The End of SIS

Hey.

It’s been almost a year since I’ve last posted here, but please bear with me as I write this post.

            While my life at Sunway International School (SIS) has been full of colourful memories, it is now coming to an end. These two years of high school have truly been awesome. After all, it must be out of the ordinary for you to see a White Dutch dude saying “Salam” to his Iranian friends or simply a Japanese teenager learning how to speak in Korean by calling his Korean classmate “Pabo” or even a Malaysian saying ‘Bonjour’ and ‘Kama Sava?’ to French teachers. Yes, this school that made me study in a basement with NO WINDOWS for 1 year and 9 months, it is pleasantly surprising to me that none of my graduating classmates have ever gone crazy because of the lack of fresh air coming into the school. Therefore, it definitely comes as a great relief for graduates like me to experience the new learning environment SIS building that actually has windows for us to (literally) know what the sun looks like.

School Trip to Singapore

            Today, I experienced one of my most unforgettable SIS assemblies. Not just because it is my last assembly wearing the SIS shirt, but also because I had the opportunity to grasp the true meaning to be an SIS student. Sure, we might have classrooms with air- cons that do not work at 8am on a Monday. Sure, we might have a student body of only 350 strong. Sure, we might have school rules that practically nobody follows (have any of you heard of the black jacket rule?). But, we have teachers who would go the extra mile to bring the class out to the hallways to teach. We may be small in numbers, but we have a supportive and co- operative student body. Despite having little rules, we all respect each other as well as know our boundaries and seldom (if not never) go across them. Thus, I truly believe that I am proud to be a part of SIS. After all, where else can you find a high school that has free WiFi for students to go on Facebook do research?

Performance Night 2012

      Coming back to today’s assembly, I am truly thankful to the teachers and staff for surprising me and awarding me the Citizenship Award. In my school, we have an awards culture where the teacher giving out the award would list all the observations and achievements he or she has found in that student before giving it out to the student. This obviously creates a sense of suspense and anticipation for the students, but those who are close to the award recipient would know instantly who the teacher is referring to. Therefore, when Mr. Kondro talked about my contributions to Open Mic and Performance Night as well as “Superhero” dress down day where I dressed up like my father (I remember that day clearly as I told him I chose to do so because my father worked really hard for my family and I, and he simply laughed) without mentioning my name, I got really excited. Mr. Kondro even remembered me introducing myself to him on his first week in SIS and the time when I thought that his wife (Ms. Olivia from Bolivia) for his daughter! Jokingly, he told the assembly his plan to fail me in Economics just because of that comment I made. So when he announced my name after saying "and the student is one of my top economics student as well", I came up to the stage with a large smile on my face. Although all this seems insignificant, what truly made me feel unique were the words written on the certificate:

'Citizenship Award granted to Stanley (not my full name) for your active and various contributions to the greater school culture Sunway International School'

Imagine receiving that! This would definitely cheer up anyone's day, especially after writing an Advanced Functions exam (like me). But that's not all.

            After the awards ceremony, it was time for student performances. Mr. Avila introduced the three acts groups were to be performed for today and I was part of it. After Matthew Khoo, James Lau, Jeremy Chiang and Zabir rocked the stage with ‘we will we will rock you’ and ‘Ghostbusters’, it was time for me to do my final performance for SIS. And this is what I had to say before I started my performance:

“Hi… (Audience claps) It’s been a great 2 years here in SIS for me, and this would not be possible without all of you. I would like to thank my friends, teachers, classmates and schoolmates for making my life in SIS so much fun. Each one of you here has been significant in my SIS life so yeah… (Audience claps) I will be performing a classical mix, with a little Jay Chou inside, so listen out for it yeah!” (I wanted to add some other stuff, but I got a little nervous… and yes, the great pianist Stanley does get anxious sometimes).

            I started my piano performance with Joplin’s “The Entertainer” before heading on to Mozart’s “Turkish March”. With a Dominant Seventh chord I learnt from Mr. Joseph, I progressed into Jay Chou’s one hand theme where I faced my back to the piano while snapping my fingers and playing the piano. I concluded with Jay Chou’s Time Travel Theme, where earned the applause of almost everyone in the hall. With a short ‘thank you’ on the mic, I left the stage.

Halloween 2012

            What really shocks me in SIS is the amount of positivity and respect everyone has for each other. Take me for an example, even though I did not perform my best, at least 10 individuals still come up to me and say, “Great Job” or “Congratulations” or even “Awesome Performance”. Or even the school’s hallway culture. How often do you see students greeting teachers with a simple, “Good Morning Sir” or “Good Morning Miss” without being forced to do so? As one of the leaving teachers said in her farewell speech, “SIS has such a great environment. Students will come up to me and say, “Thank you Miss for teaching this to me,” sincerely from the bottom of their heart. Some students that I have never ever taught before would also come to me in the hallway and say “Good Morning” even if I barely even know who they are. With such a positive environment, all of you here should take advantage of this encouraging culture. I don’t know whether or not I will be able to experience all this when I go back to Canada to teach.” This indicates the positivity extent my school boasts of and it is truly a rewarding experience for both students and staff.

Things don't come easily, such as being a chess pro.

            As usual, all these things don’t come easily. It isn’t particularly easy for anyone to receive an award. I admit, there were times when I felt anguish and sad that I was not able to achieve something. Take for instance my first awards ceremony. I expected, my classmates expected, heck even Mr. Brims expected me to receive the highest in History award. What shocked us though was the fact that I did not receive it. Or the last assembly of the January to June semester of 2012. Observant students and staff would know that I receive an award (be it academic or social) at every assembly but for that one moment, I did not achieve anything. Sure, it was depressing sad, but things like this only make us stronger. I learnt that ‘behind every mountain there is an even taller mountain’ (Chinese Proverb) as well as the importance of being humble. Thus, I consider my failures in the past to be the stepping stones towards my success.

            In conclusion, SIS has been a great part of my life. With awesome friends, great recognition awards and a really positive environment, it is hard to fathom how my high school life could be greater in another high school but SIS. As I keep my little citizenship award on my wall in my awards folder, I shall embark on the final destination that almost every student hates, exams. 

P/S: I did not prepare my performance introductory speech, it was... impromptu! :)