Thursday, May 14, 2009

President's Address - 14 May 2009

When I started out with the theme for this year, “Be The Change”, little did I realize that it was meant for me. It was easy to set the theme for D’Utama Advanced but at the back of my mind, I knew change is a difficult and daunting task. Personally, I often chose the road mostly taken; I ran away from change, such as the time I turned down the opportunity to interview with a multi-national company because I was comfortable at my present, albeit small, company. To justify my decision, I had a suitcase full of excuses. Fantastic boss, work close to home, no traffic jam, etc, etc, etc. It became clear – it was easier to set the theme than it was for me to adopt it.

You see, everyday I was already moving at a certain speed. I was very activity-based. I was taking Mandarin, ballroom dancing, piano lessons, I was actively involved in Toastmasters, visiting other clubs and what naught. The thought of stopping everything seemed impossible. What would I do then? I just couldn’t bring myself to pause, to make a change. Just the thought of change felt like I had to climb a mountain or swim across oceans and mind you, I don’t know how to swim.

But each month as I prepared my speeches and presented them, it impacted me. Somehow or other, I’ve become more positive, more attentive and more attuned to myself. I’ve matured and now I know what I want. And that’s when it became easy to stop, to pause. What happened was that I unconsciously began to acknowledge and recognize that I needed to change. In the end, I found that didn’t have to go across oceans, I didn’t have to scale heights; although, I literally did that by flying to Singapore and Australia to attend various courses.

In the end, the steps became easier. And the goal, clearer. In the last year, I have quit all my activities other than Toastmasters to focus on the next chapter in my life. I plan to undertake a course in Digital Storytelling, which is nothing new but also not very well-known. To equip myself, I took a course in Adobe Photoshop and attended a Digital Storytelling workshop in March. I got myself a Macintosh computer and am applying to do my Masters in Digital Storytelling.

The point I am trying to make is that, contrary to popular belief the changes I made were not anything drastic. It was about me taking that first step – a BOLD step – I want to change – I want something better for my life. Have you ever said that to yourself? You can too! And instead of just talk, which is easier said than done, this is proof of that first step I took…

Ladies & gentlemen, my first digital story:

[video presentation - to view, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZPQCPXqgu0]

I reiterate the last two lines from my digital story - today, I no longer wait; I cannot wait; because time will not wait for me.


Best regards,

Deborah Hoe, CTM
President 2008/2009

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