Words to Lyrics Ben Ho's observations from the cloud

5 October 2009

Two More Pieces of Advice

Filed under: Forward Thinking,Reflection — Tags: , , — Ben @ 9:23 pm

After writing the last post, I remembered that I had two more things to say.

1. Everyone is saying, “Make sure you thank your teachers for all the hard work they have done for you.” Well, the best way to thank them is to gain the best possible result in the HSC exams. They’ll be happy that their hard work has paid off, and you will be happy that you have a great result.

2. It’s almost a week since that wonderful last day of school. There are probably many thank you messages that you didn’t write on people’s shirts that morning. May I suggest that you hand-write letters to these people. I know I am…

All the best for HSC 2009.

4 October 2009

Crucial Last Weeks

Filed under: Forward Thinking — Tags: , , — Ben @ 9:41 pm

At time of writing, there are 17 days until English Paper 1.

As blunt as it sounds, the celebrations are over. The last game has been played, the last hurrah called. It’s time to hit the books, one last time.

I hope everyone isn’t finding it difficult to study. These are the last set of examinations, the most crucial ones. As has been said many times, “Your performance has an effect on other peoples’ performance.” I don’t want to explain how the system works, I think that overused statement is enough.

There are so many great things that will happen after this last set of exams. 4 weeks in retrospect isn’t much effort to ask for.

On the other hand, this is a great opportunity to get back into a normal routine. Simple things life having enough sleep and three meals a day, will make you feel better over the next few weeks. There is no reason to pull an all-nighter to cram; all that’s needed is to re-organise the schedule.

All the best for HSC 2009.

30 September 2009

Last Day

Filed under: Forward Thinking,Reflection — Tags: , , — Ben @ 9:29 pm

Tomorrow is my last day of high school.

Being at Barker for 10 years (since the beginning) is no mean feat. There have been so many fantastic experiences over the years. There have been so many friendships made, changed, and broken. There were the good times, and the bad times. And we’ve all been through it all. Together as one. As the Class of 2009.

Many of us have planned to do so much in these last few weeks. However in reality, only a fraction of these things have been done. For me, it is physically and mentally impossible to do what I had planned in the space of a week. There are so many people to thank, so many people to recognise and yes, so many people to hug.

Tomorrow will be filled with many emotions. I know that some of us, myself included, will get a bit teary. I think it’s normal though. School has made up a majority of our lives, in the grand scheme of things. It has dictated and directed many minutes of the days. It will be interesting to see how life progresses without this.

I still have so much more to say, but now I must rest.

27 September 2009

Last Week

Filed under: Forward Thinking — Tags: , , — Ben @ 10:16 pm

Tomorrow is the beginning of one of the most anticipated weeks in the year, the last week of school. Many months of hard work has gone into planning and expecting this. I think many of us are still trying to see how we will be after this week is over.

For all of us, 13 years of our short lives have been in school, a regulated sanctuary, and now it is time to go.

For me, I still don’t know what to think. I say, let’s enjoy it for now.

Luckily a week of events has been planned, and yes, there will be some coverage on my Flickr. Stay tuned.

27 August 2009

Reflection Statement

Filed under: Reflection — Tags: , , — Ben @ 11:03 pm

Tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline for HSC English Extension 2 major works. As part of their work, a reflection statement is written to, supposedly, ‘reflect’ on the major work they have composed. This week, the phrase has been uttered many times, in different ways, expressions and the like.

Given that Year 12 finish school in a matter of weeks, I took this phrase and thought, “What has been great about this part of my life?” I am, of course, referring to the last 12 months or so of high school.

I really want people to reflect on what has been great in the last year, in the last three years, or in my case, the last 10 years at Barker. The next few weeks, free of assessments and exams, are a great time to pause and reflect. There are other things we can think about too:

  • As above, your time in high school
  • Friendships and relationships
  • Contributions you have made to a group e.g. choir, rugby team, debating team
  • Personal achevements academically, socially, etc.

And also especially for you all:

  • Your sense of belonging over the past year
  • What you have done to change yours or others’ sense of belonging
  • Initiatives you have started to affect others’ belonging

I think that this a good way to realise what achievements you have made over the last year, and will give an insight into what lies ahead. Life sometimes throws too much at us. Everyone needs a way to release and understand what’s going on. This is just one way to do just that.

Happy reflecting!

29 January 2009

The Day Before the Day…

Filed under: Forward Thinking,Reflection — Tags: , , — Ben @ 8:20 pm

So, the day before school starts… How joyful.

I have effectively started school a week early due to the music camp that ran last Sunday for three days. Also, I was at school yesterday to help with orienting new people (and some small kids). Therefore, the getting up early has begun.

I really don’t know what to think about the time between this summer and the first term. Should it have been more fun, or more work?

But anyway, it’s all over. There is 10 months to go, and many hours of work. I hope for the best for me and everyone.

BTW, the title of this post is a song from Dido.

6 April 2008

The dormant writing bug

Filed under: Reflection — Tags: , , , — Ben @ 8:25 pm

In my mind, I have many ideas for a blog post. Unfortunately, they don’t ever make it here, because my mind gets lost in doing more important things. It’s like a sickness that you catch, you know you’ve got it, but it doesn’t affect your body. Anyway, hopefully the upcoming school holidays will help.

It has been a long first term of year 11 for me. Results have been good, but they can be better. During the holidays, I will be reading David Allen’s book about Getting Things Done. It should be good. I’m assuming that the geeks who read this are using GTD, how are you finding it?

It’s going to be my birthday during the holiday. Yes, I will be having a party so photos of them will be up the night after.

That’s all.

15 March 2008

After today’s debating

Filed under: Rant,Reflection — Tags: , , , , — Ben @ 12:04 am

Tonight, I had debating at school. The topic was about health, but it was pretty hard. My team put up a very tough case, but the team from the other school, just got the better of us, but not because of how they spoke, but what they spoke about. Anyway, I took the loss fine and we should be doing well next debate.The real story comes after. I was in the common room having snacks and talking to friends. Then this woman comes up to me and asks where is the toilet? I didn’t know, then… well I forgot what I said.  A girl who was chairing the debates took her to the toilet.OK. In all honesty, why ask a guy where the girls toilet is? It is WRONG!!! Guys only know where the guys toilet is. Girls know where everything is. Cool with that?!!Now I have put this rant on paper, I hope I can get some sleep and get up tomorrow to go to work. 

3 February 2008

Back to School!

Filed under: Forward Thinking — Tags: , , — Ben @ 10:20 am

Well, I have gone back to school now. It will be a very busy time for me especially with lots of music and other commitments. I will try to write to much as possible, although I can not guarantee one post a week.

Thanks for all your support!

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