Pub Date: 22/08/2005 Pub: ST Page: H10
Headline: Up to the individual to find fun in a challenge
Page Heading: Forum
Type: Letter

A STUDENT'S VIEWPOINT

I REFER to the letter 'Long hours in school take toll on students' by Mr Don Goh Ren Jie (ST, Aug 15).
I am currently doing national service and graduated from National Junior College last year.
Apart from offering 4 A-level subjects, General Paper and two S-level papers, I was also a member of the student council, track and field team, and participated in the Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging for Drama in my A-level year.
As a result, I used to leave college well beyond normal school hours.
My friends and I used to joke that there was never a day when we left college when the sun was still up.
No doubt it was tiring, stressful and challenging. But for the record, I never once regretted having to stay back so late and actually enjoyed being in school, participating in various activities and projects.
I guess looking beyond the surface of things, it was the entire experience of school and being among people who shared the same passions and interests that made it all the more enjoyable.
And let me assure you, none of us was 'weak in physical and mental health' as Mr Goh suggests in his letter. In fact, most of us had the 'physical and mental' strength to go for dinner with schoolmates after school.
I feel the issue has a lot to do with individual mentalities. When you develop yourself to find enjoyment and fun in even the most challenging situation, you can truly make it happen for you. Being in school doesn't need to be stereotyped as 'all work and no play'.
All things considered, I think it shouldn't be a question of what the college can or should do, but what students themselves can and should do for themselves to improve their experience in school, just as my friends and I did when we were in college.
Mr Goh mentioned how junior college timetables should be made 'tighter' and not have too much 'free time'. Perhaps I'm the only one who sees the paradox in this.
On one hand, while parents ask for more relaxation and fun for students, they also ask for timetables to be 'tighter' and more hectic. But 'free time', though it may sometimes lead to 'idle chat', does give students a breather between lessons.
In college, my friends and I used to use these free periods to go to the nearby hawker centre or food outlet for lunch and just take a well-deserved break from lectures and tutorials.
By the way, if you think after all this I must have been one of those students who enjoyed life in school and flunked everything, I did reasonably well in my A levels, well enough to land myself in a local university where I look forward to another few years of fun learning.
Hopefully, I'll never have to see the sun when I go home.

Haresh Sivaram