By Rolly Ng

Term 1 Roundup

Today is the last day of the year. I have decided to make a little summary of what I learnt in term one.

1. Everything is a process.

Since coming to the school, I become more open to failure and try new things. I was in the choir for a few years when I was young, but it wasn’t as fun as the singing I did when we had to make a music video. I tried many hobbies when I was young: fencing, kung fu, ice-skating… I deemed myself to be untalented after seeing someone who started later than me overtaking, and loosing in competitions a few times, after a few fails, I give up and move on to something else. Since Marc said ‘everything is a process’, I’ve been telling myself to see failure as part of the process to success. Currently learning to see failing as one of my best teachers. 

1. You can always be better.

I can be a perfectionist at times but there is always room to improve in every stage and there is, ultimately, a deadline to hit. So move on from the posters if I still need to do mockups for the case study video to be complete. No knitting, focus on the bigger picture.  

1. Live in the present.

This set me free from over-thinking too much and remind me to have fun. I can sit at home all day and think about how socially awkward I might behave then say no to an invitation to a party. After the improv and mindfulness session in the first week, I learnt to live in the present by acknowledging my worries/ feelings and move on to live in the present. Over-thinking doesn’t help! 

1. Partnerships can affect my mental health in a really bad way.

When I was caught in an unsustainable partnership, I got a burnout and eventually lost my will power to debate with my partner to creating good work. After attempts to save the partnership, I decided to prioritise my mental health over good work. 

1. Be the best out of the best. People pay money to avoid us. 

Business models like Netflix and youtube premium are great examples. The best ads are those that make people, who go at great lengths to avoid us, talk about our work in the pub or share them on fb.

1. People are unique and the world needs to listen to them. 

SCA helped me regain a bit of faith in education. I mean, what traditional school would set ‘do something so you won’t regret 2019’ like calling a friend or read a book to be an assignment? I really like this place which sees people as unique individuals and helps us flourish using our uniqueness.

7. Blogging helps me pause and think. 

I admit that I do sometimes see SCABs as another annoying deadline, despite that, it remains true that SCABs force me to reflect on what I learnt, sometimes, it helps to have a reminder to pause and look up for a bit instead of burying my head in I was working on.