My Secondary School Life

I have been with this class since secondary three and it was one of the best classes I've ever been in. That day was our graduation day and I can still vividly remember what I had been through during that 'O' level period. We had to study until 6pm every day as part of our school curriculum for 'O' level students and we could barely get any rest each day apart from the weekends. The school had set aside just one day for us to relieve our stress and enjoy the remaining time we have left as a class as graduating meant that we would have to split up and proceed to our respective education pathways in the future. It was the last day of school curriculum before the 'O' levels started and we did nothing but spend time with one another, reminiscing about the fun times we've been through since Secondary 3.

My Co-Curricular Activity

How could we talk about secondary school life without mentioning CCAs? As a kid, I've always wondered how army parades work and have since developed a sense of curiosity for this field. Thus, I ended up in the co-curricular activity "National Cadet Corps", which functions similarly to the Singapore Armed Forces. Whenever my relatives ask me about my CCA, at the mention of 'NCC', most of them are appalled. The reason being, as men, we have to serve our mandatory military service for 2 years and being in this particular CCA makes it seem like there are 4 extra years of national service. At such a young age and twice every week, we have to go through such gruelling training and don the army uniform just like any other National Servicemen. This really makes people wonder, why would anyone pick such a co-curricular activity when there are other "normal" options such as soccer and basketball? Personally, after going through these 4 years of torture and suffering, I can't say I've not learnt a thing from this CCA. Not only have I grown strong physically, being able to achieve NAPFA Gold for 2 years straight after a streak of bronze in Primary School, but also, mentally. This CCA has taught me endurance and as my mentor always quotes "Tough times don't last, only tough men do". Although many of my friends have left this CCA due to how tiring it can get, up til' this day, I've never regretted my decision of joining this CCA and never will.

Precision Drill Squad

In our NCC trainings, we are taught Precision Drill Squad (PDS), a form of exhibition drill mainly practised by the Singapore Armed Forces Military Police Command. Since Secondary 1, we had to practise these drills with dummy Mk. 4 rifles made from fibre glass which could weigh between 1kg to around 5kg. As a 12 year old, this was incredibly tiring considering how we had to hold up these heavy rifles during drills and a slight movement would mean punishment for us. Within these 2 years, we had to master 21 basic drills and 7 advanced drills as there would be tests on these drills. These 2 years went past quickly and by the third year, I was selected to be part of the performance team for PDS. We had the honour of being invited to perform on the Singapore navy’s RSS Endurance and this was indeed a once in a lifetime experience. It was truly a moment I could not forget and it was also a place to show the effort and hard work we have put into this performance. We had trained non-stop for more than 6 months, twice weekly during CCA and quite a number of vacation days were taken up to practise the choreography. Being a part of NCC enriched my life in many different ways and gave me countless of memories to look back on.