When Marc (I think) played Go the Distance (that Hercules song we sang in Year 10) on the piano, I almost cried. Almost. Music speaks to the soul, man, and right then, my soul was in torment. On the one hand, I couldn't wait to get out of there, the scene of my every failure. On the other hand, I couldn't bear to leave the place where I had actually felt that I belonged for the first time in my life. I think this calls for a summary of my years at the Castle on the Hill, Melbourne High School.
Year 9:
Man, I was the biggest dweeb back then. I was so lost. I had no clue where to go, what to think, what to do, who to talk to. But I got by. Somehow. I think I knew how to spell everything except "funny" and "cool". Not that I'm either of them at the present moment. But far out. I've improved, I think. So anyway, people that I met:
- First person, Steven Tu. Great mate, still is.
- James Cheng, ditto.
- Orrin, the guy who looks like a serial killer, but really, he couldn't even be a cereal killer. Torres is the worst, by the way.
- Kishara, taught me that bendiness in fingers is pretty disgusting. I won't even try his last name.
- Ben Niles, thought he was African, I mean, come on, he's that black, and his name isn't exactly unAfrican.
- Jinn Kan, didn't understand why he has so many Ns, and I still don't. Thought he was a gangsta, until he talked. Please don't kill me.
- Pramuk, resident black guy who's not Ben Niles. Great kid.
- Ivor, the empitome of violence. Not really. Just seems that way cos he's unco and left-handed.
- Gary Zhang, super-dux.
- Flanno. I never knew someone could be so dedicated to a cause.
- James "Purple Dinosaur" Banh, train line buddies since year 9, even though I've only been in one of his classes ever.
- Nigel (I think), another train buddy of Asian descent.
- James Brown. I like his name.
- Chiu twins. No comment.
Some highlights of the year:
- Camp. Was freaking stupid. Almost froze to death. Loved every moment.
- The trip to Sydney. Highly entertaining meeting and talking to Sydney people.
- That is all I can remember.
- Losing the Cockhouse. This would be the last time.
- The lonely hours.
- Lack of iPod. I don't know how I managed.
Year 10:
10J was the form, O'Reilly was the teacher. Worst. Teacher. Ever. Ms "fix up your handwriting when mine's the worst handwriting ever." Also gave me my first and last detention at MHS. That aside, this is where it really took off. I met so many new people that I won't even bother dot pointing them. I know I'll miss someone, so if I do, just give me a shout and I'll try to rectify the situation. So I met: Alexei, David Lee, Garyn T, Il Joong, Jimmy Luu, Simon, Kong, Ron Shell (best day of my life according to said person). That is all I can remember. So maybe it didn't take off after all.
Highlights:
- Actually winning the Cockhouse.
- Finding Tattam Band.
- Red Cross thing.
- Spraining ankle first night at camp. Fantastic.
- Community service and work experience. Man, that was...Tedious. I'll just say tedious, because me, being the noble person that I am, decided to do 22 hours of ComServe instead of the 20.
- Losing chorals again.
- Detention, which wasn't all that bad. It was more the reason that I got it. On hindsight, it was stupid. Playing calculator games. Me is cool.
- Social. I thought it would be awesome. Turned out it wasn't really my type of thing.
- My memory is really faulty. I can't remember anything else, even though I know I should.
Seriously, this is where it really took off. This was probably the worst year, academically and pyschologically. I never felt comfortable. The whole year was like sitting on a hedgehog with blunt spikes. People that I met: Jack Liang (even though he doesn't do me the courtesy of acknowledging it on his blog - the hate is felt mutually), Simond (lol blogger says that's a typo), Meng (funny guy), Botros (crazy laugh), Victor Chiu, Ken, FinnDo, Josh (I think). That is all I remember. Again, if you're not listed, I either intensely dislike you, or I've forgotten and I really love you. You pick. If it's the latter, I apologise and will try to fix it up.
Highlights:
- Cultural involvement was actually quite fun, especially the rugby bit.
- WORLD CUP!!! That was the best ride of my life, especially following the Australian adventure. That Grosso dive almost made me cry. It still does.
- Man, this is horrible, I can't remember any happy thoughts. Oh wait. One not exactly happy, but not depressing thought. We didn't come last in chorals.
- Coping, or not, with Year 11.
- Australia and the World Cup exit.
- Having Pask as form teacher. Scared every moment of form.
- Finding out that not all Sydney people were as nice as my host family back in Year 9. In fact, far from it.
Year 12
Simultaneously the worst and best year ever. God, I had massive amounts of fun and work as well. People that I met include our resident man for all seasons, Isaac, Victor Yiu (someone who actually said football instead of soccer), Brendan Hong (possible co-dux), Chantapon (kept me entertained during methods), reaffirmed acquaintance with Eugene, Ognalla (this year or last? I forget), Michael Tran, Denny, Anh (funny girl), Loke (fob Australian), and that is all I can remember.
Highlights:
- Winning chorals. I was instrumental (geddit) in our second placing in instrumentals. But, man, winning chorals. That sparked celebrations bigger than winning the world cup. I remember bouncing up and down in a massive crowd. That is all. And don't listen to all the other houses complaining how we shouldn't have won. See below, and bask in our obvious superiority:
A tool of a conductor. Compare to Yarra:
It seems lacking in vibrancy and delicacy, no? All power and no touch. Which reaffirms my belief that we deserved to win.
- Winning the Cockhouse for the third year running. Becoming a bit easy now.
- The Formal. That's right. With a capital F. First time that I had ever worn a suit. Thanks again to Anh for being a great date, and to all my friends who made it special.
- Picked up a habit of playing lunchtime soccer. It was great.
- The release of Harry Potter, although the actual book should go in lowlights.
- Oh mah gawd, like, man, you've got some Up-dog on your shirt. Best bad joke all year.
- Kelvin actually checking the back of his bag for Up-dog.
- Andrew Bolt wrote A Man for All Seasons, according to a person who's name starts with I and ends in C and has the letters 'saa' in the middle. No wonder the books so opinionated and conservative.
- Harry Potter and the horrible plot. Disappointed.
- Work. And more work.
- Getting into fights and arguments.
- Post-formal depression.
- Generally feeling blue randomly.
A great four years at Melbourne High. I think I'm gonna start truly missing it after exams. Friendships, anti-friendships, it's been great. Be comfortable in the knowledge that if you are mentioned here, you're a great person. I generally don't hang out with bad people. I don't think I do anyway. I learned one very important thing among others. Don't go chasing respect or care from others that won't give it to you. It'll only hurt you. I hope I have made a good difference to the lives of the people that I have met these past four years, and hope you all get the 99+ ENTER you deserve. Until next time, peace out.
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