Well, well, what can I say. After strolling through teenager-packed streets for the last week or so, students everywhere have returned to school and given the rest of the world some much-needed respite from banal comments such as “Where will Snorlax spawn next?”, or if Mr Tan indeed favours your friend because he got an A grade while you got B (the truth is that you didn’t study hard enough, don’t anyhow bluff). Not that I have anything against being a student, as I was hardly a shining example myself in my misguided youth, where there were lots of “referencing” classmates’ homework, escaping from snooze-worthy school-organised Mid-Autumn Festival concerts, as well as being sent out of Chemistry class more times than I care to count.
The irony in all this is that while I used to hate the sight or even the slightest suggestion about homework, I delight in the homework I have to do as a working adult. That means copious amounts of research and poring through fine print, and equally copious amounts of whiskey on the side as my trusty companion. Truth be told, there’s something quite gratifying about seeing your work published in the papers or billboards, on Facebook and Instagram, instead of in the school newsletter or the heavens forbid, in a 10-Year Series assessment book. You see, I never could get used to regurgitating concepts that we hardly have use for nowadays (since Google is just a search and click away), such as Pythagoras’ Theorem or calculating some economic principle while ending with the mandatory “ceteris paribus”.
From school, all the way to my written musings about Aries Gold… what a journey it has been. Before I get all nostalgic about back when the September school holidays used to be relevant, here’s some advice to you school-going ones out there: Study whatever you want to, because what you learn in school does not define you. What you learn in life is what truly counts. Don’t I just sound like some sagely godfather now? Till next time then, my dear Aries Gold fans.
- The Watchman
