迷路了吗？: St John

//St John//

I love squadmates (:
squadmates will never leave one another in the lurch whenever someone needs a helping hand.
squadmates are people who will stop with you if you fall.
squadmates are violently protective over you if someone tries to bully you.
squadmates become your mouthpiece if you are too drained to talk.
squadmates know what's on your mind without asking the obvious.
- Wong XinYi

So true...I've wanted to post this entry since the zone com...but have been quite preoccupied with other stuff...

Zone com was fun...cause unlike previous years where I'm either too bored to care (sec 1 and 2)...too nervous to have fun (sec 3 participating in the com itself)...or too critical about the com team's performance to enjoy myself (sec 4)....

But this time it's different...I really had fun laming around with the squad...I reached there around 5+ and given HQ and the zone's efficiency, of course the competition haven't ended, in fact it's far from being over...but it just feels good to be around with the squad...

After the zone com, the game TnT (truth and truth) we played at the concourse after our usual BK dinner was pretty "interesting" too...I don't think I would be comfortable enough to do the same with anyone else...lol...

The stayover at Kenneth's house on Thur was fun too....though we didn't talk much...but it didn't feel awkward at all...let's look at it this way...you are in the car with your family...you guys were not talking...but it doesn't feel awkward does it? I guess it's the same thing here...everyone is being real...and no one is being pretentious...and the fact is we can't be talking non stop all the time...

I remember last time I used to always get a free ride to Hougang on yc's dad's car...when we have stuff to talk about...we can't just keep talking...from the squad affairs to the happenings in our respective class....but there are times when we have absolutely nothing to talk about...that I would sleep the whole way or just stone...but there wasn't any awkward silence at all...

I really think SJAB defines my life in secondary school...forget about the class...forget about the academics...forget about the projects..the MRP....the only thing I might possibly remember about my secondary school life when I'm dying is probably SJAB...

And the funny thing is I dread every single training last time...I HATED the camps...I hated footdrills....I hated memorising the first aid manual...i hated the PTs...but I still love the squad (aww..so mushy)...I guess that's sort of what's pushing me to come training every week...I hardly pon any trainings...never pon any camps...I guess my dislike for those stuff we do makes my life in SJAB more memorable cause I'm sure most of my squad mates don't like doing those stuff too...but we went through it together anyway...

I will never forget all crazy stuff...the chao fan....the Poncho daytona...the running 12 rounds around the track in sjab uniform at 2pm in the afternoon....the comical st john song composed by minghao and irvin (if i am not wrong)....how terence, mw, yc and i would meet most of the time during recess in sec 1 n 2 and crap...esp when camp is coming we would discuss ideas how to get sick before the camp...so that we can pon it...lol...

Going from sec 1 and 2 to sec 3 was very different...joining the competition stretched me a lot in terms of technical stuff...footdrill...TOC...first aid...I remembered the zone com....we didn't perform up to standard...but we still won but it wasn't the same for the other team...it was a pretty sad day....if I remember correctly...4th April 2004...full of "4s"...the walk to Suntec from HQ is especially long...

National Comp was pressurising...lots were expected from us...my confidence level is a all time low after doing the footdrill...which was so badly screwed up...short case causes my confidence level to sink even lower...I mean I coudn't even diagnose hyperventilation at that time properly! TOC was shocking totally...transportation of casualty of the whole route without stretcher was a first for us...so 3 blows in a row....how to win like that? Then we went out and ace the last long case (which takes up 200 marks..which is half the total score)....that one long case is the one single best case I did for me...I'm totally fluent...no er er ar ar....CPR was pretty much the best I've done...I remembered to do all the stuff like check response etc....and we were fast! I must do say that's a easy case...but we've screwed up countless easy case too...

But at that point after finishing the whole competition, I didn't hold out much hopes...cause we've done too badly in the previous 3 items...and the time before announcement of results...it keeps occuring to me that after months and months of training...all the efforts are wasted...

Announcement of results...we did not win a single category...Best Footdrill, Best TOC, Best Short case, Best Long case, Best Leader...not a single one...hopes of getting into the top 3 was super super low....I mean at that time, we thought even if we can't win top 3, at least win a Best Something in one of the category...so when all the "Best Something" category was announced...I sinked into depression...the NCOs expected at least a Best Footdrill from us...and we didn't get it....and chances of top 3 seems impossible at that time since we didn't get the highest or top 2 in any categories...so I was starting to feel very depressed...

But just at that brief moment...they began to announce the top 3....starting with third...and when they announced "AA2" my brain stoned for a moment...I heard cheers from the spectators...my mind sort of blanked out at that moment...and after that moment, I couldn't stop grinning...It was like a roller coaster in that few seconds...it went from the Great Rfit Valley to Mt Everest in a matter of seconds...

To this day, it still makes me smile looking at the scores at that time...especially long case...we missed out the "Runner Up for Best long case" by a mere 0.7 marks, and we would have gotten it if not for my minor glitch in CPR...I got 39.5 marks....Best CPR was 44, second and third were both 40 and I got 39.5...so if I did not have that minor glitch...we would have gotten 1 more mark...and we would have gotten Runner up for long case...

NCO life isn't especially that enjoyable...I rmb lots of negative stuff...some arguments with the squad...lots of pressure from the teachers...and pressure from the expectations...tt we must maintain at least a third in national com...a gold in caa...but it stretched me in lots of ways too...

The proudest moment as a NCO I guessed...was when the com team got the National Champs in the National Competition...with them sweeping the best footdrill, best short case and best leader. I felt that I manage to contribute a bit to their win...I manage to pass on what I've learnt to the next batch of NCOs...although the sucess is still mainly theirs cause they must rise to the ocassion too...

St John has pushed me to do lots of stuff that I never thought I would and could do...I mean the only friends I ever quarelled with are all from St John...first time with yc in sec 1 over some coins kena stuck in arcade machine kind of lame shit.....then with jeremy over so many stuff...and with terence over lots of stuff too....

We never had the toughest training...or the most sadist punishment compared to other CCA like NCC....but for me...SJAB has left a real deep impact on me...I've made a few really close friends in SJAB...and a whole bunch of great friends...there are so much I wanna say....that I don't even know where to begin or end...I don't think I would ever get the same experience from my cca in JC now...may the squad spirit lives on!!!

*seriously..some of the stuff that i've typed are very mushy i thought...but when it comes to this subject...I'm really at a loss of words...and this is the best I could do to express myself...

Here are some photos from the sec 1 Dec St John camp...

Lol...such lousy pumping....

OMG! Rui Yang is flying!

Terence Heng, your basic TOC SUCKS!

Minghao, why was your shirt tucked in? Kai Herng, you were short and fat! Lol...Sheng jia!! Lol..haven see you for so long..and the first pic I saw of you is when you were sec 1...and the scary thing is I think I still look the same! except I'm fatter now...