On that fateful day, I woke up as usual in the morning, did the routine stuff like changing into my uniform, eating my breakfast and going to the lobby to wait for the school bus to arrive. As usual, I arrived at school at around 7.00 a.m and climbed 4 stories of stairs to get to class. Upon climbing the 3rd flight of stairs, I heard screaming and yelling from 2 stories above me. No doubt that was from my class, and I rolled my eyes. Typical classmates.
When I first entered the classroom, chairs were all over the floor and tables were overturned. The neatness of the classroom from when I last saw yesterday was now replaced by chaos. My table and chair were even gone and I had to keep bending down and looking under tables to search for my books that will then identify my table. I found my table and took a random chair and sat down heavily, taking off my bag simultaneously. I joined another classmate in playing his iphone and in the blink of an eye, 20 minutes passed. We were actually late for flag raising!
As a facility secretary, I had to be the last to leave the class so that I will be sure that the door is locked. We had two more minutes before flag raising starts and we dashed all the way down the corridor. I was born with epilepsy, and if you didn’t know, epilepsy can cause a person to faint anytime, anywhere, and there will be absolutely no warnings. I suppose I had a seizure, as the next time I woke up, I was on a stretcher, heading into the ambulance and there was a sharp pain in my head. My vision was blurry, and all around me were voices but they seemed like whispers to me, none of them making any sense. The next moment, I blacked out again. I woke up in the hospital, and the first thing I saw were my parents seating next to me, their faces full of concern. The usual sensation came to me, the sharp aching in my head. The last time I had a seizure was almost three years ago and I had thought that I had finally gotten rid of this “old friend” of mine. Who knew that he would visit me once again, just when I thought that I could live like a normal kid again……….
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Life in Hospital
I just had an epileptic fit and was hospitalized. The first thing that came to me when I woke up was a sharp aching in my head, threatening to overwhelm me. I struggled to sit up but my arms just gave way when I applied effort. I was bombarded with questions from my parents, asking how I was and whether I felt alright. I nodded my head, as that was all I could do and that mere movement brought a fresh wave of pain crashing into my head. My eyes was swollen and I tried opening it but to no avail. Gingerly, I touched it, expecting another wave of pain but none came. It was a bulge, and I could only open my right eye. Eventually, after one or two hours, I was able to sit up and talk.
A doctor came by and asked many questions that seemed like common sense to me. I answered the first few, but as she asked more and more, I got irritated. I thought that patients need to rest when they first recovered and here was this doctor that was preventing me from resting. Can’t she wait till the next day or so? I had no choice to answer but that did not stop me from giving her irritated replies and so, whenever she asked a question, I did not really try and think but just gave her an answer that first came to my mind, followed by a hint of irritation. They gave me some food to eat but the just the sight of it made me lose my appetite. The looks were bad, but the taste was worse. Within my first bite, I decided that I would rather starve than eat that “thing” that they gave us. I asked my parents if I could not eat the rubbery food and eat something else. They tasted it and said that it was horrible too and offered to buy fish ball soup for me. Nodding eagerly, as anything was better that the rubbery food, they bustled off.
This continued for one day and I can assure you life in hospital is torturous. All you can do in hospital is sleep, eat, talk, go to the toilet, sleep. Time seemed to go very slowly in the hospital and I could only hope for the day to end, and that maybe the next day I would be able to get out of this torturous place. My movements were greatly hampered and I had to have my parents support me so that I could walk. I couldn’t even bathe myself and I felt very useless then. A drip was connected to my hand and whenever I accidentally brush against something, my hand will hurt as the drip will be pulled.
On the second day I was in the hospital, my teachers and classmates even came to visit me, and my consortium director even gave me a comic book to keep me occupied in hospital. That book was humorous and at least helped to take up some time. Hours flashed by and the cycled repeated once again. By then, the swell in my eyes were gone but they was still a distinct blue-black on my eye. My headache had also reduced but my forehead felt soft, as if there were water inside.
Finally, on the third day, I was released and was able to get rid of the overpowering smell of medicine in my nose and couldn’t wait to get back home. Now that I had experienced life in a hospital, I can assure you, it is definitely horrible.
