Follow Your Dreams.

Using my leave from work to give a talk at my alma mater, Victoria Junior College, was an utterly fulfilling and memorable experience today.

It was the same assembly hall. The same familiar canteen. The same familiar old faces. And yet, a different batch of students. A different future for each one. A different exciting new phase of life for these individuals filled with passion and potential.

This was the place where I entered melancholic and confused. And though many of my days there continued to be melancholic and confusing (as is the phase of growing up), so many seeds of faith, hope, and love were sowed and invested into my life by amazing teachers and friends who believed in me.

Follow your dreams. Don’t let anyone tell you how to live your life. Take good advice. But always, always follow your heart. That was the theme of my talk today.

If I had listened to what the world had told me, I would never have insisted on taking up Literature as one of my main subjects, I would never have had the foolhardiness to go to Nepal alone when I was 18. Or written and painted Kitesong. Or had the foolishness to publish “A Taste of Rainbow” to share my personal journey of hope with depression and anorexia.

The world says no. Don’t do it. Calculate your risks. Count your eggs. Don’t be stupid. But I say, go ahead, dream big dreams, don’t let them draw your boundaries and define your skies. What have you got to lose but your youth?

I had a headache last night so I gave the talk without a formal script. I just shared my heart after a short prayer. (I never follow the script anyway. Never have I had a more responsive and attentive crowd than this morning at 7.40am. I have never had such rousing and enthusiastic applause from a single audience before. The welcome at VJC was absolutely amazing.

And I think, I might have raised more than just a few eyebrows by saying,” At this age, you guys are the most powerful kinds of human beings on earth because you are naive, foolish and brave enough to do the kind of things that will truly make a difference to the world around you.”

It’s true. I still believe, young person are powerful people not to be reckoned with. That is why I want to continue to speak into their lives.

 

At the end of the talk, some students came up to thank me for the sharing, and a brave young lady came up to say that she had just walked out of an eating disorder. I gave her a copy of Rainbow. Other students were interested to contribute. Currently, I am still collecting donations for the education of children in developing countries through the sales of Kitesong. Rainbow, on the other hand, is primarily used to reach out to people who may be struggling from self esteem, depression or eating disorder issues, but any money collected will go to feeding programmes to nourish children in poorer nations.

Just hours after the talk, I received 2 emails:

“I’m writing this email to thank you for your sharing during assembly today. It was really inspirational. I believe that the rest of the school, like me, feels more encouraged to follow our dreams and be braver to take on life, bracing ourselves for the obstacles that may come. (:

Another reason why I am writing this email is because well, I am one of those people whom you referred to as having the passion to contribute but not knowing where to start. I’m not exactly sure about the how but I do know I want to help in making the lives of young children better, brighter. Being still young, I guess I’m not really sure which aspect of their lives am I keen on improving or what exactly I hope to achieve. But I do feel a strong sense of intent to want to do something. And I guess your advice on youths being powerful because we are daring enough, it was a wakeup call in a sense because I realized just how much I could do and the time I have in my hands.

Therefore, just a simple enquiry I would like to make is if I could join you on your trip to Nepal next time. It would be an eyeopener and I believe it would give me a better sense of what I’d like to do and the change I’d like to see and work towards. All in all, I wish you success in your future endeavors and God bless. (: “

It truly is more blessed to give than to receive. And many youth, truly have such a heart of gratitude and service. I teared at the end of the talk today. For some reason, I was overwhelmed with emotion.

Follow your heart. Follow your heart. Just follow it, and don’t look back.

Thank you, Victoria. I love this school.

 

me and Mr. Ho, the teacher whom Kitesong is dedicated to,

and the one teacher whom I will never forget.

 

 

“Hi there senior,

You don’t know me but I just wanted to let you know that your talk this morning was very motivating and inspiring 🙂 it was more than just a talk, it was a life lesson and I am sure many others felt just as blessed as me. Thank you for daring to chase your dreams, because of your courage i am sure many lives have been touched and changed. Thank you for making such a huge difference! Your courage to pursue your dreams is encouraging and i hope you’ll continue to shine! I wish you success in all you do 🙂

God bless,

W”

Thank you, for making a difference to my life, too.

Today was truly special for me.

Thank you God,

for making dreams come true.