ACHIEVEMENTS | LUMEN
5
January 2015 proved to be an exciting time for the graduated cohort of 2014 when they returned to SJI Senior School to collect their results . It was a day filled with much excitement as they awaited the fruits of their painstaking two years of hard labour . And certainly , as those slips of paper were released to the students , smiles filled the school .
Everybody in the first batch of IBDP had passed , but scraping with a mere 24 point was not enough . SJI ’ s average score was a 40 out of a possible 45 . 63 % of our 76-strong cohort scored above 40 points . For a year where the global average was a 29.9 and Singapore ’ s average was a 36.4 , SJI exceeded more than a few expectations .
SJI had no perfect scorer this year . But that was the furthest thing from anyone ’ s mind as the students reviewed their time spent in the school . The IB curriculum offers a larger range of activities for students with different interests , passions and aims . Ultimately , it is not just the results that are important but the memories that came with them . For Ignatius Koh , the moment he would like to go back to was the JC 1 Orientation . “ It united us as a batch .” His peer , Cheong Su Yen , however , considered her Language and Literature lessons as most unforgettable . “ Every English lesson ,” she said , pausing momentarily before continuing . “ Every lesson was like a minor epiphany .” Amanda Foo ’ s most memorable experiences were
The IB curriculum offers a larger range of activities for students with different interests , passions and aims .
Ultimately it is not just the results that are important but the memories that came with them .
something far simpler though not insignificant . She reminisces about the times spent sitting by the couches talking to friends and teachers , even while she had a mountain of work to get through . The practice of evading work in favour of chatting with friends is a tradition that is still continued today . There is not a single Josephian in SJI Senior School that could attest otherwise .
Indeed , the measure of a school has differed greatly from the standards of the past . In an age where degrees have become less of an exception and more of a requirement , gaining spectacular grades have ceased to be a mark of a good school . Nowadays , schools are defined by precisely these tiny moments . The earsplitting guffaw elicited by a particularly well-timed joke , a comforting hug when the going gets rough , idle prattle between classes and during breaks ; all of these serve to endear the school to the students . In Singapore where students often spend half a day , and usually more in school , the idea of school as a second home becomes a reality . The story of a student who actually brought a sleeping bag to school for a quick rejuvenating rest , has been told many times and is sure to regale future students .
Decades from now when the fervour of youth fades into tempered maturity , that precious slip of paper detailing the students ’ grades that once meant the world to them would be nothing more than a random document accrued through our many years of life . What students will remember are the stupid moments , the new startling experiences and the people who had their backs covered . They would no more yearn the knowledge gained or the homework given then – deemed as an oncoming headache . Instead , what would be cherished are the moments of inspiration , of wonder , when they learn something that they are genuinely interested in .
That stunning 45 points eludes SJI . But for those who spent two years of their lives immersing themselves in the spirit of the school , there was neither a need nor a want for it . What is 45 points compared to the bond that held them together , through the highs of their orientation during their first year in senior school and the lows of the months leading up to the examinations ?
Still , the die has been cast . 45 points remains one of the many records that SJI has yet to break . And if the ambitions of the graduating class of 2015 are anything to go by , next year ’ s results would not fare any worse than the outstanding precedent that their seniors have set .
Facing page : Some of our high scorers ( clockwise from bottom left ) Ignatius Koh , Syafiq B Herman , Dilys Hoh , Cheong Su-Yen , Nathaniel Wong , Lee Ming Le and Rachel Oh
This page ( top ): Smiles all around
This page ( bottom ): Amanda Foo sharing her results with her parents