Author: patel85339@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

A while back, a sparrow made it’s nest on our house, in clear view or our kitchen window. For many weeks I watched the babies grow bigger. One morning, I found that two of the birds were gone, and the remaining one was standing on the edge of the nest unsure what to do. Eventually the mother coaxed it into jumping. After crash landing into a bush it eventually flew away. I’ve lived my whole life in a nest, going to school, most major life decisions being made for me. The closer I get to leaving the nest, the more unsure I am about what comes next.

When looking forward provided no answer I thought I might as well look back, at what came before my life. And this is the closest thing I have to a passion, learning about what came before I was even born. This year was the first year I was able to start history class, and I’ve not been disappointed. I’ve experienced the wars and revolutions all from the safety of my classroom.

Often people think of history and ask, what’s the point of looking back, the past is in the past. I argue that historians are the best people at predicting the future, because they know how things usually playout. If there is a political crisis, the historians are the ones who can predict the outcome. And It’s also just interesting.

Of course history isn’t the only thing I enjoy. I like to try and balance school, sports and music. Being new to the school, I’ve mainly just tried out different things without committing to anything in particular, just dipping my feet in. In terms of sports, I have the same problem as with deciding what career to pursue, I can’t stick to one. In 9th grade I have done pre-season basketball, cricket and pre-season volleyball. Sticking to mainly pre-season has helped me decide what sports to fully commit to next year. Of all of them, volleyball is the most enjoyable to me. I’ve also enjoyed taking part in various musical activities. I had my first band experience playing guitar in my ensemble music unit. This led to me joining the rock school activity. Both of these were great experiences and have solidified my passion for guitar.

You’ll be stranded on a desert island for a year. What  three books that you can take with you and why?

Book 1:

The first book I would bring would be “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin. This is the second book in the series “A Song of Ice and Fire” AKA Game of Thrones. This is the book I am currently reading. I really enjoy fantasy epics like this one because it tells a story of a fantasy world from the perspectives of many different characters in all parts of the fantasy land known as Westeros. The setting is comparable with medieval Europe but obviously containing many supernatural elements often found in the fantasy genre. Each character has their own struggles and problems that they must overcome. It is an epic book filled with multiple conflicts and threats to the seven kingdoms from North, South and even from within the kingdoms themselves.  My favourite character would be Jon Snow because of the choice he made the choice to leave his “family”(Jon is a Bastard) behind and go somewhere where there is no going back only to protect the realm from what lies beyond the wall in the north. He Joins a brotherhood called the night’s watch which is committed to protecting the realm from the monsters that lurk beyond the wall. The book also gives a fantasy take on the harsh reality of human nature, greed, power and lust. It is quite a mature book and a lot of the content is new to me. It did take some getting use to on the first book, but nonetheless it is one of the most enjoyable books(and series’s) I have read.

Danny Raven Tan is a painter, who got through everything to follow his dream. In the last few years, his dad passed away, he got pancreatic cancer and his mum has dementia. Yet somehow he got through it all, and even gave up his old career as an architect/designer to become an artist.

Danny has been to the edge and back, and this has purified his views on life. It is his belief that “God sends the toughest soldiers to fight the toughest wars.” Not only did his endeavour make him more aware, it also made him a stronger person, as he said himself he came back from depression. Some of his views were definitely questionable. He seemed to care for his family but thought it better the keep the fact he had cancer hidden from his parents, as to him it seemed unnecessary to burden them with it, with all they were going through already in their old age. He has a strong opinion, but also an interesting one.

Danny Raven Tan now shares his humbling story with students all over Singapore, and I think we could all learn a thing or two from him and his experiences.

How did Danny overcome depression and is society open enough to art?

Many of us go through hard times and let depression consume us, but others come out stronger than before. Danny Raven Tan is certainly an example of the latter, who not only bounced back from depression, but did so with a new philosophy for his life. In the last few years, his dad passed away, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and his mum was diagnosed with dementia. His dog died. It took incredible willpower for him to accept and overcome these ordeals. When he did, he gave up his career as an architect to become an artist and spend more time caring for his ill mother. He gave up money in favour of love and passion, something many of us are afraid to do in today’s society.

