Journey’s End

The shifting sands of the Sahara are now but a distant memory.

And the bruises on Miss Loi’s butt from the camel ride have finally recovered.

The Culprit

All that’s left now is for Miss Loi to reflect on her long journey three weeks ago, when she rented this rickety car

and took her tentative first steps into a whole new world, like a Sec One student’s first day in a new secondary school.

A step into the vast unknown …

On a dark desert highway …

where things were a little different.

Here you look left, right & then left again before crossing the road

She found herself drowning in a sea of strangers

and missing the food back home,

The reason why so many said Miss Loi is slimmer after she came back

On a journey along a road that can sometimes be winding,

See the view from inside the car

sometimes rocky,

and at times fraught with obstacles.

A journey where she crossed the highest mountains,

traversed the deepest gorges,

and passed ancient cities.

Remember this from the movie: Gladiator?

A journey where some days were cheerily colourful.

Miss Loi’s hotel

Some days spectacular.

Miss Loi’s hotel

And some nights … umm … cold.

Miss Loi’s ‘hotel’

A journey where friends were made,

and seemingly insurmountable dunes, looming before them like a series of y = ax^1/n (a > 0, n > 0) curves, were conquered.

Can you trace the curves?

Only because Miss Loi picked the ones with the lowest values of a and n

And whenever Miss Loi contrived to get herself hopelessly lost,

an oasis was always nearby to cool her down and help her figure out the right direction to hold the map.

Time to check the map again.

Now that we’ve come to the sunset of our journey,

it’s time to take a moment to think about your journey from Sec One to your O Levels, before some of you prepare your supply of tissue paper for today’s 2pm ceremony:

How many mountains have you conquered?
How many gorges have you traversed?
How many stretches of rocky roads have you travelled?
How many seemingly-insurmountable dunes have loomed before you?
How often were you lost?
How many times did you turn back and walked away when you encountered each of the above?

And after this may you find it easier to look your most loved/hated teacher in the eye when it’s your turn to stand before him/her, since the final judgment would’ve then already been passed by you, for the only person who can really judge you on Judgment Day is yourself.

In any case, no matter what the outcome is, be comforted that you have simply done your best and let this be a celebration of an end to an epic journey since Sec One.

And in true Jφss Sticks tradition, Miss Loi shall repeat the same thing she said last year, last, last year and last, last, last year:

One exam simply does not determine your entire future and what you do in your lifetime.

For there’s still a long road ahead, where taller mountains, deeper gorges, rockier roads and softer dunes await all of us.

P.S. That last photo is actually a sunrise pic.

がんばって!!!

Miss Loi