Sister Dalicia Leong supported her son Sherwinn all the way when he started early morning seminary four years ago. It was not easy at the beginning, Dalicia recalled but now that Sherwinn is into his fourth year of seminary, things are much better. Sherwinn completed his “O” levels last year with sufficient good grades to enter the Nanyang Polytechnic, studying “Infocomm and Security”. He is coping well with his own schedule, friends, church and studies. In fact, he is preparing to go on his mission after his national service.
For the first three years, Dalicia had to maintain a rigorous early morning routine that consisted of:
- Waking the son up at 4.50 a.m.
- Leaving home at 5.10 a.m. to drive him to class that started at 5.30 a.m.
- Waiting for the class to end at 6.15 a.m.
- Fetching him home for breakfast, and
- Sending him to school for his regular lessons.
As a caring parent, Dalicia was naturally concerned about her son getting enough sleep, his physical well-being, his ability to cope with schoolwork, and staying active in church. She said he had to remind him to sleep early and stay away from computer games from time to time.
In the end, all is well. Dalicia said the benefits of attending early morning seminary for a youth are clear to see. Though not able to sleep as long as other youth who don’t have to get up at 5.00 a.m. Sherwinn was able to handle the additional demands of early morning seminary and still do well in school work, church and family activities. He certainly enjoyed the companionship of the Holy Ghost that comes from daily scripture studies and associating with other youth from the Church.
On reflection, Dalicia said, “It was all worth it. A little sacrifice here and there brings great blessings for the parents as well as for the students who will one day become God’s mighty servants.”