I'm encouraged by the significant improvement in AHband's tone, especially for the clarinet section or rather, those who were present on Saturday. The partial section was playing with so much more clarity that I thought that the school had finally seen the need for a clarinet tutor after all these years. To my surprise, that was not the case but I'm glad that those few present have made much progress though it is still far from what I want them to achieve. I'm still very disappointed and annoyed at the section's attendance for both band practices nd sectionals. The attitude is not right and it will only drag the rest of the section down.

I'm also pleased to hear from my tutee that her subject teacher has noticed an improvement in her results. It is good to hear that but I don't think that an improvement just one test calls for a celebration. The improvement and progress have to be constant and long-lasting or it wouldn't make any difference. I hope she will take this as an encouragement and be even more motivated to work harder.

In the world where we live in now, very often we crave to see instant results and when we don't see the desired results immeditely, we start to get discouraged and stop putting in as much effort, thinking that we are not doing the right thing. It is even worse that if we get good initial results, we get complacent and begin to slacken and find excuses not to work as hard and end up with lousy final results.

I must really thank God for all of these good results thus far, even though I'm still a long way from my target. I'm glad I'm working in the right direction and I hope that I will continue to make progress and be motivated to achieve the goal I've set out to get.

I have also learnt quite a lot in the past few days. I hope to remember all that I have learnt and apply it to many other areas.

That's all for now. I'll continue another day.

I can still remember in my secondary school days when teachers would ask us what we want or imagine ourselves to be 10 years down the road. Then, it was easy. Probably most of us would just envision ourselves to be in university reading our desired course, graduating with good results and getting a decent job.

Turning 21 is scary because it marks the start of 'adulthood'. It is even scarier because it is the start of the most important phase of our lives and the sort of lives we are going to lead in the future will all depend on the decisions we make from then on. I am not comfortable with making such big decisions that would affect the rest of my life yet.

It is even worse if I try to imagine myself 10 years down the road. I cannot, even in my wildest dreams imagine where and what I will be 10 years later. Will I have a satisfying job that I enjoy? Will I be married with children? If so, who will be my family; or will I remain single for the rest of my life? Will I be in debt because of a housing loan or car loan? Really scary thoughts.

I'm so grateful that I'm still young right now. I have to constantly remind myself to be prepared for the future and be ready to take on its challenges. I don't think it would be fun if I reach a point in life where I realise that I'm unprepared or that it's too late.

As for now, I think it's time to start planning and sowing.