After the end of our last jazz concert, my friends and I celebrated our last ever performance and our last 4-7 years in jazz with dinner at NoThai, a favorite hangout spot for many clubs and activities. We remembered how much we changed and improved with the different songs we played, and wondered how we would be able to play together the same way even after school ended.  Eventually the conversation drifted to how we all seemed to wish we could spend more time at Greenhills, as if our high school experience had ended prematurely. We reflected on enjoyable experiences and wished we’d had more.time at greenhills. 

Make good use of the time you have at greenhills, because it will eventually end. Try new things, allow yourself to change and learn from others in your time at greenhills. Four years might feel like a long time, but it will fly by faster than you can expect. What you might not realize is that as much as you might complain about this school, you will come to realize how enjoyable the experiences you had here were.

Students often complain about their teachers not teaching or teaching well, but in my four years of greenhills I’ve never had a teacher that didn’t actually care about their students or about the class that they teach. Almost every teacher I’ve ever had has been genuinely passionate about the classes that they’ve taught, and many students don’t realize how great of a privilege that is. Many of the teachers have dedicated their lives to these fields, so respect their experience and their decisions.

The quality of the teaching at greenhills is much better than that of teachers I’ve learnt from in public schools. While you might feel like your teachers are being unfair, and that your classes might seem to be somewhat difficult, your teachers do care about your academic success, and want to see you succeed academically and socially. Make use of the time you have at greenhills to communicate with teachers and to learn from their many experiences. Be grateful for the teachers you have and develop good relationships with them in order to help them 

I still remember the first plumsmart meal I’d ever had, a chicken parm crusted with bread and covered in marinara sauce. We were all outside for the freshman orientation, eating chicken parm in boxes outside. Everyone was complaining about how soggy the breading was and how the chicken wasn’t cooked right, but for me the difference was immense. Compared to flavorless mush, mediocre chicken sandwiches, and the cardboard crust pizzas of public school, plumsmart was a savior, a glimpse of hope as I entered high school. I wondered if in four years I would be just as ungrateful for the food at plum market. 

As I talked about our meals with friends from my middle school who came over to Greenhills, we gushed about the spice of the chicken curry and the sweetness and tanginess of General Tso’s chicken, taking seconds and thirds. To this day I remain a loyal follower of Plum Market, feasting on their incredible flavors and exciting spices. Look forward to every meal and treasure the food they make. In the vacuum of greenhills, it might be easy to hyperfocus on every little detail, every missed spice. But in comparison to the meals which many kids suffer through, plum market provides an incredible amount and quality of food in an accessible buffet. 

While 4 years might feel like a long time, these years will go by faster than you can expect. Instead of complaining about every little thing at Greenhills, it would be much wiser to fully enjoy the experiences you’ve had here and to show gratitude for everything you can, because eventually your time here will come to an end.