For My Students

This was something I wrote in July after speaking at a mentor/mentee event. I am posting it here because I want you to read this. This is for you. I am incredibly honoured and grateful to call myself your teacher, and I know you are all going to make me and your parents proud. Sometimes all we need is a little encouragement. So here it is. I hope this inspires you. 

Illustration by my ever-so-talented sister Lian

A few weeks ago, I was asked along with talk show host and former CNN anchor May Lee to speak at a Women in Journalism event to empower high school girls.

On Tuesday, I went to the Warner Bros. lot for the first time for the mentor/mentee event, which was held by the Studio City Youth Chamber of Commerce.

Over lunch, the girls, May and I chatted about college, journalism, the future, and of course, high school drama and Gossip Girl. May told us stories about anchoring for major news outlets and hosting her own talk show, sprinkling them with wise advice. May's main message she wanted us to take away was that it's not physically possible for anyone to do it all and that is quite all right. Know that you have options, she said.

Although I do not claim to have sorted through this complicated thing called life, I am grateful for the chance to provide my own advice of sorts. As someone who decided to graduate a year early on a whim, there are things I only learnt in the past year that I wish I had known earlier. Being able to pass these lessons onto younger generations to come is important to me.

As a journalist, I am used to chronicling the stories of others. Sharing my own story and imparting "wisdom" is at once exciting and frightening. Everything seems infinitely interesting as a recent college graduate, and I am probably as unsure about life as I ever was.

But I see younger versions of myself when I look at my students and mentees – shy, unsure but ever so ready to go out and change the world. I wouldn't trade this optimism for the world. Or the look on their faces when we both know they've struck on something great.

It's true that no one knows what the future holds, but it's also true that I know my generation and those of my students' will play a huge part in shaping what it becomes. There is now so much information at our fingertips. With technology, the potential is limitless. So as with all my mentees, I encourage you to be passionately curious and to dabble around with a bit of everything.

To my students and mentees reading this – to Lian (yes, you included), to Adrienne, to Selina, to Vivian, to Sandy, to Alice, to Coco, to Oscar, to Stella, to William, to Peggy, to Curtis, to Brian and to Ethan – my hope for you is that you continue to dream and to follow these dreams. Aspire for greatness. Find your passion and pursue it with all your might. Create, learn and listen to your hearts. Most of all, believe in yourself. The future holds great things for you, so go out and explore. I can't wait to see the wondrous things you'll do.

And I can't think of anything more fitting than to paraphrase Pa Kent from Warner Bros.' Man of Steel, "You're going to change the world."

New Year, New Beginnings

I started teaching yesterday and along with that came the bothersome logistics of scheduling, transport, planning yadda yadda. Sometimes what's necessary isn't always fun. Cough, homework, cough. In other words, I feel you, kids.

But now that's out of the way, we can finally get into the fun stuff. This week is all about new beginnings.

To celebrate our first (or second) week back, we are going to make a time capsule. A time capsule is anything that encapsulates time. Filled with goods and information from a certain era or location, time capsules are often stored for long periods of time to communicate with future people, civilizations or aliens (yes, really).

Your time capsule is going to be for a future person (unless you magically turn into an alien in one year). This future person is YOU, in 2014.

For this, you will need to write future-you a letter. Tell future-you about where you are now as a person, tell him/her about your goals and expectations. Draw him/her a picture.

Once you have finished your letter, I will take a polaroid photo of you and give you an envelope. Securely seal your letter, polaroid and whatever else you want to leave for your future self inside and address it to your future self.

Give the envelope to mum or dad for safekeeping. You must resist the urge to open this envelope until this day in 2014!

Now for the blogging part of the exercise, please write down 10 resolutions (things you want to achieve) for this year. Whether it is making new friends, getting good grades or meeting an alien, list them out and post it on your blog. 

Don't hide your resolutions away though. Print yourself a copy (or 20), stick them on your wall above your desk, set it as your computer desktop, recite them every morning, write a song or screenplay or novel about them. Whatever you do, don't forget them! Do them! These are your resolutions, and nothing feels better than crossing them out at the beginning of the next school year. 

Here's to a wonderful new year!