Sri KDU was a great school. It was a great place to grow up in; it was a great place to learn. I spent seven whole years of my life walking down the corridors, writing in these school notebooks, making memories amidst the blue & yellow lockers.
Unlike other schools, we have no graduation ceremony for the seniors. Instead, the last day of school is pretty much “get away with anything” day. In previous years, eggs have been thrown, paint has been splattered, water wars have erupted and flour bombs have been released. However, this year, our batch decided on something a little different.
Instead of the regular ‘harm other schoolmates by throwing random objects at them’, we celebrated Halloween early in school, with everyone dressed up in all sorts of costumes.
There was a Stormtrooper..

There was Batman..

And lo and behold, underneath that Batman mask is the Japanese version of Steve Jobs!

There was Charlie Chaplin..

And Ronald McDonald..

There was a flower girl and a construction worker (complete with donut!)..

And a drunk gypsy too!

There was a sweet fairy..

And Tony Stark..

And a very sombre looking Joker..

Of course, there was the classic bedsheet ghost..

And Minnie Mouse too!

The creativity was amazing!! Almost everyone came dressed as something.

There was Oliver Twist, Scream, Frankenstein, a jester, Captain Jack Sparrow and even Pikachu!
Heck, Yi Hong even came dressed as Spongebob!

It wasn’t just the students having fun though. Even Mr. Pang, my Physics teacher, came dressed in pajamas!

Or maybe he just walked out of bed like that.. :/
Speaking of Mr. Pang, I am so incredibly grateful to him for all his help before & as I was sitting for SPM. Even in the dead of night, he would be there to answer my never-ceasing questions, even for subjects that he didn’t teach me!

I bugged him so much I’m sure he must have somewhat regretted giving me his number.
But the thing about teachers like him are that they want their students to excel – to do well. They go above and beyond the call of duty to do what is not expected of them. He could have told me to see him in school for explanations or dismissed my questions with a ‘check your textbook’ but he patiently answered each and every query I threw his way.
It’s not just Mr. Pang though! My Chemistry teacher (Mr. Sai Mun) answered my questions over Twitter & my Lit teacher (Ms. Lydia) gave us two extra classes for free!
That’s another thing I’ll miss about Sri KDU – the teachers who cared..
But I digress. Back to the last day of school… So, what exactly was I dressed as?
To be honest, till today, I’m still not so sure. I planned the outfit the night before with the intention of being corpse bride, but my overly tanned skin tossed the idea of looking dead & pale out the window. When asked, my answers varied from Spanish princess to vintage bride.
And yes, the scary element was there was well!

Uhm.. Rawr?
The last day of school marked the last day we walked through the corridors as students before sitting for SPM. It was also the day we, as classmates, managed to sit together with Mr. Hew and Mr. Surish for that last day heart-to-heart.
IT WAS SO EMOTIONAL! *sniffles*
When I look back upon my days in this school, I will look back and think fondly of the great memories made with this ridiculous group of people..

I will think of the time spent in class, yelling at Nicholas Teh to please, please, please shut up, or the times spent making fun of Jocelyn and Karandeep, the hours of lessons we all went through half-asleep, the substitute teachers we teased, and the friendships made as we went through all of it together.

I will think of the prefects (especially my amazing juniors and fellow committee members) for the love and care they gave me and for being my family away from home.

With all the gifts from the junior prefects.
As the new year beckons and this chapter of my life closes, I think of high school as the rite of passage I had to walk before becoming the person I am today. I made many mistakes throughout my time there and there were a couple of things I wish I could have done differently, but if I had a chance to do it all over again, I would pass.
My time as a high school student is over. It’s time for me to turn a new page, take out a pen, and start writing the new chapter of my story.

High school was fulfilling. I had so many opportunities and have been so lucky throughout it all. For that, I am eternally grateful to the school, the principal, the teachers, and my peers.
College now beckons, with real responsibilities looming ahead.
I, for one, am looking forward to it.