COM 443: Closing Reflections #3

I stand here before you today, as the last speaker for the last group, for what could very well be the last time many of us see each other in a classroom setting. It's been a hell of a ride. I'm not going to have a video with Black Eyed Peas in the background. I'm not going to open or close a heavy book. I'm not going to put away a script. I'm not going to sing and dance. I’m not going to recite poetry or have people run around and act out a scene.

I remember when I had to address a new batch of Student Council members as Editor on my first day of the job. I didn’t even have slides, so this is an improvement. But I’m not here as the Editor of The Buffalo Horn. I’m not here as the guy who does silly comics.

I’m not even exactly here as the head of Spatiality. I'm here as Naz, to tell you about Spatiality, though we each have our own stories to tell. Here is ours, in my words.

When the class list for our little foray into Advertising was revealed, I was quite impressed. Excited. Happy. I’ve worked with a number of people here, and have seen the way many others do their things too, and have always been suitably and quite awesomely impressed by the majority of the people gathered here. I can honestly say that there was almost no way I could have been displeased with the way the groups turned out.

That being said, though, I have to be frank with everyone and I vividly remember walking into class with Justin and Ken on Day 1 and thinking about working with them again, like we’ve done so a few times in and out of class before.

I look at Spatiality, and see six people I have had mixed and varied histories with.

Sean I’ve really only gotten to know this year, and with him I feel I share a close kinship, and he is probably the only other person other than Ken who can yell “Eh Malay” at any given time and place. He’s been the one who has provided direction when it has deserted me, and that’s happened a few times.

I’ve always looked at Suen Hui and wondered what goes on in that head of hers. Now I kinda know that she obsesses over Tetris, even before we got assigned Russia, and that hiding inside her is a writer of some imagination and talent, as well as someone with a rich and diverse collection of music and media. I won’t ask how she managed to… procure everything. But she’s always been the one more than willing to put things together, both graphically and musically.

Jamie. She lives near me, which is a definite plus point. She is a constant source of support and cheerfulness, able to tell you the most ridiculously funny stories with a straight face. Like how her friend killed a baby Koala. Seriously. And she is the person who can come up to me at 1AM and suddenly, out of the blue, talk about Left 4 Dead 2. Also being the one who enthusiastically volunteers to print things (at her workplace) helped immensely.

I’ve worked with Felicia several times, and no matter what, I’ll remember the cartwheeling dance she dared to do in front of the whole cohort way back in Sem 1. It’s on YouTube. It takes guts to do what she did, and to do what she does, dare to be different and to be proud of it. She’s also someone always able to think creatively, though sometimes her train of thought is nothing short of perverted.

I never knew Daphne existed before this class. Now, I can’t imagine how that was possible. One of the hardest workers I know, and someone always willing to pick up any slack from anyone, with no complaints, no hassle, no problem. She enjoyed Lesbian Vampire Killers, whatever that means.

Of all the people in Spatiality, and perhaps in this whole class, this whole school, our very own Miss SIM-UB is the one person that I’ve gone through the most with. Through thick and thin, comedy, tragedy, drama. When I saw that she drew number three too, I was… happy.

I was happy with my group. I still am, and am proud to be called their leader, and am only here now because of all their efforts.

But this is a class of more than seven. More than six groups and an instructor. I could never have enough time to go through what I think of everyone here, what I think of our shared journey. Someone talked about how they found that their experience was much more than a sum of the parts in their group, and no truer words have been spoken. Being last today means that there is little I can say that hasn’t already been eloquently said by everyone else in one way or another, but let me just say that through the blood, sweat and tears that we have ALL shed the past few months, we can all safely say “HOLY FRICKING CRAP IT’S OVER”.

But in all seriousness, creativity and execution aside, discounting photoshops, dismissing photography, not looking at editing, ignoring copywriting, we have all put in more than we ever thought possible into this venture.

For a long time, many of us worked towards being on the forefront of creativity, striving towards excellence and to be able to wield a spectrum of ideas. Trying to be original, unique, new, bold, captivating, interesting, the very best. Some tried pulling stunts and theatrics. But we all tried as hard as we could to be a step ahead and to produce something that we could be proud of, something to display and show off. Something to call our own. Something that would endure, something that we would create to last. In the end though, I think we can all, each and every one of us, we can safely say we have left big footprints in our collective memories, and that this class, this ordeal, this trial, this test, this challenge, this experience has left us changed. Through our blood, sweat, and even some tears, it’s a testament to what we’re all made of that despite all the adversity that every one of us has faced and been forced to deal with, to contend with and eventually overcome, we’re all still here.

Here in Singapore we don’t usually pay attention to the occasion two days away, or last month, if you’re Canadian. But we have a lot to be thankful for, I feel.

I thank my group members for being supportive, receptive, open-minded, determined and ultimately for being there.

I thank the other groups, the other members of this class for keeping the big picture in mind, even as the competition heated up. For working together and not against each other, and for the enjoyable semester and past couple of years.

I thank Professor Bob Armstrong, for all he has done for us and even to us, and despite the arguments and disagreements many of us have had either privately or out in the open, I feel I can safely say that we understand and appreciate your efforts into making this a learning experience and doing your best to make this torture fun. It is said you learn more through failure and critique than success and praise, and so perhaps many of us have found the past few months thoroughly enriching.

And with that. I thank you for your time, your patience, your praise, your criticisms, your belief, your faith, your being here.

Thank you.