farewell speech

When I look upon the time I spent at ICS, 8 years has gone by so fast. I remember walking into the elementary morning table alone, and look… 8 years later , I am walking out along side the people I learned to call brothers… and some sisters. To be honest, all my identities and sense of belongings are created here. It all started back when I though nobody would accept the fact that I am new and unique ( back in the time when I was still in 5th grade), but no. You guys welcomed me despite the language barriers ( at first, now it’s all good I supposed) . So firstly, thank you to you guys as a class for the warm welcome.

Not only to you guys fellow classmates, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all the teachers. Without their guidance, I may not be the person who reached the goals I made, especially regarding the college matter. In addition, they also made me a “better” person.

Throughout the years at ICS, we all have been through a lot. I also have personal things I am extremely thankful. Towards the end of junior year and the beginning of senior year, it had been very difficult for me. I have been through alot of changes (friends leaving and conflicts within my group of friends). Missunderstandings and all . Part of the conflict… I must admit… the blame is on me. However, we learn to forgive and move on.. continuing the brotherhood we are familiar with.

Now, let’s reflect back on our years together…. one of my all time favorite moments.

remember 8th grade login? we scored the penalties and it’s our first victory .

remember 9th grade salt trip, where half of our groups members had relationship problems and marche threw chairs into the swimming pool?

remember 10th grade intermural? we won!

im gonna skip 11th grade and the first sem of senior year 55555

but now we are compensating for the time we wasted… we are living the lives like the good old days. And to be honest, When i step out of this school, the place we are so familiar to, I am. going to miss it alot. Cheers to the memories we created some are lesson and some to look back and smile upon. I cannot imagine not seeing you guys every weekday, and some of you every weekend ever again. Knowing things are never going to be the same kills me. But I wish that we can still call each other by our fathers name when we grow up, keep in touch even if we dont see ewach other often, and this apply to everyone of you. I promise you, whenever I look into blank space during flights or during roadtrips after I leave this place, my thoughts will be of you guys. And I will be smiling like an idiot. Thank you for the memories… Thank you for the everlasting friendship.

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Cry

From the bottom of my heart, I felt like Alan Paton was able to portray the best possible ending to the novel Cry, The beloved Country. The last scene of the novel was when Stephen went up to the mountain and reflect upon his son’s death penalty. Needless to say, he had been through much, and it is nearly impossible for a father to completely disregard the death of his son. However, the author shows that forgiveness is a necessity, both for others and for ourselves. We must forgive in order to move on in life, and letting go of his son’s murder and the unfair treatment due to the affect of the apartheid made Stephen grew spiritually as a person. He will never be the same guy who is emotionally unstable and blame everything on Johannesburg ever again. 🙂

unseen damage

I strongly believe that the most hurtful damage that people can experience is internal. Physical pain can be healed with the right treatment, but no medicine can heal a broken heart. However, it is possible that we experience both internal and external harm at the same time, contributing to an unbelievable amount of pain.

Unfortunately, I am a victim of this unpreventable aspect of life, and it killed me inside. Just about 2 weeks ago, ICS hosted a sporting event: Tri-sport. Needless to say, it is a dream of every ICs athletes to be selected and participate in this tournament, and just like everyone else, I have waited years to be selected. One week before the actual event, the roster came out, and my name is on the list. I was delighted with joy because I will finally participate in the sporting event I’ve waited for years to be selected again. We had practiced before the actual event, and I was already excited about it. When the actual day came by, however, I did not feel well. I was even sent home by the coach during the event. That night, I went to the hospital and the doctor said I was diagnosed with influenza B. I broke down immediately, knowing that I won’t be able to participate in this tournament anymore and that the coach will have to replace me with someone else.

The physical pain was bad. I cough and had a headache all day long. All I can manage to do for the whole week was sleep and throw up. Even though the external pain was bad, the worse part is the internal breakdown. I was saddened by this incident because I have waited so long to be selected, and the fact that I won’t be able to play in this tournament ever again kills me. It was like ending a sweet dream with the worst nightmare; a storm right after a ray of beautiful sunshine.

Che’s inspiration

In the future, I would love to create a foundation that aims to help kids from all over the world, especially the aspect of education. In my humble opinion, I feel like education is the key that leads people out of poverty. When people have knowledge, they do not allow others to take advantage of them. That’s why education is so important. When I have enough funding to create a foundation, it would be a small part in the society that contributes to a child greater future. I would travel the world and search for why children in Asia do not have proper education system, and I would solve the problem accordingly.

Southeast Asia

 Throughout the Southeast Asia Unit, I was able to develop a better understanding regarding the problems with in my own country. Not only that, I have a deeper sympathy for the unfortunates in Thailand. I cannot imagine the amount of pain they are suffering from, and I cannot believe that the majority of people of the country are going through such a cruel cycle. The issue I found most disturbing to me is the fact that young girls in my own country are forced into prostitution. To me, being forced into this field is devalue the dignity of a person and should be strongly prohibited.

  Despite many issues depicted from this book, I gained hope for humanity because the protagonist of the book gave up everything to try to save his family from the suffering. Even though his attempts were not successful, his actions indicates that he is willing to put others as his priority. His actions indicate that love is a force that drives people to do beautiful things for others without wanting anything in return.

Edinburgh

 Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, is located in northern United Kingdom. This unique city is packed with extraordinary sceneries and is filled with rich histories; thus, should be regarded as one of the most beautiful gems of entire European continent. From the top of Calton hill, an unfinished national monument, tourists will be able to cherish the glamouring landscape of the entire city. Tourists could also blend in with the distinctive cultures of Scottish people such as the famous Scottish outfit and the famous sound of Scottish horns along the Royal Miles Road, located in Old Town. Towards the end of the day, tourists could enjoy local beverages at the prominent pub, the Devil’s Advocate. With all these charismatic attributes, it is hard to denial that Edinburgh is one of the most alluring cities in the world.

Karma

I personally believe that greed is the source of all suffering. We have desire to acquire, and when we fail to reach that objective, we suffer. Though the sense of belonging in the human-nature is extremely strong, attachment to something or someone could also bring suffering. When things do not go the way we wish, or someone you loves doesn’t love you back, that always bring about great suffering.

Although there are no definite solution to approach the problem of suffering, the idea of karma could be the key to helping us deal with how we view suffering. If karma is a cosmic laws that says we get serve what we deserve, we all will try to approach things differently: better. For me, I will do good things and hope that it will come back to me eventually. Though it doesn’t come up in an obvious way, at least it gives me something to look forward to.