Story of a Pencil

I read this from Paulo Coelho's Like the Flowing River. My favourite author never fails to inspire me. =)

 

Once upon a time, a grandmother told her grandson,

 

"I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up."

 

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn't seem very special.

 

"But it's just like any other pencil I've ever seen!"

 

"That depends on how you look at things. It has 5 qualities that will make you a person who is always at peace with the world."

 

"First quality: You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a always a hand guiding your steps We call that hand of God, and He always guide us according to His will."

 

"Second quality: Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards he is much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pain and sorrows, because they will make you a better person."

 

"Third quality: The pencil always allow us to rub out any mistakes. This means correcting something we did isn't necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice."

 

"Four quality: What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you."

 

"Finally, the pencil's fifth quality: it always leave a mark. In the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be concious of your every action."

 

 

Hall XI FOC 07

Frankly speaking, I'm not the type of person who would enjoyed FOC activities (I don't like to cheer, go without enough sleep, talk to alot of pple at the same time, run around, get wet and get dirty). But somehow, I have still joined FOC for 4 years consecutively, while many of the pple same batch as me had stopped joining years ago. I guessed I enjoyed making new friends with youngsters and interacting with existing seniors and juniors, though I tend to avoid the above-mentioned activities in brackets. (I've stayed in room and slept / played DOTA through some of the dirtiest games haha! =P)

 

Yup, I've enjoyed this year's FOC.

 

This year's FOC has significantly less activities than previous years. The City Hunt route is shorter. No more dance. No more freshies pulling the truck. No Hall 11 cheer. No Banner cheer. No field telematches. No more candle fight game. No watergun wargame. No competition for Best OG. (I think my OG ZESTO should win this year!!!)

 

Less excitement but definitely more relax. I think it is quite good la. Haha! (Though I feel that some traditions should be retained.)

 

Anw this year, the freshies are good, the yr 2,3 seniors are good, friends are made, friendships are renewed. Felt more gum to the freshies compared to last year. Maybe that's because I'm not doing Ghost Walk this year ba, so got more time to interact with them. Haha! Glad I managed to siam helping in organising Ghost Walk again this year. (I'm sorry, Soonguan and Chanfan. =P)

 

After FOC comes the different hall activities. I've decided. I'm only joining Inter-Block Games (bridge, weiqi, darts, chinese chess etc etc...), Inter-Hall Contract Bridge (no, not as captain again...damn Tangning, where r u??), Hall Drama Production... as Props Subcom... and maybe maybe write another script for the FOC Ghost Walk '08.

 

Another exciting year in hall ahead! =)