smkConvent, Taiping.

back when we were in school, in Convent, life was just school and nothing else. i don't know how other schools work, don't know what their culture are, but here in Convent, we practically live-eat-breathe school. maybe not for all but for most of us, yes, i think we do, without even realising. so to prove my theory, i've came up with a brief but detailed-enough analysis of what and how a typical year of Convent students go;

January - as soon as school reopens, straight away we are pressured by prefects and discipline teachers to clean up the class, wrap the tables and worse of all task, fill up the bulletin boards - every subject, every corner of the class. if not, denda. denda denda denda.

February - usually when all the action begins. 1. its starts with something called the 'mesyuarat rumah-rumah sukan'...the minute that meeting ends is the minute 99% of the students in Convent get caught up with business until the very second the head prefects shouts hip.hip.hooray to end the Sports Day. yes, latihan sukan, sukan tara, latihan kawad, latihan sorak, preparations for hias rumah, designing/runningtoboonbeng/collectingmoney/distributing tshirts. can't give a rest. no. cause it is deemed that you rest you die.
2. try-outs, practices for most sports starts as well in preparation for the district meet. berebut-rebut padang...berebut-rebut kawasan..imagine the scenario.

March - 1. the on-going practices for Sports day continues. now it gets more heated up as time ticks away and also with;
2. first term examintions creeping near.
3. sometimes, the co-academic activites starts their practices for the district level competitons. namely, debate, choir and drama, all which are EXPECTED to win. *sweats*
4. more and more practices for Sports Day. sometimes its as if the first-term is less important.

April - 1. finally Sports day, came and gone.
2. things get more realxed. students take a break from all the staying-backs.
3. most sports and co-academic activities practices still continue. more days, more hours now..

May - 1. mid-terms. its taken seriously because students tend to regret for all those don't-have-to-but-still-must-and-tend-to-want-to stay backs.
2. and in the midst of the students trying to be studying - seriously, its the peak event in Convent, Teacher's day. fact that applies in all events that place in Convent, it cannot be taken lightly. there are perforamances to worry about, decorations, banners, games, budgets...
3. after mid-terms, despite the results...practices starts again, this time for the next most major event after Hari Sukan - Hari Kokurikulum. kawat formasi-gadget-masakan-bola jaring-apa sahaja. rain or shine, doesnt seem to be a factor.

June - 1. finally end is the Hari Koku.
2. calls for Hari Anugerah. another event. rehersals. performance. decorations.
3. camps. rangers camp, puteri islam camp, day camps..jv,pp,krs.. name tags are the biggest headache.

July - mellow month. though there are those 'non-calendered' events like, kantin day, teacher's retirement, teacher's farewell...could be anytime, any month, anyday..

August - bulan Merdeka. meaning whole bulan occupied. with all kinda activities, scrapbook, poster, hias kelas, banner, choir, choral speaking, sketsa...which calls for more stay backs.

September - 1. end-of-year exams, trials, pmr?
2. no more major events.

October - 1. activiti selepas pmr. drama, choral speaking, netball.
2. aktiviti sebelum spm (???) haha.

November, December - holiday homework. is it correct when these two words are put together? because it contradicts one another. but ya, you get that in Convent.

all activities listed above involves excessive staying backs. its not that we want to do stay back excessively but its just the norm thing in Convent. it is also our nature to do so. the competitivenss that exist make us try and try so hard. thus we only strive for perfection and anything less than perfect is not good enough.

besides the point of staying back, as soon as we reach home, we rush to finish our (oh my god, a lot) homework. stay up all night just so that we do not get busted the next day. teachers in Convent think their students are superhumans. but somehow or another, i think we are. they give homework as if that is the only subject we have the whole day, but fact is, there is another 9 subjects. if not homework, its tuition.
so its, rush home from school to rush to tuition and come rushing home from tuition to finish homework and rushing it through to rush to sleep for a long tomorrow.

if not homework,
if not tuition,
there are little things like;
- writing reports. laporan kelab, laporan persatuan unit beruniform, laporan rumah sukan, laporan......
- gotong-royong, motivasi, ceramah, more ceramah, kelas tambahan - on saturdays.
- renewing papan kenyataan around school. once every 3 months or everytime guests are expected in school..

also Convent does not have many students, therefore most of them are reused and recycled. and i did not consider those events that sometimes goes unnoticed, like karnival bahasa tamil, sayembara, tarian tradisional, debate bahasa melayu, bersyarahan, berpuisi, public speaking, kuiz yang pelbagai..etc.

highhighhighhighhighhighhighhighhighhigh expectations to lift up to.

even our leisure times like talking on the phone with friends, are school orientated conversations, most of the time. i tried thinking for a moment in lives of Convent students which is free from school related issue, still fruitless. Convent really just leaves you with no time for other things but only itself.

a friend mentioned before that Convent 'built most of what she is today', well, i can't agree more with myself. i can't name a close friend that isn't from school.

and all this makes us so attach to out school. even after form5, its so difficult to be able to detach from it.

so that pretty much proves my theory, no? we actually survived.