FollowLast Saturday was quite a significant day for Cass. She headed off to Sunway College to participate in the Sunway Ox-Bridge Essay Competition — a prestigious nationwide event co-hosted by Sunway College and the Oxford & Cambridge Society Malaysia.
This annual competition attracts bright young minds from all over Malaysia, and with cash prizes and Sunway bursaries up for grabs for the top 20 winners, the stakes are definitely high. According to Cass, the hall was packed to the brim with easily 1,000 participants! Looking at the numbers alone, we know the odds of winning are pretty slim, but honestly, win or not, I’m already so proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and giving it her best shot. Experiences like these are priceless and build confidence in ways a textbook never could.
On the home front, Cass has her mid-year exam coming up, so her days are now filled with revision. That also means a small but significant sacrifice on my part — my beloved radio gets switched off whenever she emerges from her room to study.
I’ve always loved having music playing in the background; it’s been my happy companion since my teenage days. Back then, I even had a mini compo next to my bed, and I’d drift off to sleep with R&B songs keeping me company — much to my late grandmother’s dismay, as the tunes often disrupted her peaceful nights. My papa bought me the mini compo when I scored 6As in my SRP exam (Form 3 government exam)
Music has a way of lifting my spirits like nothing else can, so when the house falls into total silence during exam season, I do feel the emptiness. But this is just one of the many quiet sacrifices that come along with motherhood. I’m more than willing to trade a few hours of music for the hope that Cass can focus, stay motivated, and do her best in her studies.
This year is a big one for her — her final year in high school, with the SPM exam looming in November and plenty of other assessments lined up before the grand finale. I can only hope that all her hard work, determination, and effort will pay off.
For now, I’ll keep the house quiet and cheer her on in silence — and maybe once the exams are over, I’ll blast the radio at full volume to celebrate!
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