A Letter to F.6 Students

Dear F.6, It’s been more than one year since I first met you guys. As my first batch of DSE students, I expected a lot of you, and you all seemed to live up to my expectation (we shall see). At least you were motivated and hard-working (most of the time haha). I don’t know what you expected in the beginning when you met me or whether you thought I was worth it. I don’t know if I have successfully included what you think is important or useful in the class. Nonetheless, we only see one another 1.5 hours a week, there’s only so much I could do.

My only hope is that in this past year, you have at least taken away something with you, be it language or inspiration. I hope you can see how hard I have been trying to maintain a balance between getting you to know and understand the language, grammar rules, as well as to inspire you to think and reflect more on yourselves and social issues, which I think is very helpful for your personal development. I hope I have shown you that, learning is so much more.

Now, you guys are done with all the exams, you are officially done with your secondary school life. You have all come very far. I believe that you can get what you have paid your hard work for. It will all be worth it. While going on graduation trips and enjoying your summer, do not forget that your life has just begun. There is so much more waiting for you, so many adventures, so many ups and downs. There will probably be more downs than ups, but well that's life. The world is so much bigger than the world you see now, trust me, I've been there. As you graduate from secondary school, I am going to graduate from university. And I can tell you this: I’m not the same person I was four years ago. I went through so much and learned so much. And so will you.

What is most important, after this milestone, is to find yourself. Get to know yourself. Keep your passion if you happen to have found it. If you haven't, now is the time. Passion and love for what you do is the only thing to get you going. People get lost no matter how old they are. I get lost every once in a while. But don’t forget who you are. It’ll lead you to where you need to be. On the way, don’t forget to care for the people you love and the people in need.

Janice