Today, before we announced the new exco, as I stood on the track and looked upon the team gathered at the spectators' gallery, I felt a wave of.. I-can't-pinpoint-what sweep over me.

Nostalgia..? Was it a mixture of happiness, sadness and longing? Mmhmm. Everyone looked so radiant in the sunset, red and shining with sweat. Hard to imagine that 15months or so have passed.. Well, as they say, time flies when you're in good company..This is the best company I've ever kept. Still something like 7 months left to my JC life (and I'm still hurtling towards A Big Unknown. Nevermind, it's all in His capable hands.), yet I already know with an inexplicable finality that when I look back on these days 10, 20 years down the road, it's these smiling faces I will rememeber most vividly.

Was there an element of pride too? Definitely. We've built this team together, literally with blood, sweat and tears. Oh yes, I will never forget the tears. We've grown so accustomed to each other we're not afraid of displaying our rawest emotions in full view of everyone, safe in the knowledge that there're always ready, outstretched arms to cushion our falls. We've, to put it emphatically, been thru shit together, and look at how we've thrived, look at how we've grown both physically and mentally (and even spiritually)! Just like the little plants I often see growing in between cracks in the wall, pavement, anywhere with the slightest hint of fertile soil.. we've battled the odds. A college environment that dares you to dream, that is our fertile soil. Yet, ironically, constraints in funding, rigid adminstrative rules, disapproving parents &c, these are the concrete weights over our heads. Nevertheless, the love in this team and the collective passion we have for what we do are the nutrients from which we draw our strength. Recently, a friend commented that it's just so incredible how all of us can be so dedicated towards canoeing that we all try to train more than what's 'prescribed'. I thought about it for a while and realised she's right, it is incredible. We're not talking about just a handful of enthusiastic individuals here but a whole team of maniacs! We all have this mutual attitude of diligence, this innate stubbornness to push for that extra 10% during trainings. When we screw up any lats pull down, lats row, whatever, we do extra to make up for it! We're all of us insane! On the other hand (tho it doesn't make much difference 'cause it's similarly calloused), do you know how precious that is? That determination to fight for our dream, that determination to cross the buoys with no regrets.. It isn't easy to earn my respect, I don't think, but everyone in this team has, and will keep it too. You have also shown me that the human heart is capable of possessing great amounts of love and still be genuine. I used to think it's meaningless to have more than a couple of best friends because beyond that you can't really mean the care and concern you show towards others. Now I can't bear the thot of us going our separate ways in pursuit of our future! (So it seems like I haven't really outgrown my selfishness huh? :))
..Personally, I really want to thank God for this blessing. It must have been His grace at work in bringing together such a team where everyone complements each other so well. Jave's got it spot on, "I don't think I'll ever want to work and sweat with anybody else but this team. And it's like all of us run on the same frequency! All 12! Sometimes I don't even know my classmates and they're only a group of 5 or so.."

The prospect of what is to come in 70+ days --we'll be hanging up our paddles for the final time (tho not for me, I hope), heading for the library instead of the gym, hitting our books hard instead of the weights in the gym-- is somewhat depressing actually. But let's just say I both dread and can't wait for it. Sentimentalities aside, this is IT. So we've added 17 new teammates to this relay, but it's not time to hand over the baton yet --we have our final stretch to run. The final burst. Our show.

The important thing now is to stay focused on the race. I believe we all want to finish the race such that we can say we've put up the best fight we could muster. And that we've kept the faith, in both God and the team.

For the final burst-

Labels: canoobs, Gideon Jnr.

go to, then; your considerate stone.
8:22 PM
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