Succès

So I've been asked to share success stories with you guys. Ah bah sympa, not a bad start ! This one's going to feature a few vids, so keep on reading.


But before I move on to these success stories of mine... let me remind each and every one of you that you're a success story in yourselves. Come on, we exist today because the most powerful of cells won the race ! So, give yourselves a round of applause. *cheers* *bows down* Oh merci, merci.


So here's the first of my success stories -
I was an academically outstanding person in school, and though I wasn't active in co-curriculum, there was one thing I loved doing in school : I loved participating in the school choir. Yet, I didn't really sing in the choir - I accompanied them on the piano, and I wrote sheet music for them. The only time I ever sang was to train them and get their parts right. We hit rock bottom, we were nowhere in the standings, and Victoria Institution always trumped everyone hands down. And just so you know, I was from Convent Bukit Nanas.


When I was in Form 4, however, things changed. We began to have a new pool of enthusiastic singers. Our initial motto, as always, was to do our best, but this time, our focus changed. We wanted a place in the standings. And when we won the state competition........ I bet you can imagine the looks on the faces of the choir boys from VI !


It was after the victory that we decided that we needed a new identity. We named ourselves Ressonnant - a deliberate misspelling of the French word résonnant - "resonating". And it was with this new identity that we went to national level. See, I wouldn't just stop at being state champions. Being the kind of person who has a taste for victory, I'd definitely want to see Ressonnant being national champions - a feat never achieved before by our school choir. We failed in 2006. 2007 was my last year in school and we failed there too. I wept bitterly because I knew that I wouldn't be much of a part of the school choir for the years to come. I loved my time there and I wished I could do more to help them...


Then it so happened that after the competition, and after my SPM, I was asked for one last favour : I had to write the sheet music for the 2008 choir. Since there was one compulsory patriotic song, I decided to go with Jalur Gemilang. And there was Stand By Me/Beautiful Girls. I reserved hope that the girls of Ressonnant would win.


And... see the result.





Believe it or not. They were champions.
And all this came from a school choir who was once nowhere in the national ranks.


The second success story took place when I was in National Service. I was posted to Camp Miri, Sungai Rait, Miri. In case you're not sure about how it goes, we're divided into four companies - Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta, and it's a survival of the fittest - literally. I was in Bravo, and our prospects of winning weren't great. I was the weakest trainee in the entire Camp Miri (physically), and on top of that, I was selected as company commander (and later demoted for no apparent reason)... There was great dissent, and Bravo had the worst of everything - the worst of thieves, the worst of bullies, the worst of rebellious people. Yet, I harboured dreams of making Bravo Company win.


So, I did just this : I participated in everything to the best of my ability, and I encouraged my friends to do the same. That was all.


THAT WAS ALL which made Bravo Company become champions for Group 3 Series 6 2009 and clinch the title of the Most Disciplined company (ironically).


Point is, if you want to be successful, you must be passionate about what you do.


I have abilities for a lot of things. Yet, my aspirations rest only where I'm passionate about doing things. Like singing and music, for instance. Yes, there are bound to be enemies that oppose us, even at home and close to home. Passion is all about immersing yourself in something... and being persistent. And it's only when you're persistent that everyone knows you really mean business.


And another thing about success is that you just can't do it alone, no matter how hard you try. You'll still need people at any stage - be it for preparations, or to give you feedback and/or support.


I can't say that anything inspires me for the moment - well, I do have divine inspiration, but beyond that... the word "inspiration" itself is corrupted. A successful human being can't really inspire me ! All he can do is give me the drive to become much better than him (and that's something which I have, on a regular basis). It's for this reason that I don't have role models. If I have to be at a class of my own, then there's no point in me taking a leaf from someone else's book. If I ever need to have a role model, I'd rather choose a saint ! At least I'll know how to be godly even in the face of success and/or fame.


I have a lot of dreams and aspirations. One of them is to sing. No, seriously. Take a look at these and you'll understand.




A cover of the French version of the theme song for Growing Up Creepie, called “Drôle de Creepie”. The original was sung by Lisa Gautier. But what you hear in this is my voice.




This was taken during National Service. Yes, I'm singing in there too.


Other aspirations include a series of novels/games/musicals which I hope to realise, called Les Histoires Duchemin (The Duchemin Stories/Chronicles/whatever you wanna call it, and a lot of LHD-related works can be found on my DeviantArt) - it all started from my National Service journal. It's been heavily modified, but the plot is still there, with a subliminal message against conscription. I'd love to produce some works too - I write songs too - but all these dreams, I place in His loving hands.


I'm not sure if I should set a time frame for these dreams - yet, I realise that I should do so quickly - because in a year's time I'll be 20. And I'll soon have the realisation that there isn't much time left for me. So... let me think... I hope that within this decade I make a name for myself as a singer/songwriter, despite having been called to the Bar, despite having had a first-class honours for LLB. Yes. All this, I want to achieve during this decade. And soon after, I wish to realise that series of works.


I have a long dream list, which I'll be putting on my proper blog later, and I'll update this post when it's done.


À la prochaine, donc !


troisnyxétienne