FAC

Now, this is a topic that is very close to my heart. You can say that I am a boring boy who has no life, since I seldom go out by myself. Every week, after St. John Parade or St. John FAC training, I go straight home. I don't watch movies, I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't smoke. Boring perhaps. My friends say that I have no life, since half my time is spent on St. John and other related issues. But that precisely is the fact : St. John is my life.

I joined St. John mainly because my brother was in the Organization in school before I joined, so I decided to join him in St. John (SJAB). Of course, I had to show some standard since my brother holds a high position. However, when I joined the FAC, it all changed. That was when I began writing my own story and leaving my own set of footprints as an SJAB cadet.

Let's start with a story about what happened since I joined the FAC. Last year, I was one of six cadets who were chosen to take part in the FAC. We started training in November under the venerable leadership of our senior Ed. We trained like mad, but not all of us. Out of the six, only three of us were really dedicated to the team. We trained hard together until the second week of December. January came, and we trained twice a week. Once every Saturday during St. John Parade and once on Monday. However, on Mondays, we were lazy and ended up playing computer games. Competition arrived in March, and our chances of winning were slim, approximately 30%. I really wanted to put on a good showing, but everything went wrong. I made plenty of errors, but my team-mates didn't. The irony is that I was supposed to be one of the best in the team. By the way, our team was AC1. (Ambulance Cadet 1)

The results came out.

In third place: AC....3!

At this point, my team-mates and I were telling each other, 2nd is good enough. At least we aren't last. (There were only 3 AC teams)

In second place: AC....2!

My heart leapt with joy, as I looked at my team-mates open-mouthed. We had won! Against all odds, we had succeeded. Our celebration, if you could call it one, was a far cry from the other teams. The teams who participated in the NA(Nursing Adult) competition cheered and screamed like mad hyenas even when they were announced third, while we, champions, made no sound at all. Of course, it is not in the nature of boys to show emotion, but I'm sure that I saw MJ giving a rare smile. A big one for that matter. However, for the Ambulance Adult team, our school also emerged Champions. And King Ed screamed in a pitch that could reach that of an Alto.

One year later, things changed. Our original team, made of PKL, LW, JLA and me, were split up. I moved on to the AA team (Ambulance Adult). PKL, the leader, injured his knee and could not take part. LW, being one year younger than us, remained with the AC team, but he was now the leader. JLA quit.

Now, this is where Icyfate comes in. He was brought in and took the position of leader. JLU replaced LW and BT replaced JLA. So new team: Icyfate, me, JLU, BT.

Things started well, we trained together, and much more intensively than last year. We even trained four times a week at times, compared to a maximum of two last year. Now, we are only one month away from the competition, but things have taken a turn for the worst. I told my team-mates that, one week before the competition, we would train every day. To say that their reaction was bad was a big understatement. Only Icyfate, being the leader, agreed with that. The other two were absolutely pissed with me. So I asked them whether they wanted to win or not. Seriously wanted to win or not. BT said he did not really care. JLU said half yes, half no. Yes because he wanted to win. No because he was afraid of the training that we would undergo should we win the Zone Com and move on to the National First Aid Competition.

Why am I so "on" about the competition? There's a rational explanation for that. Compare this to an investment. When you invest small, if you win, you win small. If you lose, you lose small. When you invest big, if you win, you win big. If you lose, you lose big. Last year, I invested small. We didn't train much, which was why we didn't celebrate much when we won, since we had no emotional attachment. But this time, I invested big. The team trained twice as hard as last year. I put in twice as much of time and effort. Another difference is that, this year, I know that we have a good chance of winning, despite our opponents being a stronger team. This time, if we win, I'll scream my heart out. I will cherish that moment forever, since this will be the last time I'll participate. If the team wants to go LAN gaming, I'll join them. Watch a movie, I'll join them as well. Play LAN for 3 hours straight, go ahead. I'll join. But if I lose, I don't know what I'll do. I'll probably just go home. If I win, I'll be awake the whole night and smile in my sleep. If I lose, maybe I'll cry myself to sleep.

I remember talking to my friend about this. He asked me why the team trains so much. I told him that the Corp won a Gold Award for CAA in 2004 partly because we won both competitions. If we had lost, we would have been downgraded to a Silver. My friend replied, "You mean everyone got a Gold because four people worked very hard???"

Of course, that's not true. Everyone chipped in a little. After all, we would not have got a Gold if we won the competition alone and did not do anything else.

But that still does not answer the question : Why am I so "on" about SJAB?

The answer is simple, and I have already said it before, but I'll say it again : St. John IS my life.