What Was Your School Motto?

I went for a walk around my neighbourhood, in the spirit of exercise, some time ago. (Not that I have not done the same since but then this post would end up being about my body fat percentage as opposed to its true nature.) I walked past the Sports School (how apt) and then past Innova JC. What a name. They should have entrepreneurship as a pass requirement. And my footsteps took me past Innova Primary School but what stopped in my tracks was the school motto in big letters at the parade square.

How cool is that? A school that truly aims to nurture the human spirit of adventure and achievement. Wow. Dare To Dream. How many of our parents told us to do that? It's quite likely we got hell for not doing better than the neighbour's kid in Maths. "You want to become a karung guni man, is it?", were the kind of threats I received. "Your better study and don't play so much." Exam-centric parents, the ones who worked for supervisors and turned Singapore from kampung to factory outlet.

I asked around the office about school mottos/slogans. I remember I had "Hope For A Better Age" in Latin for college. That refers to us kids being the hope, not all of us praying for world peace. Someone else had "Up and On". Woof, I like that one. A mission school guy had "Prayer and Work". Goodness, wouldn't that just sum up life? "Wisdom Through Knowledge" is another mindbender someone had to endure. One girls' school has a really bad motto - "Look Up, Lift Up'. They wore pinafores. Aiyaiyai.

As advertising folk who drink too much and work too hard, we put our minds into other creative expressions that would inspire students to "Be The Best They Can Be":
- You Want To Die Is It?
- Can You Clean Toilets?
- Good Grades And Personal Hygiene
- Common Sense
- Google It

You can reply with your own school mottos/slogans and suggest a few too.