Confessions of a Cat-holic (123)

Even though I was deemed as the Karen Mok-alike DGS head girl (she also enrolled in UWC with excellent HKCEE results, musical talents in Guzheng, and native proficiency of English and fluent Italian) by my new friends that I could be the up and coming diva or Renaissance polymath medical doctor slash architect slash engineer slash lawyer slash athlete slash basketball player slash a hidden gem with excellent vocal skills, I wanted to say with utmost sincerity that I was none of the above. I was none of what they wished to project on me. I just wanted to have a layman job 9-5 and might possibly become a teacher or a marketing professional because I, quoting Albert Einstein, really had no special talent. I was only passionately curious.

Back to the head girl thing, I really could not sing or read music. I had no attempt to become the head girl of the new school. Well, the head girl in my new school would be the chairperson of the music department. I assured my new friends many times that I had no musical training whatsoever but they insisted that I was just playing dumb in covering up my secret talents. They said that my fingers were long so I must have been an experienced piano player.

In the environment where I grew up, there was no such thing equivalent to a "head girl". I had been the prefect, class monitor, conductor of choir, cheerleader and stand by basketball player for St Patrick House, member of the debating team and drama club at my alma mater, just like everyone else. I was not particularly active or well rounded. It was just that my alma mater was not in lack of talents.

We had a head prefect and among 10% of the seniors were prefects. We had two elected class monitors each class, responsible for liaison with class teachers and department heads for academic and disciplinary affairs. We also had two senior advisors for each class, which meant that each class in the junior forms would be assigned a "big sister" in the upper forms for general guidance.

We had a house captain for each of the houses, St Patrick, St Gabriel, St Valentina, St Nicholas. We had an athletic team, a swimming team and a basketball team. We also had a captain for each of that. We had a career guidance team, a civic education team, a counseling team, a discipline team, a gardening team, an IT team, a religious team, a sex and health education team (very important), a library team and a student union. There would be a chairlady and vice chairlady for each, and also a commonly elected leader for the student union. The student union would make up of a team of around 7 people, as the chairlady’s support staff with roles such as treasury, public affairs, secretary, vice chair lady, etc.

We also had a music department. But again, I didn't like singing enough to join. Nevertheless, it was reputably a strong one, with accolades and awards amongst competitors such as Good Hope and St Mary's. There were Senior Choir, Junior Choir, Recorder Band, Western Instrumental Ensemble and Chinese Instrumental Ensemble, etc. We had a strong Chinese debating team and an equally competent English debating team as well. We also had a dance team. Hey, I was one of the cheerleaders for St Patrick House too, for sports day and basketball competition.

In addition to the aforementioned activities, we also had a Catholic society, legion of Mary, Girl Guides Association, Red Cross Association, Community Youth Club, Social Service Group, Drama Club, Games Club, Art Club, Photography Club, Music Association, Sports Union, Debating Society, Chinese Club, English Club, American Woman's Association, Science Union, Social Science Union and Computer & Maths Union. Among each club or society, there would be a PRO (Public Relations Officer), a Treasurer (Accounting), a Chairlady, a Vice Chairlady and a Secretary.

The school system of my alma mater was more like a closely knitted network of talents, each with specific and diverse yet non competing roles to fill, rather than a funnel where every student participated in the same activity and were encouraged to compete like a social pyramid. There were enough roles and clubs in the school that we did not really need to fight off everyone among the peers in order to be deemed "successful" or "competitive". We worked as a team, as an organization, and as a network.