I had my Firefly Scholarship interview this morning and viola, Hugo was there as well with the same timeslot as me for the interview.
Anyway, the interview went quite fine. I wasnt jittery at all. Must be the pre-interview conversation i struck up with two RJC girls that were scheduled for the 9.30am interview. It's kinda strange: i don't know either of them beforehand but because one of them was wearing the RJ uniform, i know for sure it's "own people" there. When the safety net was established, the very simple and basic question was to ask the other girl whether she's from RJ as well. And so, the ice was broken.
Even though i was the one trying very hard to keep the conversation going by asking stupid questions like which class are they from and what CCAs etc. Not very chatty girls.
The interview turned out fine, or at least i couod say something for each of the question posed to me. One question pertaining to my 2'U's was kinda shocking but i managed to give a rather reasonable answer by saying that i hadn't had enough time to prepare for it at that point in time(during prelims) and there, two Us to show.
On hindsight, i think i shot myself in the feet by saying that i'm unlikely to get 4As because Biology is likely to get B. Well, it's true. I left each paper feeling a bit not here nor there and even though there's the bell-curve, it's hard for me to say for sure i would get straight As(hai, no long straight As student).
And there's also the question about GST hike and i was very negative about it. Lucky it's not the PSC scholarship, if not my name confirm blacklisted. Then again, if PSC really ask me the same question, i doubt i have the right mind to shift my answer to suit the question.
The rest of the question were kinda of a formality, pertaining to my school life and it got a bit mundane but i guess, we have to go through it.
Yay! I did not stutter nor did i swallow words. Guess that's an improvement considering i swallowed words for my PW presentation but then again, this was a one to one interview so i need not raise my voice and also, it was conducted in a small room so i need not be loud.
On the positive side, i guess i did okay, or at least better than i thought i would be. Handed in one copy of my CVs as well, hopefully it goes into good use.
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Anyway, on the issue of straight As. Since when did we harvest the idea of being in the Raffles schools directly translates to straight As?
I know it has been the case of us(not wanting to sound arrogant or please dont misread) but since when was it bestowed upon us? Like a mandate?
Our predecessors have worked hard for their results and so should we. We should never take it for granted that we are at the top because of the brand-name itself.
Arrogance breeds complacency and we should never let either take root.
It saddens me to see Raffles being commercialised. We see Raffles Medical Group, Raffles this Raffles that, as though Raffles is a commodity. I have nothing against using Raffles as a name, but can the subject live up to the name? That's what i worry about.
I walked along Bras Basah Road today with TRE and past the wold St. Joseph Institution there. The building has the grandeur and archaic atmosphere in it that i feel, is extremely lacking in RI.
Where has our history gone?
The old Bras Basah complex is no longer there and i have no idea what the purpose of the school building at Grange Road. And the current one at One Raffles Institution Lane is undergoing extremely extreme makeover.
We have a new buidling erected 7 storeys tall and the main block of RI is being sledgehammered. The whole place is in a mess. The admin block is being smashed upside down, the floors are dusty, wonders where the headmaster's office is but i think it's not within the school compound because of the noise and dust, the level one classrooms facing the astro are nonexistent and $#%^T$#%#$#!@#, the Rafflesian plague at the atrium is coated with a white layer of dust!!!
What the hell. Shouldnt someone go clean it?
I mean, i will clean it if i'm allowed to but the plague is two storeys high and kinda huge and i will die cleaning it alone. But still, has the dust blinded us and the noise deafed us?
The school crest is not just any crest, it's from Raffles.
What has all the propaganda(oops) about Raffles gone to when we can't even keep the crest clean? What's the use of reciting the Rafflesian Principle when we can't get the basics done. It's sad to see RI in such a sorry state.
As a sec1 student entering RI, i will no longer be in awe but rather, wondering why the place resembles what we see from Iraq.
All will be gone to waste if we do not live, eat, breathe like a Rafflesian.
So there.