Happy April Fool's, etc

I am actually glad that April Fool's Day falls on a Saturday this year. No need for teachers to be extra vigilant when she walks into class because she never knows if her students are going to play a prank on her. And for some reasons, some students take the liberty to disregard what the teachers say on this day, especially if it's got anything to do with homework or test, thinking the teacher is joking. Oh please, teachers NEVER joke about homework or test. We take these very seriously, like wedding vows.

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This week has been a very hectic week for me. So many meetings and a zillion and one things to do. I managed just one day of tennis with the boys, which ended unfortunately with Victor breaking a tennis racket. I showed Exhibit A to the owner of the racket (a PE teacher), and we spent a good 5 minutes trying to explain HOW the damage occurred, cos we have never seen anything like it before.

In my 10+ years of tennis playing, I have broken racket strings many times, but never a racket with its frame cracked at such an unusual angle. If I could only see how it happened in slow mo, then maybe I could explain it using Newtonian physics.

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On the subject of tennis and sports in general, I was talking to a fellow PE teacher about the idea of "winning" in sports. "Winning is not everything," he said. This uttered after our school team had lost a certain match.

"Sure, winning is not everything," I said. "Winning is the ONLY thing."

Which about sums up my personal motto. When I do anything, I want to win. I don't want to be a loser. I am very competitive by nature. If I meet with failure, it spurs me to try harder the next time. Because I want to win eventually.

Some friends have told me it's quite stressful to play games with me (whether it's tennis or Scrabble or carom) because I take them so seriously and I'm so kiasu (literally). I am not sure if my competitive spirit is unhealthy in some ways. I admit, it does at times make me impatient with people (even students) who are so contented with mediocrity. Where's your fighting spirit? Where's the striving for excellence, for kick-ass, mindblowing, jaw-dropping, critic-silencing performance? How can you be pleased with something that's a pale shadow of your true potential? I want to scream at them.

If I ever come across as the fiery-breath, demanding teacher in class, bear with me. It is the competitor in me speaking. And I'm just trying to stir you all up. Rise up, rise up, and take the class, the school, your family, your clan by storm. Stop being a nobody. You are a SOMEBODY.

And this is no April Fool's joke.