24th Students' Council

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Hurrah! I got into the 24th Students' Council as of today and now will be known as an "elect" until the investiture sometime in August. :) Been working hard for so long, but the road is still far and difficult to travese. Nonetheless, I am determined to make it to the top. Wish me the best guys!

Sadly, my two team mates didn't get in. Heartfelt thanks go to them for working together so hard to make the team what it is today. All the best in your future endeavour guys...

1 week since my last post...and the Elementz Science Conference in AJC is here

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Greetings earthlings from the 3rd planet of the sun!

After battling the nefarious insinuations provoked by Mr. Knightler (a.ka. Nigel ), he finally surrendered and gave way to the lights of leroy :D. Just Joking...

The last week surely has been tough for me. Now, I am in the AJC Students' Council is a Council Nominee, but it surely is not easy maintaining the life between school work and academic study. The year is young but i feel like a war torn veteran after battling a hard day. Mentally, I am exhausted and I am almost on the brink on giving up, something which I have never experienced before. However, this is not the time to lose myself. Each time my spirit falters, I am constantly reminded of the resilience imbued within me through my long years of experience and the constant onslaught of the fear of getting learned helplessness. (Something I will teach you councillors at Sembawang )

Oh God my lord, give me the faith that I need within me
for all the fear that I shall encounter,
give me hope, spirit and resilience to battle them head on,
till the end of the day, when only the clouds of the heavens,
will reign in the almighty sky.

Saw Si Ying, Cai Ning, Tricia, and errr...dont know who, got a lot of them in AJC. My beloved alma mater students clustered together like a colony of ants vying for the prize of the gold award in the Elementz Science Conference. I wish them all the best in their presentations and hopefully they can do our school proud. Nonetheless, the project work in which they have been through is certainly an experience well worth it.

Review of today…or was it yesterday ( here today…gone tomorrow )

posted by Justin D. Pereira

It was a great day on Monday. Firstly I got the news of me being shortlisted for the AJC scholarship and will be going for the final round of interviews on Tuesday afternoon. Hopefully, all goes well. Even if I don't get it, it does not matter, as I know I have tried. Beats not trying, right ? After this breaking news, I attended the Resilience Workshop conducted by Dr. Teo Yew Chun ( I hope I spelt his name correctly ). He was an inspiration. Not only was he a psychologist ( one of my dream professions after a teacher ), he also imparted many life skills and values to the cohort he was sharing his session with.

The one amazing thing I learned about the human mind today was, Learned helplessness, the state of mind where it does not want to accomplish the task as the bearer believes it is futile doing so. It usually follows after failure where the motivational level will sink so low until it is difficult to pick itself up again, then comes this syndrome, followed by clinical depression if negativity sets in for about 3 weeks or more. Hence, clinical depression is a very serious problem as it may lead one to feel suicidal or even attempt self-mutilation.

He also brought light to us the 8 common mistakes which we usually do and cause ourselves to be trapped in the situation.

1. Jumping to conclusions : Settling on a belief when there is no evidence
   
2. Tunnel Vision : Focusing on just the minute part of things and not the big picture
   
3. Overgeneralizing : Taking a problem beyond its context
   
4. Magnifying and Minimizing : a person minimizes his good points but magnifies his flaws making him feel depressed
   
5. Personalizing : blaming yourself
   
6. Externalizing : Blaming others
   
7. Mind reading : assumption
   
8. Emotional Reasoning : Getting a reasoning from an emotional state of mind.
   

Very inspired by his talk, and hopefully can get this motivational speaker to allow me to share his notes and session with my secondary school students and to do something for the community.

Sembawang Secondary Achievement Day 2007

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Getting the high achievers award from the Guest-of-honour.
( The word "achievers" on the trophy was spelt wrongly, it turned out "achevers"...hmmm )

Part of the crew who received top in subjects for 2006 prelims

Me waiting anxiously for my award as the citiation is read out.

Me getting the outstanding student award from the 3P HR manager.

4E1 last of the photos

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Strange...since when did Nigel and Leroy start taking photos like long term buddies..hehe....

This is crazy..squeezing into 1 lift record....

