Alex, currently in Grade 8, represented GESS at the 13th National Inter-School Archery Championship earlier this year. During the knockout rounds, he faced stiff competition from top-5 ranked archers and showed remarkable skill and determination. We asked him about his passion in archery and life at GESS.
Hi Alex, introduce yourself to our readers.
Hello, my name is Alex, I’m in grade 8 in the European section. My hobbies are archery (obviously), bass playing, mountain biking, and skateboarding. I’m half-Chinese, half-Finnish and before I moved to Singapore I lived in Finland for 6 years. My thoughts on school life, I would say I’m an average student, dealing with the occasional urge to procrastinate. My favourite subject (that I get good grades in) is English, I’ve always loved creative writing, and I feel it suits me. Currently, I am in Jazz Band CCA and the Debate Club CCA, both of which I enjoy.
Congratulations on your archery win earlier this year. Could you share more with us about this championship and how you prepared for this?
In the qualifying round, I was constantly shooting well above what I usually do and got into the top ten, with most of my opponents in the first knockout rounds rivalling my skill. However, as knockout rounds went to semi-finals, semi-finals went to finals, more of my opponents were several times better than me (and older!). I made it to medal matches where I faced the top-seated archer Tang Boxiang from UWC. It was a close match, I did my best, and in the end he won. I received a bronze medal and had some really great Nasi Lemak at the end of the competition, well worth my 5 months of preparation.
Talking about preparation, I had been training 2 times a week (Tuesdays and Sundays) for about 4 hours combined, I also researched greatly on technique before the competition to make my shot process more efficient than ever. When I was at the range, I tried my best to always warm up and create a plan before starting to focus on score – which helped me tremendously in having a clearer mind while shooting.
When and how did you pick up archery? What do you like about it?
If I remember correctly, it was early 2018 in Finland when I had my first try at archery. At the time, I was too weak to shoot properly on the club bows, nonetheless I was hooked and after a couple months, I was back at it. Around this time, I got my own bow and started training weekly with guidance of the club’s main coach. I quickly realised that archery was for me, since the only person that could affect my score was myself. There were no teammates to contend with, and no opponent team to fight against, meaning that my actions solely determine my score. However, apart from the individualistic half of archery, I also love how the sport is an exercise in consistency. A quote from the legendary coach Ki Sik Lee (who created the shot technique that I use and recommend) sums consistency in archery well: For one arrow, almost anyone can achieve excellence. However, when that one arrow must be repeated with another, and another, on command, the archer begins to question his ability to sustain excellence.
You are in Grade 8 now. What are your main challenges in school, and how do you manage them?
My main challenges are time management and procrastination. I know many things and understand most subjects very deeply, yet give me a week to do a project on something in class and I’ll barely have started doing anything by the deadline. For the past two years that I have been in GESS, I self observe that I tend to make progress only when approaching my deadline – I attribute it to my ADHD and perfectionism. At the same time, I am learning not to put all the blame on my conditions; you got to work with what you’re given basically. I (try to) overcome my procrastination by doing work mainly in areas where other people are also studying, like libraries. This makes my brain think less of what fun things I could be doing, and makes it think more of how I’ll tackle my work. I find that the school library works really well, as it’s in the campus (so no pilgrimages to a far-away library anymore) and is usually very quiet.
when his poem was selected to be the poem of the grade.
What kind of support do you feel GESS gives you, in terms of your schoolwork and also your pursuit of interest like archery?
GESS definitely gives more opportunities to explore music and creative fields in general. With a really nice music hall that I visit almost daily, I believe the sole reason I play bass and love music today is because of how great the music facilities are. Other than music, I feel that the learning environment that GESS gives is top-notch. The teachers are very open to questions and student-directed learning, and in general the staff are all just great people.
Lastly, what would you say to other young people who are interested in taking up archery?
Go out and shoot! There’s plenty of really affordable beginner lessons that archery clubs host, and having coaches to help you start off is absolutely valuable. Other than doing lessons, consuming a lot of archery-related content (created by archers) can help in gaining more knowledge of the technical side of the sport. If you think you’ll like the style that I do (Olympic Recurve), then YouTube channels like NUSensei and Jake Kaminski Archery are great ways to see what archery really is all about. Essentially, if you have that interest, go try how archery feels like and if the archery life is for you. Maybe you’ll join me on the shooting line next competition.
