By Arissa Lee

Even though Raffles JC is now cumbersomely named RI(JC), I enjoy saying that I’m from Bishan JC.

That often earns me a few odd looks.

It is not because I am ashamed of my former school - it’s just that there are too many things people don’t understand about it and I prefer not to be bombarded by the usual criticisms about the students being arrogant and entitled.

Anyway, here are four truths Raffles Institution (Junior College) students may not want you to know:

1. Not everyone passes with flying colours.

Yes, we have more than our fair share of President's Scholars and straight A-students. From the class of 2013, for instance, 68% of students achieved at least 5 distinctions. But just like everywhere else, people DO get Cs and Ds.

As a result of bearing the lion’s share of pressure, the school on ‘A’ Level results day can be an emotional place, with people sobbing in corners berating themselves after failing to secure perfect scores, or crowing jubilantly and celebrating with friends after receiving their ideal grades.

You'll be surprised but people also end up retaking their ‘A’ Level exams. You’ll find these folks in special classes, repeating their 2nd year of school. They keep largely to themselves, so I never actually met them during my time there.

Worse still, some students fall into the awkward gap between failing badly (you must meet certain requirements to be eligible to retake your ‘A’ Levels in school) and doing decently, and end up retaking their ‘A’ Levels privately.

2. We receive a diploma in exchange for fighting tooth and nail over CCA leadership positions.

In RI, there exists an often overlooked document called the Raffles Diploma (RD) that most people get when they graduate.

The RD is meant to encourage students to develop their strengths in non-academic areas by taking into account their leadership positions, CCA achievements and involvement in volunteer work, among other activities.

In preparing for this, one would strive to have as lengthy a list of prestigious achievements as possible in a bid to attain either the merit or distinction classes of the diploma.

Those who don’t get it have failed to meet certain minimum criteria, such as getting at least 12 CIP hours and completing their NAPFA across both years. With the exception of international competitions, the RD largely duplicates what’s in your CCA records, while adding some polish and sleeker “branding” to it.

To get a Raffles Diploma with Merit in character & leadership development, for instance, you must either be a student councilor, CCA executive committee (ex-co) member or “demonstrated exemplary leadership qualities through the organisation of an officially endorsed school-wide event”. To reach distinction in the same domain, you have to be a CCA president/vice-president, Students’ Council ex-co member, or be a student councilor/CCA ex-co member that has also organised a school-wide event.

That’s why in every CCA, even the tiniest ones with less than 15 people in a batch, students feverishly fight to snag ex-co positions, leading to hurt feelings and fallouts. I, unfortunately, am a victim of this rat race, having run for president in my CCA and failed.

3. We skip lectures and take naps in the library, too.

Although the bulk of Rafflesians are, as you would expect, what I would classify as goody-two-shoes (including myself), we don’t always toe the line. We do ponteng lectures and hide in the library for naps or to rush our work. We also fall asleep in lectures, assemblies and tutorials.

I eventually acquired the useful life skill of falling asleep in dull assemblies and timing myself perfectly to wake up at the end of whatever it was, to join in applause. (Protip: Choose a tall person and sit behind him or her with your head down to sleep in peace.)

4. We roll our eyes at school propaganda.

Granted, RIJC’s reputation is pretty well-established, and we’re pleased when people think we are smart for being there.

It’s when the rhetoric kicks in, though, telling us we are the “Hope of a Better Age” (Auspicium Melioris Aevi in Latin), that it’s hard to stop ourselves from rolling our eyes. When higher-ups tell us we must strive to become “Thinkers, Leaders and Pioneers”, I try not to laugh or scoff.

What we really bonded on, I find, were times of adversity or mischief — for instance, when my class faced a furious teacher who discovered we hadn’t completed his or her assignment, and when we keng-ed to skip PE lessons by cooking up myriad excuses ranging from aching joints to dizziness, and the old faithful: menstrual cramps.

I also remember fondly how at least a third of my classmates would without fail fall sick or get injured and spend PE lessons studying or taking naps, all mysteriously close to examination periods.

As an ex-Rafflesian, I was a small fish in a big and very mixed pond. There was and still is a huge variety of people. So try not to stereotype us so badly next time, k?

The author is an ex-Raffles Institution (Junior College) student.

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Top image courtesy of Arissa Lee.