"The main event of our Srikandi night. The highlight that we have all been waiting for..", her voice almost screaming out of anticipation. Making us who were standing on the stage shaking nervously. We held each other's hands and I swear that I held the other girl's hand so hard that I heard her squeak.
I mean, THIS IS IT. This is the moment, the final moment.
"I will now announce the winners for this year's Srikandi Nasyeed competition."
Yes, you heard her. We were one of the contestants for this most anticipated event of every year. It is the only time that us girls could do something that we can only dream, to perform on stage in front of audiences.
And so..We learnt, sang and practiced all day and night to sing this one song, 'Kawan'. Literally day and night, and by that I mean, we used up all the 'prep' hours 'prepping' for this. The teachers must be shaking their heads now if they ever read this.
And so..We learnt, sang and practiced all day and night to sing this one song, 'Kawan'. Literally day and night, and by that I mean, we used up all the 'prep' hours 'prepping' for this. The teachers must be shaking their heads now if they ever read this.
All those effort. Just to be nervous and hopeful on this stage tonight. But all of that will be answered tonight. In a few more seconds.
We were not hoping for something so extravagant. Like seriously, we were only in our 2nd year in High School. The seniors must have been participating every year for the past years and surely they already have reputation. The First place & the First runner-up was already a sure thing for them. But we still hoped.
"The 2nd runner-up goes to..... 2nd year students from KL Block".
BLANK
I went blank for a moment. I could not believe it. We had absolutely no EXPERIENCES whatsoever. No one to even teach us the proper ways of doing it. But we WON!!! When I came back, I joined the crowd shouting for our VICTORY.
Yes, a VICTORY. Even if we only won the 2nd runner-up. But because it meant to us in so much way. Because the only rival that we were fighting in that contest was ourselves. We, as a team, we wanted to be better than before. We wanted a memory and stronger bond of us together than ever before. And for that reason, we who were only battling with ourselves won in the greatest way we could ever imagine.
And thus, I learned that it does not matter the ranking that is determined by the people, society or even the world. VICTORY means something when that rival is actually oneself. And by becoming better than before is the only way of winning this battle.
It also goes the same way, that even when u win the first place, in the greatest tournament in the world, it means almost nothing when you feel that you were not any better than you before.
