HCCO XYZ

they say it isn't over until the fat lady sings.

we don't really have a fat lady, but these two days i've been hearing mao sing the gatsby song a lot - i think that's the closest we've got to a flashing neon sign going "MOVE OVER, YOUR TIME IS UP".

and it is.

j2s - we came, we saw, we conquered. but now what? we've done all we can for HCCO. they don't need us anymore. it's time to let go... our CO doesn't need more supervisors or directors or whatever new titles they can think up.

it's hard to relax your grip on something that's so close to your heart. leaving HCCO is like saying goodbye to your parents at your first day at school - except they'll never come back and bring you home. it's like packing your bags and walking out of your home because you don't have money to pay the rent. but sometimes you just have to try to ignore the pain and unclench your fists, before someone else pries your fingers off them.

there are great things in life. there are greater things in life. there are things in life you just have to experience to understand - co is one of them.

but so are many other things.

it's always better to read about what fun we've had and all the things we've done; to reminisce and think about the past instead of the future. it's sad and cruel to blog about moving on instead of holding on to memories. are they mutually exclusive? i don't know.

there are things in life we'll do and compare to HCCO. there are people in life we'll meet and compare to our batchmates. there are times when we'll think, damn, why couldn't i still be in CO?

we've spent 1.5 years waiting for every single prac to end.

now we'll be spending days, weeks, months, wishing they hadn't.

but as much as i don't want to leave, as much as i'm scared that one day HCCO will mean virtually nothing to me, i don't want to be the one left behind.

we're all leaving - we're leaving together. we're one batch, one xyz. a group.

we came - together.
we saw - together.
we conquered - together.

and now we'll be leaving - together. we leave not because we want to, but because we can.

we've given all we can to HCCO. we've done our best and we've done a lot of things we may not be proud of, but we've done ourselves proud.

right now, today, this is who we are.

we've come a long way, and we've still got a long way to go. maybe we won't see each other every day. maybe we won't see each other every week. but every step of the way, there will be people behind us. people who care. people who appreciate us for who we were, who we are, and who we will be. with or without the practices, with or without the late night present piaing, and with or without seeing each other as much as we've gotten used to.

ningfei was right - the sun has risen, the next day has come, our HCCO story is complete.

but another book has just begun.