Stories

This week has been a long time coming. With the recent easing of SMMs on April 26, school life, to quote my form teacher, is finally “striking back.” This week alone had many firsts for me personally. For the first time in 2 years, we stood shoulder-to-shoulder, cheering our hearts out during match support, supporting our athletes as they strive to bring glory to the school. For the first time since the pandemic, we could gather in-person as one for our house meetings. For the first time in many months, we finally could assemble at the Raffles Square for morning assembly and watch the fluttering flags being proudly raised in front of the whole school. With most of the social distancing restrictions lifted, one could even think that life has returned back to normal (save for the wearing of face masks). 

Personally, it has been a nostalgic experience. The school cheers, the parade commands, the dribs and drabs of school routines that were all part and parcel of school life pre-pandemic, now feel vaguely yet comfortingly familiar as we restart these routines. Of course, there was a need to “revise” some of these school’s customs after such a long time. When we arrived at the venue for match support early, the prefects re-taught us the whole host of school cheers, leading us in a rousing “warm-up”. During morning assembly, the discipline master had to also revisit the parade commands, many of which have become quite foreign to me. However, once we got the “revision” out of the way, one could almost feel the school spirit springing back to life again. During the hockey match, the excitement during the thrilling match was palpable. Some of my friends cheered their hearts out, so much so that they lost their voices after the match. After our school emerged victorious in the semi-finals, I could almost feel a surge of adrenaline when the school’s “Unite” cheer reverberated throughout the stadium, carrying with it the message of strength and unity of our school. 

As I reflect on the “striking back” of school life, I realised that these moments of us being together as one plays an irreplaceable role in our secondary school experience. For it is only through these moments that our school spirit is best embodied; when we can see our unity in its full strength and glory; when we can learn that only together as one, we can soar to greater heights. With the resumption of more school activities, let us take this opportunity to strengthen our school identity, reinvigorate our school spirit, and cement our unity, together as one.


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