As a middle schooler, I had lots of fantasies about high school. I imagined that the three years, Year 10 – Year 12, would see me breezing through exams and playing basketball like an NBA star. The rosiest picture of high school was that I would have a beautiful girlfriend by my side, like they do in coming-of-age sitcoms.

My high school experience kicked off on August 23, 2016. At first, I was far from a studious student. Procrastination was my style. Being late for class in the morning was part of my routine. Homework was often put off until the last minute. Worse still, I often slept in class. My class director, Miss Mo, more than once, scolded me for breaching the code of conduct, but I did not give a damn about it. At the beginning of the term when I saw the upperclassmen running to the canteen at mealtimes, I thought it was ludicrous. I never expected I would join the ranks someday.

In the second term, all the classes were broken up. We were streamed into different classes based on our academic orientations and on our grades. A lot of my ex-classmates, to my horror, had outshone me. Some of them even got selected as candidates for the fast-track class, which is reserved for the ‘academically gifted’. I ended up in an average one. I could not believe it. In middle school, they had been way below me. That made a world of difference to me. I started to change.

My efforts have paid off. Now I am much wiser than the dewy-eyed boy who matriculated at YYHS on August 23, 2016. I have set a new goal, and I will be striving for it in the remainder of high school days. The most interesting thing is that I run to the canteen now, three times a day, day in day out, just like other YYHSers.

Time flies like an arrow. In a couple of months, I will be embarking on the last leg of the high school journey. I expect more progress in the last two terms before I sit the big exam. One thing I will no longer be chasing after, though, is a sexy girlfriend by my side.