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Take15: My Epic Competition Experience

Wow. What a week. Hooo. Gosh.

So, how were the holidays? Cool, I hope.
My highlight of the holidays was the Spex Junior Age group tournament that I joined during that  short week of free time. It was a great experience for me and well, guess I oughta share it with you. (Match rules were best of 3 six game sets.)

Match Day 1

Yeah, naturally, the nerves start building up. Before the match was a total mental game. I could either go in with that 'nothing-to-lose' mentality or try and play aggressively. I counted myself pretty lucky for being able to sleep well the night before! Anyway, I managed to find out who my opponent was a few minutes before match time. So I decided, hey, starting a conversation to calm the nerves isn't a bad idea. This Daniel Hoong dude might be a really outstanding player so I guess if I go down the embarrassment wouldn't be that horrible. Turns out he is a player for Victoria Secondary, and I had mixed feelings upon hearing this news. This match wasn't too exciting actually, I managed to plough my way through to a 6-0, 6-0 victory. Between breaks I started conversations with him (Yes, people say I am friendly :D) and found out that this was his first competitive experience in the field of tennis. So I gave him some pointers and wished him all the best for his next attempt. Never hurts to make a friend.

Match Day 2

I'm still pretty amazed with myself for this game. Easily my biggest achievement of the term. My 2nd round match lasted nearly 7 hours long, from 2.15 pm to 8.30 pm. Now I know how those who pulled of awesome comebacks before feel. 

So, back to the match. Anyway, I felt pretty disheartened when we started warming-up; my opponent was a league in standard above me! So, when the call to start the game was made, I just went into the game with a smile, because I knew going at this match with an optimistic attitude was better than trying to get it over with. The first set was up in about 50 minutes and I manage to take it 6-4. Well, he's no immortal. but this is where I began to slip up. I guess I lost my focus in the 2nd set and had the wrong mind-set. To be honest, I felt one set was enough for me. so it was about 4 o'clock when I was 1-4 down. Bent forward to grab some balls for my service and a drop of water appeared on my hand. Followed by another. And another. This couldn't be my sweat. The dark clouds were up there for quite a while now and I figured it was gonna pour somehow. So the match was postponed until 6.00 o'clock (for those who actually thought I had played for 7 hours straight, you flatter me!). To be honest, I really had to thank God that I had this two hours. I used it to reflect on my attitude (cliched, yes I know). I could finsh this. I steeled myself for a long battle ahead. As Leonidas of the heavy dramatized movie 300 said, 'Tonight, we dine in hell!'

Once the courts were dry and the rain decided to end its run, play resumed. I eventually lost the 2nd set 4-6.

Not the kind of impact I was hoping for. But any way I just wanted to try my best for the 3rd set. Apparently, so did my opponent. I found myself in a rather sticky situation hours into the 3rd set- I was already 2-5 down. For those who know tennis, a six game set would mean the one with 5 games at that moment would just need to win one game to wrap the match up(unless it is 5-5). That meant I was in monumental trouble. But after that it's funny though. My opponent had 7 match points in his hands at one point but I fought back. Yes, nearly defeated, but I fought back. "The score is 5-5 right?" My mouth tasted a tinge of satisfaction as I clarified the score with my opponent. I came back. Brimming with joy. Later on, my opponent won the next game to bring it to 5-6. I won the next game and this brought the score in the match currently to 6-4, 4-6, 6-6. this meant that what came next was a tie-break. Played by numerical points, the first one to reach 7 points wins the tie-break. 

1-0.

2-0

3-0.

This is bad.

3-1. (My opponent's racquet snaps at this point)

4-1.

4-2.

4-3.

5-3

6-3 

Good Game dude.

6-4.

6-5.

6-6.

6-7.

6-8.

Silence.

You know that feeling? When you're too happy to celebrate? After such a dramatic match, I didn't bother smiling at all, strangely. To be honest, I kinda felt sorry for my opponent. Spent like 5 minutes comforting him. 

But anyway, it was a crazy match and  I took quite a while to take it all in. What an incredible experience. Indescribable. Woohoo.

Match Day 3-4

3rd round, and I got a walk-over, to my delight. My opponent was actually from our tennis team too. Thaa-ank you Council Leadership Camp!

4th round, crashed out 0-6, 0-6. Hey I played against a first team singles from Raffles. Nothing to say!

But in the end I'm sure this will be a life changing experience for me. So do you all have any interesting, life-changing experiences? Share in the comments below

"It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see through it no matter what."

 Note to self: Stop quoting TKaM.

So the following is my interview with my mother about her point of view on prejudice and discrimination.

Me
Okay, so Mum today I'm here to interview you on your point of view towards prejudice and discrimination.
So first of all, what is prejudice to you?

Mum:
Prejudice refers to opinions and attitudes formed by individuals over others. Prejudice is very often hostile and unfavorable. Examples are racial discrimination, like what you are studying now in To Kill A Mockingbird, and racial discrimination.

Me:
So do you have any personal experiences of prejudice?

Mum:
Once, I remember vividly, it was in Australia. We were on a holiday there many years ago. Australia then was experiencing of Chinese immigrant who were making a good living there. While walking along one of the streets, we saw a few youngsters who shouted hostilities at us. They were telling us to go home. I felt angry and upset. Then, I hated them. That left a very bad impression of Australia on me. From then on, I told myself that I will not migrate to any other countries of other nationalities as I do not want to be treated as second class citizens there.

Me:
So how do you think prejudice can be stopped?

Mum:
I feel prejudice can be eliminated or overcome through open-mindedness, understanding, education and interaction with groups or individuals targeted for discrimination. It is not impossible, and we can follow the examples of great individuals such as Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela, who abolished slavery and brought an end to the apartheid policy respectively.
What's most important is self. Always, before you start pointing your fingers at others, look at yourself. We all hold prejudices in one way or another, in some places. Firstly, how we respond to and handle our prejudices make a difference. Secondly, it's all a matter of perception.

Me:
Thank You. That's about it.

(This was uploaded late as blogger had some technical difficulty)

Take13: Music Smart

So this is my poem for the Trail of Tom Robinson:

How Absurd!

"Rape!" Screamed Mayella, during her trial in court.

But Atticus knew Tom wasn't that sort.

So he took up the case, though he knew it was a lost cause.

But still we have to give his courage a heart-warming applause.

His brains started working,

and his mouth started shooting,

And soon he had filthy Bob in a spot.

Soon the people realised,

that Tom was the victimised

But the jury decided, "I think not!"

So there went poor old Tom,

He stood no chance.

The rifle let fly

As he took his final glance,

At the horrible world he lived in.

Well if I had to share my thoughts with you,

Boo was the luckier of the two,

And in the end I'd say, "How absurd!"

"They've dared to killed a mockingbird!"

Jotted down during breakfast :) Hope you enjoy it.

Peace Out, Jong.