4E1 Class Outing Photos 3

posted by Justin D. Pereira

4E1 Class Outing Photos 2

posted by Justin D. Pereira

4E1 Outing Photo Post 1

posted by Justin D. Pereira

CG G1 meeting at Burger King @ Raffles City Shopping Center @ City Hall

posted by Justin D. Pereira

The cool gang of CG G1 , Zheng Yang, Shurlene, Jasmine, and me...
All unique people with great personalities and interesting qualities yet to be discovered.

The future is bright for us...
Vote for CG G1

photos of 4E1 Class gathering

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Sorry if the picture did not appear in the previous post, these are the photos i meant to upload. Will publish more as i get them. :)

Aftermath of 4E1 Class Gathering….

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Quite glad to say that I am delighted at the turnout for the class gathering, with over 20 people! Still not everyone went for the thriller movie, The Reaping. Although I still say it is the sadist nature of humans who pay to scare themselves in a dark, enclosed room. Wonder what is that hormone that pumps all around to keep you seeking for more thrillers…? Had dinner at the Banquet and I can say that the food there, although good, was too expensive for a food court. Of course, the environment was good, but perhaps the quantity of food itself could keep up to its prices…hmmm?

Anthony and Jie Ying ( the rare times he smiled for a camera )

The greatest emotion of all : love…

posted by Justin D. Pereira

In a person's life, a whirlpool of emotions which are complex and tremendous are apparent almost every single day. It is easy to understand the anger that resides in you because you dislike an action with such disgust or even become terrified when something scares you. However, the one true emotion of any person in this humane world is the ability to love. The simple love between a mother and child resonates waves of tenderness, endearment and kindness. The love between strangers unknown emit amicability and friendly relations. It is love as an emotion and feeling that is able to touch another's heart, and it is because of love there comes passion and a warmth indescribable.

However, how many of us have felt this true pure love from another person without the fear of backstabbing, hatred or future complications? The world has become such a busy place where no one can stop and smell the rose to think for and help one another out of pure kindness. Many examples in the world today are idealistic and many of them materialistic. What can we say has become of humanity ? Perhaps it is time and never too late, to stop and think of what we are truly missing out in life because there are many things out there which require the strength of love to reach. Dear Mankind, let us all take a break from our hectic lives, and for just a minute a day, reach in to your heart…

Review of Sembawang Secondary Achievement Day 2007

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Hi Guys!! I'm back and my arms are aching with the three trophies of Outstanding Student Award 2006 ( 1 colossal crystal trophy ), High Achievers in O Level ( 1 small sized trophy ) and Top Performances in English, Literature and Physics ( 1 medium sized trophy ).

The whole event was not too bad although much could have been done. But I have gotten rave reviews of the catering from friends and parents alike. This year's food was very good! The parade segment was removed and it was such a sad affair especially since it is one of the highlights of the event in the past.

It was nice seeing all of you again and you guys really made me feel at home in Sembawang. However things change and people have to move along, so all the best everyone wherever you are!

AJC Students’ Council Life, passion, soul

posted by Justin D. Pereira

Yeah, I have been shortlisted to be in the Students' Council of AJC. Hopefully things will go well and I will become a councillor to serve the school as well as lead the school. Life has been very hectic as of late. Tuesday's council meeting was from 6.30 to 8.30. Damn good meeting, and the first time I have stayed in AJC till so late J. Haha.

Councillor life is certainly very different as now we are embarking on campaigning to get ourselves voted in, and I must say the councillors which I have encountered of late are very pro active and strong willed. Different from what I had experienced in sembawang secondary. Still these challenges are getting me all hyped up, and hopefully I can last till the end of my jc life. All the best everyone!

4E1 Class Outing

posted by Justin D. Pereira

This is the update for the class outing this saturday ( 7th April 2007 ) for 4E1 punks of Sembawang 2006.

We will meet at six pm @ BreadTalk Causeway point. Events for the day is :

have dinner at Banquet Food Centre ( the one in front of the cinema )
after which we will catch a movie ( mr bean perhaps ??? )

Expected budget : $20.00 Each

Benny and I are hoping that everyone makes it for this gathering as it may be a long time before we all see each other again as now we are all going to different areas of our life.

So cheers :)