School Year Begins.

I woke up as early as 5.15 this morning to watch four of my siblings embark on their first day of school for the year, all on school buses. My Form 5 sister, the newly-appointed prefect; my Form 2 brother, also a newly-appointed prefect; my Year 5 sister and my Year 1 brother, who was especially excited at his venture into the world of primary-level education.

I only managed to stay awake until about 7 at latest, before going back to sleep and waking up after 11.

My own primary school years were - well, unusual, to say the least. I went to four different institutions between ages 6 and 12. And sure, it was great. I gained valuable experiences which many people I know will never get. Ever.

It started at this place called Nury, in Bukit Antarabangsa. It was part school, and part private clinic. It had a pool (which I never got to actually see), a gymnasium (with mats and stuff) and even a PS 1. Purple vests were part of our uniforms. I don't remember much of what I learnt there, except for the word xi gua (which is Mandarin for watermelon), and how to play chess and Chinese chess. I remember jogging down the large-ish hill during PE, and getting chased by dogs at least on one occasion. There was also the year-end school play, which was held at the De Palma Hotel in Ampang, in which I was somehow chosen to be one of the two MCs.

The next year, I moved to a private school that went by the name Integrated Islamic College (IIC) and spent two great years there. It was during those years that I first remember tasting academic superiority over my peers, coming in third ( I think) in class during my first year there. And the next year I constantly came in first during exams. I still remember one time when I got heavily scolded for having such tiny handwriting, and another time when I was punished for failing to bring my Maths textbook to school. But that never stopped me from doing well.

It was also there that I first witnessed a sprint race during Sports Day - I remember being overjoyed when my friend, who was also our house representative, won said race. There, I also took  up Karate, but I was never really that interested in it, at times skipping classes to read books in the library instead.

After that, something happened to the school which I still don't quite understand and all the students had to move to a place called Sekolah Islam Adni, another private school. It was great too, but I didn't really appreciate it back then. The place was, as they say, a former hospital, which was then an apartment, before finally becoming a school. As a result, the floors were mostly carpeted, and had air-conditioning, even in the classrooms. Being such a weakling back then I despised the air-conditioning, as I would get cold really easily. The classrooms had balconies, which we weren't allowed to use. There was also an elevator in the central area of the building, but no one was allowed on those either. There was also rumoured to be a swimming pool on one of the upper floors, but I never saw it.

At Adni I took up Karate (again) and Archery as co-curricular activities, and not really liking either of them, since I pretty much sucked at both.

I remember getting into trouble plenty of times, for reasons ranging from the usual failure to complete homework to allegedly talking during Friday prayers. But I still managed to somehow end up top of my class for the exams in spite of my laziness.

In mid-2004, my life changed when I was transferred to a government school - SK Taman Bukit Indah. After seriously underestimating the Malaysian National Education Syllabus I found myself demoted to the second class the next year.

But it was great. Having already learnt much of the Year 5 syllabus back at Adni I found myself as top student in class for every single exam that year. That year I also discovered that I had some athletic ability, something which I'd never realised before. I actually won a silver medal for the 4x100 sprint during Sports Day that year.

In Year 6 I was back in the first class, and I found myself academically inferior to my peers once again. However, I still managed to get straight A's for all three of my trial exams and UPSR. That year also made the school chess team for the first time, and won a bronze medal for the high jump event during Sports Day. I also started to actually play football that year, and my class came in third in the inter-class tournament after UPSR.

How time flies, eh?
Picture courtesy of blogs.discoverymagazine.com

So yeah, I had some great times back then. Obviously I can't go back, but there's nothing wrong with reminiscing every now and then. It's really all the little things that make you who you are today, and when you reminisce you are reminded of all those life lessons you picked up when you were younger and which you probably forgot about as you got older.

"Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."

- George Santayana