A doctor came by and asked many questions that seemed like common sense to me. I answered the first few, but as she asked more and more, I got irritated. I thought that patients need to rest when they first recovered and here was this doctor that was preventing me from resting. Can’t she wait till the next day or so? I had no choice to answer but that did not stop me from giving her irritated replies and so, whenever she asked a question, I did not really try and think but just gave her an answer that first came to my mind, followed by a hint of irritation. They gave me some food to eat but the just the sight of it made me lose my appetite. The looks were bad, but the taste was worse. Within my first bite, I decided that I would rather starve than eat that “thing” that they gave us. I asked my parents if I could not eat the rubbery food and eat something else. They tasted it and said that it was horrible too and offered to buy fish ball soup for me. Nodding eagerly, as anything was better that the rubbery food, they bustled off.
This continued for one day and I can assure you life in hospital is torturous. All you can do in hospital is sleep, eat, talk, go to the toilet, sleep. Time seemed to go very slowly in the hospital and I could only hope for the day to end, and that maybe the next day I would be able to get out of this torturous place. My movements were greatly hampered and I had to have my parents support me so that I could walk. I couldn’t even bathe myself and I felt very useless then. A drip was connected to my hand and whenever I accidentally brush against something, my hand will hurt as the drip will be pulled.
On the second day I was in the hospital, my teachers and classmates even came to visit me, and my consortium director even gave me a comic book to keep me occupied in hospital. That book was humorous and at least helped to take up some time. Hours flashed by and the cycled repeated once again. By then, the swell in my eyes were gone but they was still a distinct blue-black on my eye. My headache had also reduced but my forehead felt soft, as if there were water inside.
Finally, on the third day, I was released and was able to get rid of the overpowering smell of medicine in my nose and couldn’t wait to get back home. Now that I had experienced life in a hospital, I can assure you, it is definitely horrible.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Engish E-Learning Task 2
Point of view
The poet is trying to tell people that even young children are used as soldiers and are taught to fight at such tender age. This can be seen from "Who someone will teach to fight" and "Or will a war consume them". He is upset about the fact that children are not given the chance to do what a normal child should be doing. They were stripped of their freedom and forced to go on the battlefield. This can be seen from "And these children are not free" and "Could we give them half a chance". The phrase “from this life they cannot flee” and “and these children are not free”, shows that the poet thinks that once they were born, the children already had their path of life set for them. They were born to fight and they could never flee from their fate. “Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole” shows that the poet thinks that war is bloody and the number of live lost is countless. The poet is also trying to express that the amount of blood spilled on the battlefield is like a monster that is always thirsty for more and more blood.”
Situation and setting
The situation is that children are being forced to go onto the battlefield to die for their country although there is very little chance of them helping to kill anybody.The poet expresses war as something that is very bloody and cruel and something that should be feared by everybody. This can be seen from “Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole”
Language and diction
The poet uses personification like “blood”, “consume”, “darkness” to express the cruelty of war. All of the words used are related to fear, death and despair. The word “darkness” represents the despair in the hearts of the children when they were sent onto the battlefield to die while the word “consume” represents the overwhelming sense that death would soon befall their frail bodies, blotting out everything. Repetition of the word “could we” is used to emphasize on the hope that the children could be free and lead the life of a normal child.
Personal response
I feel very sorry for the children that had been forced to die on the battlefield. They did not have the chance to go to school and lead the normal life of a child. This poem makes me feel very fortunate that our country is at peace and that I was not forced to fight and die at such a young age.
The poet is trying to tell people that even young children are used as soldiers and are taught to fight at such tender age. This can be seen from "Who someone will teach to fight" and "Or will a war consume them". He is upset about the fact that children are not given the chance to do what a normal child should be doing. They were stripped of their freedom and forced to go on the battlefield. This can be seen from "And these children are not free" and "Could we give them half a chance". The phrase “from this life they cannot flee” and “and these children are not free”, shows that the poet thinks that once they were born, the children already had their path of life set for them. They were born to fight and they could never flee from their fate. “Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole” shows that the poet thinks that war is bloody and the number of live lost is countless. The poet is also trying to express that the amount of blood spilled on the battlefield is like a monster that is always thirsty for more and more blood.”
