Updates!

  Yes, I know. It's been ages since my last post. I'll have to say this: I had absolutely NO IDEA what to post about until now. Also, I've been very busy. Today, I'm just going to focus on two topics: the John Baty-Raffles Debate Academy workshop that I just participated along with some of the homeschoolers the previous week, and something else you'll find out as you read along.

  Firstly, let's concentrate on the debate workshop. It was held at RI/RJC, and I have to say, that place is humongous! We had a bit of trouble finding our way around on the first day, but directional signs pointed us in the right direction (thankfully). The instructor was a Canadian guy named John Baty (surprise surprise) and he's quite a funny guy.

  I had a great experience at the camp (namely getting to know school people from different schools, learning stuff about debate, etc). Surprisingly, the lunch food was much better than expected. We even had different food everyday! After all, what do you expect from Raffles? :P

  After all the teaching and learning, we all had to put that into practice. So we had debate rounds on the last day, which was on a Friday. Least to say, my teammates were fantastic and although we did not win all the rounds, we still managed to get something out of it. If I had the opportunity to go for a similar debate workshop, I would pounce for the opportunity!

  However, life is not all sweet and happy. Bad things happen too. Recently, my cell member's aunt died. I could tell he was quite devastated (apparently, he had been close to her). As I comforted him at church on Saturday, I realized that I understood his pain. I realized how similarly I reacted when my cousin passed away. Although we are good friends, I've never felt closer to him before this.

  This whole incident also showed me how a cell should be like. My cell rallied around my friend, prayed, and comforted him. We supported him emotional and spiritually. This was something I have rarely seen and this has convinced me that my cell is progressing forward.

  Coincidentally, I found my late cousin's blog last week too (finally!). All this while, I thought I was close to my cousin. (I even switched clubs from Chelsea to Manchester United because of her.) However, reading her blog made me reconsider. I didn't even know all those things were going on in her life, and I didn't go and find out. Lesson learnt: loving your loved ones goes beyond just treasuring them.

  That's all I have to say today. I don't mean to be morbid but that was the lesson I learnt this past week. I hope I have more so I can post more often! :P