As my students sing that last part of the Anthem, I can't help but feel a certain kind of sadness. You see, today's flag ceremony was different from the other flag ceremonies that we had this school year. The flag did not go all the way up. Something that is usually done to signify mourning. And today we mourn the death of the forty-four SAF members who died in combat. Today we spent forty-four seconds of silence to pay our respect to these brave men who lost their lives to restore peace. Forty-four seconds. Forty four lives.
As we were spending those few seconds in silence. I couldn't help myself reflect on what this event means. As I was immersing myself in that sacred silence, I looked at the faces of these young students before me.
How many of them will be brave enough to offer their lives for a greater cause? How many of them will spend their days in the service of others? But really, the question I was afraid to ask was, How many of my students will risk their lives for the sake of this country?
I know that, young as they are, they may not still fathom the significance of what happened or what is happening. But I know, someday, these kids in front of me will make a choice - a choice of whether to spend their lives for themselves or for others; a choice of whether or not to live for something bigger than themselves; a choice of whether or not to live their lives fighting for their dreams.
I only pray that when they reached that point - that point where they have to make the biggest decision of their life - I pray that they will remember this moment. I pray that they will remember this forty-four seconds that we spent in silence, giving homage to brave men who fought for something, who lived for something, who served something bigger than themselves.
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