Many people live their lives always seeking money, not savouring what they have. But when Danny was suffering from cancer and close to death, he realised what he wanted from life, and that there is more to life than money. It’s clear from his attitude that becoming an artist brought him happiness so why is it so commonplace in society to simply go chasing money and forsake happiness and passion?  For example, in Singapore, attitudes towards unconventional careers are mixed. Many Singaporean children  worked hard in schools, studying conventional subjects, and rarely encouraged to pursue art as a career. According to TODAYonline the fact that it is extremely difficult to find a good job in singapore without a degree means that “In wanting to give their children a brighter future, some parents may have become too strict with them, at times even limiting their children’s educational choices to what they think would be most useful in Singapore.” Danny mentioned his previously sour relationship with his now ill mother. It’s possible that she was not initially in favour in his passion for art, and it wouldn’t have taken a near death experience for Danny to pursue his passion if she had been more encouraging. UWCSEA as a school is more open to art as a career and encourages students to make the most of their artistic talent. Overall, Singaporean society leaves much to be desired when it comes to encouraging young people to become artists and follow their dreams.

Singapore’s audience for art has been growing steadily but there is still cause for concern. Art was not included in Singapore’s budget list speech for 2017. It wasn’t even mentioned in the parliament section “Transforming our Society through Enterprise and Innovation.” There is certainly a long way to go in regards to Singapore and society’s acceptance of artists. This is an issue because art plays an important role in Singapore’s culture, bringing people together. According to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, “Arts institutions also play a key role in the cultural shift taking place in Singapore. Man does not live by bread alone. We do wish for the finer things in life, to appreciate beauty and love, and something uplifting for the spirit.” Singapore is still relatively young as a country, and still in the process of identifying it’s cultural identity, and the time is right for young creators to take center stage. All Singapore needs is for society to open the door for these creators.

I think that the ordeal that Danny Raven Tan when through purified his view on life. He realised that doing what you love in life is the most important thing, whether it is creating art or something completely different. Society needs to change to be more accepting of alternative careers and give artists more chances to make a living. Many students at UWCSEA East have a passion for art, and we are the lucky ones, with opportunities to pursue art. Hopefully in the future the rest of society will realise what Danny Raven Tan realised in his odyssey, that the most important thing in life is doing what you enjoy.

Site:http://portfolios.uwcsea.edu.sg/patel85339/category/uncategorized/

Planning Doc:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1klOmxzq6rEaiMKVtvIPEDp8B8sEx5QCFO2eLCQsk3VM/edit

“Students May Be Losing the Chance to Pursue Their Passion.” TODAYonline, 2 July 2014, www.todayonline.com/voices/students-may-be-losing-chance-pursue-their-passion.

Steve Dawson is a fox sports presenter that presents in formula one, boxing, and more. He has interviewed many famous athletes and has many years of experience in the field. I was lucky enough to attend one of his talks, where he talked about his career in sport, his inspirations and ambitions. I was really inspired by how he described his career and all the great aspects of being a sports reporter/presenter and how his whole life is built around sport.

Steve Dawson really portrayed his career as a journey of unexpectedness and excitement. He said, when your a reporter you never really know what the next day will bring and when you do your job for the day you can go home and not have to worry about work at all. This really impressed me as I previously thought that almost all jobs are 24/7. I know that my own father finds it very difficult to switch off from work even on holiday. The thought of being able to go to sleep not thinking about work and having no idea what will happen the next day has a great vibe to it, and I think that this is very encouraging for aspiring reporters.

As well as talking about himself, Steve also shared his secret recipe for good reporting in the form of five golden rules.  The first is “ask open ended questions.” I think that this knowledge shows how much experience he has had in the field of interviewing, that he knows an interviewee will not respond to very particular questions, and you need to allow them to answer the question. He clearly has years of experience and I think that we could all learn a thing or two from Steve Dawson.