Expect nothing to be smooth sailing from now on. By all accounts, life's a bitch. Expect to fall. Expect to get knocked down. But always expect to get up and keep going. Even though we haven't even taken A-levels yet, I just wanna say a few things. Some of us may not get good grades. Heck, I'm not expecting exactly stellar grades myself. But no matter what kinda grades you get, always know one thing: There's always a way out. I trust that most of you guys know (or have at least heard of) the channel 8 drama from long long ago, 出路. Remember that line from the intro to that show? "飘扬过海，我吃得起苦，相信天无绝人之路。" I didn't actually watch the show, but this line I feel is a great philosophy to live by. Actually just the last line. 相信天无绝人之路. And it's true. You always have a way out (not suicide pls). You may feel bad if you scored badly, or if you didn't get into the university you want, but remember this: life's gameplay style is a wide-open sandbox, not a linear action game. There is no fixed path you must traverse. No one says you have to get into a university right after JC, spend 3/4/5 years on a degree, then come out and get a job. You could choose to work for 2 years, to save up money and study overseas, and then choose to get a job that's not even related to your degree. Don't trap yourself within a single path and ignore all the other possibilities. Sure, doing things differently may get a little tough, or may take a little more time, but who's keeping score? It's not Super Mario Bros. You don't have to end the level in 600 seconds, and you don't have to collect the coins. The only thing that matters in the end is that you're alive, and you're happy. As long as you're happy, it doesn't matter if your highscore is 20 and you took the longest route through the game. It's not a speedrun or WCG.

Ending this post now, because I have to sleep in case I miss my own graduation tomorrow lulz. I just wanna say, thank you to everyone I've known these 6 years, even if you aren't from RV. My life has been just wonderful so far, and if I can say nothing else for my life the past 6 years, I will at least mention one thing. I had fun. And that's always......well, fun. Here's to 60 more years of fun, before we end up being lowered into a hole in the ground to rot, or burnt to a smoke crisp so your living relatives can gaze upon your remains and think it means something.

Also, being as it's graduation tomorrow, you can bet your ass they're gonna play that ridiculously overplayed Vitamin C song (hence the title of this post). You know the one. Yeah. Guys, just because the song is titled "Graduation" doesn't mean you have to play it at every single damned graduation. It's always bugged me a little. Sure the song is nostalgic and all......graduation-ish and stuff, but why couldn't we use a different song for once, like Into the West or Don't Stop Believing? Sheesh.