My RV60 Journey
(from left to right) Ms Clarissa Tan, Lee Wen Jie, Lim Ying Hui, Tan Hui Lei, Lim Yong Hao
On 16 January 2016, River Valley High School celebrated its diamond jubilee with a mass display put up by its students and a grand dinner held for its alumni. After months of hard work and dedication, our efforts had finally born fruit. But as I stood onstage that night and delivered my last line, I found myself not registering the smiling faces of the audience or the brightly coloured lights that spilled onto our faces, but instead remembering the little moments I had shared with my fellow emcees in the months leading up to that day. They say that “Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.” I am Hui Lei and this is my RV60 journey. Being an emcee for RV60 was definitely a challenging and enriching experience. Prior to this, I did not have much experience in being an emcee and I was not quite sure what to expect. Contrary to what I had expected, we had fewer dry runs and most of our rehearsals consisted of reviewing the scripts, making changes and reviewing them again the next session and the process seemed endless. Whilst my experience as an RV60 emcee had developed me into a more confident speaker, my favourite part about it was getting to know the other emcees and teachers, and working alongside them. However, we did face our share of challenges as well, such as coordinating with the performers and technical crew and having to adapt to many last-minute changes, even on the actual day of the celebrations. Through the experience, I made new friends and great memories. If I were given the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I remember feeling, once it was all over, as though a heavy weight had been lifted off my chest but at the same time, there was a void where that ‘burden’ had been. I found myself thinking: What now? What is there left for me to do? For so long I had been sure of the answer but now that it was all over, I could only lament the fact that I didn’t treasure the time while it lasted. Yet there is one thing I know for sure – compared to the fleeting adrenaline rush that being onstage had given me that night, the RV60 celebrations had left an indelible mark on me and my peers. It had united us, regardless of our cohort and our CCAs, pushing us out of our comfort zones in a way that had never really been done before. That, I believe, will continue to unite us for a long way to come.