ACGE

This is something that SJI does to me over the past few years. Whenever there is an event which struck me or touched me or inspired me or induced any kind of emotion within me, there will be this urge for me to write it down, no matter where or through what mediums. I've stated in my previous post that I wanted to write about Glissando. Despite the tremendous workload and my parent's displeasure, I will now write something about it.

Let's start with a story of me quite some time ago when I first entered AC and had a difficulty choosing CCAs. I was split between choosing water polo and guitar. Actually my first choice at that time was Water Polo, since I was a rugger before and wanted to seek another adrenaline-pumping sport. Yes, water polo trainings has indeed been extremely fun. The insane treading water and the times where we practised our shots. It has been tiring, with trainings ending at 7:30-8:00pm, but it was definately one of the most exhilarating sport.

Thus, from about February to March, if I remember correctly, was one of the most frustrating times I ever had. I've never had such a difficult dilemma. I tried going for both, but of course it wasn't easy to manage. I'm not Tim Lau. Haha. So anyway, I shall go past the details of how I finally set my mind on Guitar. Did I regret it? Of course there were regrets during the first few weeks that I joined. The familiar feeling of adrenaline and aggressiveness pumping inside you was missing. It's like some kind of drug that you need to have.

Through the course of time, guitar has become more and more enjoyable to me. I have awesome section leaders and section mates, awesome seniors who taught me songs that I've always wanted to learn. So there I was, practising the 3 competition pieces, and never really enjoying it because my music knowledge and understanding is really quite limited. I've never really completely mastered Jalousie before extra sectionals, and the only thing I could play was bar 18. I really owe my gratitude to my SLs and Jade for teaching me how to play correctly and getting the dynamics right. It was a steep learning curve for me, but well I never thought of giving up.

Then the moment of magic came. It was during our competition performance that I truly expereienced this magical feeling of ACGE. All our hard work just boiled down to that 3 pieces. And when we played it, I had this feeling that time stopped for a moment around me, and all there remains was the sound of our guitars playing Lotus Eaters, Jalousie and Sleepers Awake. It was after this period of time where I decided to really put my heart and soul into this. It was, to a certain extent my realization. I love this CCA.

And so I practised with whatever time I have for the concert. The many different pieces that we had to play were difficult to manage. I must confess that I did screw up parts in the concert. Malaguena, La Cuccaracha, Pirates, Obla Di Obla Da, and Sleepers Awake to name a few. Despite that, I think we owned the stage that night. Hearing the solo pieces and the group items from behind the screen was awesome. I had regrets that I screwed up those parts, but what's even more sad is that the seniors are officially stepping down after Glissando, and it will be the last time that I ever performed with them. It is sad that G2 sectionals may never be the same as before again, and the seniors who helped me so much were leaving for awhile to prep for the A's.

Obla-Di, Obla-Da, Life goes on. We're starting our practise without the J2s tomorrow. Do I still miss them? Yes I do. Although I do miss having ensemble and practises with them, I must move on. That is perhaps the most difficult part. I'm not the type of person who will force myself to look forward in situations like these. I would rather be immersed in these memories until time washes them away from me. "Not what a guy is supposed to do", "That's damn gay and weak of you to do that", if you're thinking of stuff like these right now, I don't really care. That's just who I am sometimes.

Nevermind that. Thanks to all the J2s who made this journey such an awesome one. May you achieve success in your examinations and future endeavours. I know not what my fate in Guitar is, whether I'll make it to the Exco or become an SL, but what I know is that everything I do for this CCA I do it with my heart and soul, just like what some of my seniors did. I'm giving it everything I got. Perhaps that's all I need to know.

ACGE 4Eva. Hahaha