Let's Conspire to Reignite (All the souls that would die just to feel alive)

I am easily inspired by people. I had a friend who was in the same class as me in Delia. His name is William. He entered my class in Primary 2, and left in Primary 5. All that I remember of him when I think about our time together in primary school was that he always looked so angry, and so depressed. At that time, I never really knew what it meant to be angry, and depressed, all I was was that boy that always laughed at anything. But William, he and I were close friends, but he was never that good in his academics. I lost contact him when he moved away to Canada. But after I discovered facebook about 3 years ago, I found and reconnected with him. We chat online. But after that first week, we became stagnant.

On the day that my friend Nicky told me that he got into this school, I was kind of in a state of shock. It was sad that Nicky was leaving, and it was also sad that he was leaving to this school. But on that very day, William started talking to me online. Now, I believe in signs, and I wondered whether this could be a sign. William was so different. He always stood out to me because at that time he was the most motivated person I’ve ever seen. He was different in the sense that, he found release and he found a way to be happy in his life. I was inspired by him, really. I remember he would always repeat a few phrases. “Never give up.” “Practice.” “Nothing is impossible.” “If you want something, go for it.”

Every topic that we were on, he would always find a way to interject these few phrases. And it was really inspiring because even though I knew these phrases by heart, it had so much more meaning when he said it. I continued to believe this was a sign, a sign that I should never give up on what I wanted.

After chatting with him for the first two hours, I began to wonder why he had so much time to gain all the abilities he had. He could dance, he could play card tricks and he tried a lot of different martial arts. I asked him how school was, and he told me something that kind of shocked me, but I also kind of knew it was coming. He told me that he was a rebel, and that he did not believe in the school system of today. He firmly believed that in summer school, which is a month long, we learn everything there is to learn in a year. Why do we have to go to school for so long? “Live your life,” he said. “Don’t hold back, we can always settle down later on in life, but we’re only young for so long.”

It was at that moment I realized that here we were, two people who coincidentally knew each other from a chance encounter, at the same school, in the same class, who were now talking about the same things, but actually wanted something completely different from each other. He was running away from the modern schooling, because he believed it was right, and it was made him happy. I wanted to get into the best school in Hong Kong, because I believed it is what would make me happy.

William was so wrong. It’s obviously untrue that what we learn in school can be learnt in a matter of a month. Aside from the fact that it would be extremely difficult to be able to learn and apply the different theories of each subject in one month, there is something else that we learn in school that can only be learned with patience, and time. This is the ability to socialize with your peers, as well as to be able to develop and grow into someone better, a better person. School is not just about learning chemistry or biology, it’s also about getting experience being able to observe how much in life there is to be done, to be able to gain experience on your own, not to have it crammed down your throat. School is one big life lesson, to expose your mistakes to everyone around you so that you know how to correct them, to prepare yourself for the unjust world outside.

Then again, he was so right. He told me not to hold back. He told me to go for what I wanted. He told me that I should do what I can to get what makes me happy. I believed him, and I was so inspired by him. I told him he was absolutely right, and that I should definitely go after my dreams. Dreams were made not just so they make life easier, as a getaway when life isn’t so great, but they were made to be gone after.

I am perfectly convinced that that conversation I had with William was a sign. I have to find a way to motivate myself in any way possible, but the good thing is, people inspire me. And there are just so many people out there (I mean we’re even facing overpopulation) that it’s just so impossible for me not to be inspired by someone. Everyone is different. Everyone has their stories to tell. It’s important to be able to express yourself, because when you’re gone, your thoughts die with you. To express yourself, it is so easy, by going for what you believe in, you show who you are, because it’s about your decisions that show who you are, even simply by writing them down, people know who you are, and I believe that is one of the most important things to be able to do in this day and age.

-J