HKDSE and memories in secondary school

Update: 9th September 2024

It has been 3 years since I took HKDSE. My elder sister took HKDSE last academic year (for employment purposes) and got Level 5 in Physics (by asking me about Physics 24/7 at home). I congrats her for getting a higher level than we both expected. As I look back at my HKDSE results 3 years ago, I couldn't help but remember those memories when I was studying in my secondary school.

Secondary school life is probably one of the most important aspects of boys' entire lifetime, since they experience puberty as they study. They would have a change in way of thinking, personalities, hobbies, and more. They would explore more about themselves and truly figure out what they want to do in the future for the first time.

I studied at a Band 1 boys' school. In my first year as a secondary school student, it took me a lot of time to get used to the new environment. Aside from more subjects, you will also meet a lot of new people. At that time, I was very introverted and untalkative, and was considered the one who didn't laugh a lot and was decent in maths. I also missed a lot of homework. Teachers would always see me in the detention class and say that I should "do my homework on time" endlessly. I ended up not meeting a lot of friends and remained in Form 1 due to academic reasons.

In my second year in Form 1, things remained almost the same. However, luck fell upon me. I sat next to a classmate, which I managed to join in their friend group. This is my first time joining a friend group, and from there, I met my best friend. At first, we interacted with the best friend the same as other people in the friend group. We chatted and played around during lunch time, and would walk together after class. Eventually, as we moved to Form 2, they gradually went on to their own separate friend group. My best friend and I remained together since we were in the same class.

We continued chatting and playing throughout the academic year, and further built up our friendship. From what I have heard from the teachers, I also greatly improved academically. (They called it my academic explosion for some reason.) I also gradually reduced my amount of missing homework per year. In terms of my personality, I started to talk more with other classmates, and I would stop avoiding conversations. From all of this, other people witnessed the change inside me, and I hadn't noticed. Although I remained introverted, my best friend brought me out of my comfort zone. For that, I am greatly thankful.

Since my best friend performed badly in exams, he remained in Form 3 while I went up to Form 4. I have now become the "senior brother" of my best friend. Although we have been separated physically in grade level, we remained together in heart due to the friendship we have built. We moved our conversations to WhatsApp, and I would sometimes go down to his class during recess to chat with him. As a senior brother, I would also provide some help to him as his company.

Form 4-6 was quite an experience. In that period, the subject teachers were usually the same in these 3 years. We developed a great teacher-student friendship, as we usually loved to joke around during class. We would also become temporarily separated to each subject classroom for their corresponding elective subjects, which could bring us to meet other people in other classes. We can say each class became its own brotherhood, and we became closer to each other as we played around. We also became comrades as we prepared for HKDSE, in which we helped each other. Therefore, this period of time was the first time someone would approach me that was not because we were seat neighbors.

As HKDSE was coming, we spent a lot of time making our time in Form 4-6 as precious as possible. We cooperated and made a class song together, and sang it with our subject teachers during the music day. We took a lot of photos in our regular school life, and shared them among the students and teachers. We listened to the teachers during class, as our time with them was becoming less and less. We prepared for HKDSE greatly, in our classroom after class, in our homes, during school picnics, anywhere we could find, so that the effort our teachers put towards us would not be in vain.

After HKDSE was over, we went on to separate lives. Some students went to universities they wanted, and some went to other countries. I would not be able to meet my comrades and my best friend in school anymore. Although my best friend and I had promised to meet every half a year, it is not the same as meeting in school anymore. We stopped discussing stuff in secondary school, and more about our personal stuff and universities. We had passed the intersection of our paths, and we have gone different ways.

I am glad for all the changes classmates and teachers have brought me, as I became a more matured self. I have become way more talkative than before. I have known how to better manage my time and money. I smiled more, and laughed more easily. My life has become a bit more joyful and happy. I don't have a lot of regrets in these 7 years, which is currently one-third of my life.

P.S. Forgive my terrible English