> a letter to my ct
Dear 71,
I know that most of you are feeling very sad over the possible breakup of the class composition as we know it.
I know how you feel because I have honestly enjoyed being your Civics Tutor. I am sad to see this happen.
But life must go on. I know some of you will brush off what I have to say as
she is just saying this to sound nice... but honestly, i didn't enjoy scolding the class today over GP presentations. I know some of you were wondering even though you didn't say anything: "
can't Ms Chua see that we are all too upset to study now? So what if we lose 2 GP periods? Does it really matter? It's only 2 GP periods..."The point isn't the loss of the 2 GP periods. The point is this: whether you like it or not, life has to go on. And you need to do what is right, which is to know when to mourn, when to hide away those tears, when to focus on your work...
That is the hardest thing you can do. But it is one of the most important lessons in life you must learn. Remember what I said in my letters to all of you? That you will look back with pride on how you behave in a crisis, not how well you did in your O levels. And you all WILL meet setbacks sooner or later in life. It's only a question of when. Not now, maybe, but later. And I can tell you from experience that it's learning how to be professional, not to allow your emotions to overwhelm you such that your work becomes slipshod that will stand you in good stead. And if you don't learn this now, then when? Strength and resilience do not come overnight. These are built over a series of setbacks, gradually. And if you should hit a big crisis later on in life, please trust me on this, you WILL be grateful for handling the previous problems in your life well as the previous experiences would have helped you cope that much better. It's like depositing something into your character bank that you can draw upon when you REALLY really need it. And it needs to begin now. That is why I insisted on work being handed in on time and of a good quality.
For those of you who are worried that you may not be able to stay in HC, and feel as if it doesn't matter where I go now. please don't think this way. Don't let your momentary misery cloud your mind such that you stake the next 2 years of your life on poor emotional control. Please think carefully about your 2nd and 3rd choices: think about fitting in, the kind of school ethos, subject combination etc carefully. Because if it doesn't work out, you will hate yourself for giving into your emotions for the brief moment of time when you should have controlled your sadness and thought through your decisions carefully.
Please feel free to talk to me. You know how to contact me.
Ms Chua.
