You should know what you're fighting for.
Dark Horse. These are the two words that I'll use to sum up my entire experience with Novus. Novus, we may be green, but every single one of us came from different backgrounds. I remember the very first time I met all of them, clearly unaware that this group of people would be the closest group of friends I'll ever be with throughout my entire stay here at NYJC. We had our fair share of awkward moments, knowing that we didn't have any popular kids amongst us, and feeling extremely discouraged thinking that we wouldn't be able to get as high as the other OGs. Right from the start, we had this mentality that we would not win at all, simply because we were not as cool as the other kids in the other OGs.
And that was when the other OGs decided to strike. I'm not trying to foster any hatred between the groups now, but all of us had to admit that we were the ones being belittled and looked down upon. It was quite obvious that Novus was constantly the topic in their whatsapp chats, and it wasn't because of how well we did, but because of how sucky we were to them. To be honest, it felt like Novus was the only family isolated from the other three families, simply because we were cast aside, like unwanted goods that did not manage to get sold during a warehouse sale. Even though I wasn't there for the first performance check, I heard that we were a mess. I remember us freaking out over the realisation of the amount of work we had to do during the holidays, when half of it has passed already. I still remember the very first day I learnt the choreography for "One-Shot". Damn. It was hard. Like seriously hard. It's probably the first choreography that made me doubt myself - whether I would be able to pull it off during the actual performance. Learning only the first half of the first set of 8 took up 2 hours of practice that day. We were that unproductive, when the other OGs were almost done with finalising and learning their dancesteps. Thinking back now, it's a feat learning those dance moves. We may not have perfected it, but we at least gave it our all, and that's what that matters the most.
Novus. We've had our highs and lows, with more lows than highs. It didn't feel encouraging when the other OGs looked down on us, seriously. The feeling that we got from the other OGs was that there was no longer an 'N' in NYJC. Maybe that's the main reason why we're so close now. We were at ground zero, literally, and we had no other families to rely on whenever we needed help. All we had was us. Maybe that's the reason why we only have one NOVUS. Not the popular-Novus and the poor-Novus. Just Novus, with our 'N' capitalised. What we shared to one another during the last day of orientation was right - we wouldn't be the same right now, if any one of us gave up halfway and left. Novus. All of us played an equal role in building what it has become today, whether it has been seen by others or not. The list could go on and on. Without Rachel and Heng Gee, we wouldnt be so bonded today, because it was those dance practices that gave us time to know one another better. Without Ben, I wouldn't have cute hamster cheeks to brighten up my day during mealtime. Without Brian, the ice and our personal barriers between us would not have been broken effectively... To put it simply in words, they were honestly the best group of friends I've ever had in my entire JC life.
Yes, we've had our fair bit of arguments, days when our anger would come out all of a sudden and shots fired towards one another. But at the end of the day, we forgive because we're one big family. I've never felt comfortable talking to 35 people individually or as a whole group before, despite the similar opportunities I had in the past. But because of Novus, I did. To be honest, they were the ones who brought the light into my life. I was at the stage of falling apart just days before we first met, with all the conflicts and thoughts flooding my mind. They were the ones who could make me smile genuinely without hiding any ulterior motive. They were the ones whom I could take off my mask of emotions and hang out with. They were seriously the ones who made me believe that I could belong to a circle of friends without thinking that I'm just being an extra there. They were the ones who restored my faith in true friendships.
To be honest, there were times when I felt like giving up on them. Maybe it was my mind overthinking and stuff, but there were times when my mind started to explode and made me wonder whether I was excluded from the family, especially after what some of them said to me. I tried to hold myself back for weeks, drifting away from the meetings and outings that they had. But as I walked away, my heart was empty. Like really empty. What would I be without Novus? Nothing. I wouldn't have learnt so much and changed into a better person without them. I would still be stuck in the past, thinking about the past instead of the present of the future. But they, they were my main motivation to come to school, so that we could hang out with one another whenever we were free. They are also the only group in NY whom I could be brutally honest with. They are the only ones who did not require any form of sugar coating whenever I had to address certain issues, because I knew that I wouldn't get judged for what I said, and that they really understood me and my intentions.
The outings we had. They may have been small (in terms of the outing itself, not the participation), but they were awesome in their own unique ways. I think that this group of friends would always have a special place in my heart, because they were the first group of friends whom I had steamboat, mass sleepover and Christmas with. There are just too many fond memories of us together that I can't recall. Thank you for the experiences that all of you have offered me, even though I couldn't make it for some. They're seriously the only group of friends who can make me feel the guilt of not being there with them, despite my emotions on any day, when I'm needed somewhere else. I'd always have this urge to head towards where they are even when I'm supposed to be somewhere else. They're that important to me. Seriously, if I could go back in time and change it, December 2013 would be the only December in my life so far, that I wouldn't change. They made that Decemeber the best month of the year, despite my bad memories with that month. They might be the greatest mistake I've ever made in my entire schooling life, with the tremendous pile of homework that needed to be cleared whenever I'm with them. But I would honestly commit that mistake of joining all over again, because they were blessings in disguise to me.
Novus. There's really no fear and no shame being in this family now. We fought, we fell, but we stood together as one all the way from the start to the end of this journey, and the many more that's coming. We were the dark horse of the orientation, from being a zero, to being our very own heroes. They may have taken down the Novus flag, and got done with Prima Volta, but nobody can take away that Novus part of me no matter what I do, or where we go.
Here's to the one and only... NOVUS.
We are the perfect storm.