Situation and setting
The situation is that children are being forced to go onto the battlefield to die for their country although there is very little chance of them helping to kill anybody.The poet expresses war as something that is very bloody and cruel and something that should be feared by everybody. This can be seen from “Will their life and blood be poured Down some endless thirsty hole”
Language and diction
The poet uses personification like “blood”, “consume”, “darkness” to express the cruelty of war. All of the words used are related to fear, death and despair. The word “darkness” represents the despair in the hearts of the children when they were sent onto the battlefield to die while the word “consume” represents the overwhelming sense that death would soon befall their frail bodies, blotting out everything. Repetition of the word “could we” is used to emphasize on the hope that the children could be free and lead the life of a normal child.
Personal response
I feel very sorry for the children that had been forced to die on the battlefield. They did not have the chance to go to school and lead the normal life of a child. This poem makes me feel very fortunate that our country is at peace and that I was not forced to fight and die at such a young age.
English E-learning task 1
The author of this poem is Henry M Bechtold. This poem was written in 2010 when the author was sitting in his hotel room in Saigon. He was trying to write a poem about the girls who work in the park and how badly men treat them. He was angry but was unable to write anything that did not sound trite or weak. He looked at the TV and the news was on. He saw a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle and thus came the inspiration to write this poem.
This poem is trying to express the unfairness of life as even young children had to be forced to go to war and die for their country. This poem also describes the lack of freedom the children had as they were not given the chance to lead the life of a normal child do things that a normal child would do, like schooling, dancing, reading. Henry M Bechtold also uses this poem to express the cruelty of war and the amount of bloodshed in war. The children had to go through all the suffering and pain before they can finally die peacefully
Resources
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Children_
This poem is trying to express the unfairness of life as even young children had to be forced to go to war and die for their country. This poem also describes the lack of freedom the children had as they were not given the chance to lead the life of a normal child do things that a normal child would do, like schooling, dancing, reading. Henry M Bechtold also uses this poem to express the cruelty of war and the amount of bloodshed in war. The children had to go through all the suffering and pain before they can finally die peacefully
Resources
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Children_
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Music Appreciation
Ever since the Silver Lining concert i've been "spamming" Summer solo part and it's almost killing me already.. Feeling very stressed from the upcoming Grade 8 exam but also have a very strong sense of boredom. The songs we can play for Grade 8 is very limited and i have to practice that three songs everyday and i can't even play the songs i like so i want to get this exam over with as soon as possible.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
A new start
Well, Secondary 1 had just passed in a blink of an eye and here i am, back in Hwa Chong as a Sec 2 student. New Sec 1 students will be entering Hwa Chong and going to what i just went through last year and as a senior our responsibility as increased. The first year had been "epic fail" as most people say and i'm going to let others see a big change in me though i'm still not very confident in myself. Life in Hwa Chong is just work work work, after Term 1's test, work for term 2 and so on. But after all, the result is always the best part. You work hard and feel happy for yourself and that's the most important part. Making yourself happy and not your parent. The future is yours and wheter you want a successful journey to JC, it's all up to you, not your parents
My Experience as a Sec 1 student
This is going to be the last blog of my year and i am going to relate the experience of my Secondary 1 life in Hwa Chong Institution. I started out not knowing any of my classmates, a total stranger to this school. I had felt lost when i first stepped into the gates of this school, uncertain of what was going to befall me. Then, after three days or so, I started to adapt to this life. I was told that this is different from my primary school and there won't be a big, major exam but instead, many little yet important tests. The following is a recall of how i faired for my tests.
At the start of the term, i took every thing easily as i couldn't adapt to the life in Hwa Chong and in primary school, I could easily top the school but in Hwa Chong, it was different. My Term 1 test was a total failure, and everything just went wrong. In Term 2, i had some encouragement and i decided to work for it and then, my results improve. Yet, Term 3 was another disappointment and i partically flung the test. As always, I just tought that there wil always be more time to study, I have already studied alot and wanted to take a break, etc. After this, I worked very hard for my final - year examinations but it was still a disappointment and still scored poorly. I was not too sad as i knew that i had tried, just that i studied for the exam abit too late. I just hope that i will be able to work harder and score better for Secondary 2 and not disappointment me or my parents anymore.
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