Impossible is Nothing....

"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given, than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. " Adidas...

I'm currently hooked on a book entitled "Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt author of Angela's Ashes. It is a good read especially for teachers. To be more specific, it's especially for Catholic, English, newbie teachers in a neighbourhood school. It recounts his 30 years of teaching in New York. It's hilarious and and it seems that regardless of the country, the subject or the era, as long as you are or were a teacher, the experiences somehow seem familar. Something that another teacher can easily emphatise with. Just imagine the desperation one feels when a beginning teacher sees the class in disarray and nothing seems to get the students' attention. In the author's case, on his first day of school as a teacher, food was being thrown around in class and what did young Teacher Frank do to grab the attention of his notorious class... He picked up the sandwich that was thrown to the ground and ... ATE IT.

I'm just so glad that I never had this sort of experience.. (my dear padawans.. don't try me..)

I was reading the book while wating to see the doc who refused to give me an MC cos he's wary of giving MCs these days due to the World Cup fever.. oh come on.. can't he tell I'm genuinely sick... The one time I see a doc, and he refuses to give me one. Damn...

Anyway, something in the book caught my attention. Frank, the author/teacher once suggested to his student from his Vocational and Technical High school (S'pore's equivalent of N(T) stream) that she has the potential to go to a college. When a guidance counsellor found out about it, he wrote to the "newbie" teacher this:

"A man's reach should exceed his grasp, but better make sure they have something to grasp. Don't create impossible dreams."

How sad... Why should adults tell a child that he or she has a limit to his/her potential? Is there even such a thing as an impossible dream if we go by Adidas' definition of IMPOSSIBLE.

I'm a victim of such "dream killers".. I still remember my CL teacher for telling me not to re-sit for my Chinese A level paper despite me getting a C6 for the June paper. The silly thing was that he asked for my opinion and I said 'why not?' Then he imposed his opinion on me. The next few sentences that came out from him sort of devastated me to the extent that I'll always remember him.. Loosely translated to English, this was what he said: " Zero Zero, I think you shouldn't re-sit for the yr end paper. It's impossible for you to improve by more than one grade and there's a chance that you'll get D7 , which will be reflected in your overall A level certificate and it wouldn't be very nice. At least your C6 from your June paper is on a separate Cert, so it's still not too bad."

And so it is.... I never got to see my full potential in Chinese.

And so it is.... I live the rest of my life knowing that I can only stop short at being proud of my A2 for my O level Chinese.. Nothing more.

As an educator now, I see the real need not to say that things are impossible especially to a padawan. Yet, I made this mistake of putting down one without even realising it. Was chit-chatting with an ex-padawan. We talked about her ambtion etc.. and she casually reminded me that on the day of her O level result release, she came to ask me if she should apply for ITE or Polytechnic. I don't remember what I said but she said I told her that with her grades, if she goes to Poly, she may struggle and not cope or end up in a 'dumping ground'. In the end, she still opted for the Poly route, and she is well on her way to getting her diploma and would soon be joining the Force.

I seriously cannot remember saying those things to her, but that's what she remembers. Similarly, if I were to tell my Chinese teacher what he told me, he'll most probably say the same.. "I don't remember". It goes to show that when you tell someone that things are impossible for him or that he's not good enough, it stays with him.

Teachers make mistakes. It's after all human. Hence forth, I shall remember that nothing is impossible... Any dream is possible if you believe in it and do all you can to attain it. Quoting another ex-padawan who's living and reaching out for his dream as a Singapore Idol..... "I'm just an ordinary kid chasing his dream."

All the best Young padawan... Nothing is impossible.

After all, "Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary..........

Impossible is nothing