As Father Time Marches On

I just celebrated my 19th Birthday about a week ago. Yes, I’m at a ripe old age of 19 already. By next year, I’ll be hitting the big two-o. Another one more year, and I’ll be officially declared an adult. Add another year to that, and I’ll be a full-fledged woman who will have to be responsible for her own economic survival in a ruthless corporate world. I know it’s scary to think about it, but in a few years’ time, we’ll all be forced to morph into independent individuals who can no longer fall back on our parents or our school for support.

I can’t say whether we will be ready to take on the world then. (can we ever be ready?) But one thing’s for sure: we have come a long way since our childhood days. I can’t help but marvel at how far I have developed from that mousey little girl in primary school, who was so used to being chaperoned by her aunt. I think I’ve done a lot of growing up in the past decade, and in particular, in the past few months. Looking around me, I see the same remarkable growth in all my peers. And mind you, the growth is pretty visible; we are certainly growing up before our very own eyes. Our conversations no longer revolve around the trivial, but broach on mature topics ranging from relationships to careers to our goals in life. (fine, we do indulge occasionally in the silly romantic scandals, but then again, what’s life without a bit of harmless fun and gossip?) These many tell tale signs all point towards our growing emotional maturity, especially in the months after we have bade the comfortable and familiar environment of the school farewell.

Truth be told, I think we should congratulate each other on how well we have matured and give thanks for the protective bubble that our prestigious school has sheltered us with. We may sound childish cracking face jokes and shying away from the night scene. But at least, we’re not going round kissing random people or chain-smoking. I think our ability to draw the line between enjoying ourselves and being crass is an achievement in itself.

However, this is still not enough. As father time marches on, he presses us on to further mental and emotional development, challenging us with the harsh reality of life. In the coming months (and for some of us, a few months ago) we will be (or would have been) confronted with even more unpleasantries of life: the fact that we have little choice over our lives, and the fact that we will have to do some things, whether or not we like it, whether or not we think they are right. We have to learn to make major decisions and to be responsible for them, and we also have to understand that certain choices, though not always the easiest, may perhaps be the best. We may find ourselves at a lost at how to deal with these manifold issues. But as a friend reminded me, we have something inherent inside each one of us to help us through this uncomfortable period, during which we shed our last streak of adolescence for adulthood – our memories.

I remember feeling extremely upset each time I returned home from my new college. Many of you should know by now that I haven’t chosen the college because i like it – on the contrary, I find myself disagreeing, to a large extent, with some aspects of the school culture – but rather, because it offers me an experience closest to the corporate world. However, each time I returned home from the place, I felt only immense pessimism as I came to realize how all my worst suspicions (and some additional problems i have not quite foreseen) have been confirmed. After my last visit, I returned home, as always, sullen and unhappy. But then, I happened to meet an old classmate online, who kindly reminded me of the fun times I shared with the class. As our conversation lapsed into nostalgic reminiscence of a not-so-distant-past, I felt my mood lift instantly.

So I hope we can all help to remind each other in the coming months that no matter how many extras you’ve been given, how 'xiong' your training is, or how lonely and empty you feel studying away from home on a harsh winter’s night, we can always look inside our vault of treasured memories, and find something worthy to smile for. =]

P.S: Sorry for the long and unnecessarily emo post, but this is as much for me as for you. Cheer up anyone who is still upset/uncertain.

P.P.S: My heartfelt thanks to to the person who cheered me up that day. I think you know you are. Thank you.

P.P.P.S: Let's meet up soon, i feel like baking something nice for the class with my new power mixer! =D