I messaged a few friends about the win. Then I have students I am teaching messaging me to congratulate me the win. But I was in the midst of another meeting. Then Bonita left only one word on her email. AWESOME! I thought so too. Awesome not because my team did well. There were quite a few things I was not happy about during the Q and A. What was awesome was the work of God.
I prayed just before my team went up to present that God will release the spirit of compassion and warm each heart that listens to the sharing. Many were moved as a result. Not because my students spoke but because God moved. There was absolute silence as the Q and A went on. I felt the judges were not grilling my team. Instead they were helping them to shine even more. I only briefly went through some possible questions. I didn't rehearse because I like them to think on their feet. Whether we win or lose, frankly it is not an issue anymore because the fact is WE WENT UP and SPOKE. Most importantly I didn't hear Aaron and I told him not to speak to me at all or tell anyone what he wanted to say. So he spoke the way he did. How I get this wisdom, I don't know. Only GOD knows.
This morning I was in school to do some marking. Then I saw an ex boy online. I have not chatted with Shupeng for a long time so I took the chance to see how he was and told him, my team won. His answer was interesting. He said it was not a surprise the team would win. We chatted on and he talked about how the school is churning out social mavericks. He found that the school was actually allowing and purposely teaching students to stand on their own beliefs and be brave to speak up. I shared with him about the recent event in my class. Then he spoke about his class. Taught by the same teacher and how 6 or 7 of them in the class would rather be punished than not challenged the unreasonable demands. I taught his class geography after they finished the other subject and I had no problems. He shared about Galven, going to be an NUS scholar. He shared how the interviewers were just blown away by Galven's interesting answer. This he attributed to Galven arguing most with the teacher and learning the skills to maintain his beliefs. But we have to be careful what we believe and see if this belief is with integrity and of value. So speaking the truth with integrity is good.
It is not easy to stand up to what we believe in. What I went through with my group has been rather gruelling for me. This is because I set a new trend. I will be shot with a lot of arrows and stares because of what I did. Perhaps I will become a busy body in the eyes of many. Better yet, a traitor before some. But I will NOT regret because I need to be honest to myself about what my team did.
This has been a long tiring and treacherous journey. But I learned so much about myself. I am happy to have friends who went on this journey with me. In my short 3 months home, I did so much. Incredible! Mentored 30 odd students for their research papers, 4 major projects, set 1 major exams, 2 tests and went through some rough patches with colleagues and still standing TALL because I have friends who constantly pray and believe in what I do.
Thank you friends. I will slowly unwind as I get ready and packing for Beijing round 2. I met some of the boys and already 2 are not so ready. Their body gestures and breath of arrogance will get them into trouble. I give them a month to adjust this attitude because I want to have a good time. Pray for me as I mark my exams that I finish on time and can get some thinking going. MInd you, I have to crack my head on service learning and I have quite a few.
I look forward to going with some of my HP boys. Some are with me, some with another colleague. But we will be together. I belong to the High Flyers this time. Not 高飞 but 翱翔，I was reminded last night.
So see you around.
