Quinn’s Corner • Spring, 2026
I have a story to tell you. By paying attention to the stories that happen to us, by sharing them and examining them, we can learn so much. This story happened before my test began.
It is a long-standing tradition in our school that before a test, the students clean the school. It is an act of service for the school and a community event that brings us all together. This tradition is part of Gotong Royong which is the practice of all of us working together to support the entire community.
On the Friday before the all-school cleaning, I decided to clean my office. TASPP students start arriving at the school in the early afternoon and on that Friday, they arrived to find everything from my office in the hallway and piled on the front desk.
The students poured into my office and began asking questions.
“What are you doing?!” several of them asked in unison.
“I am cleaning my office. You know how we have to clean the whole school for my test this weekend? Well, I wanted to start here first.”
“CAN WE HELP?”
I told them how much I would appreciate the help.
I passed out rags and cleaner and asked for help moving things. They put their heads down and started to clean. Then the questions started flying.
“What rank are you testing for?”
"How long is your test?”
“Do you mediate the whole time?”
“Why do you have to meditate that long?”
“Is that the longest anyone in Pukulan has ever meditated?”
”Are you Mas Cody’s mom?”
”What rank are they testing for?”
”How much meditation do they have to do?”
”Why aren’t they helping you clean now?”
”Are you gonna pay us for this work?”
”Do you want me to crawl under your desk and clean back there?”
I answered the questions as fast as I could, trying to get to them all. It felt like good natured verbal sparring with all of them.
When the question about paying them came up, I told them, “I will support each of you as you train and if you end up testing for Black Belt someday, I will probably be the person that promotes you.”
The room became quiet for a moment. I imagined they were thinking about their futures, considering becoming Black Belts some day, hearing me say I would be supporting them for a long time. For me, I felt connected and grateful to all of them for helping and supporting me.
The silence was broken as a voice rang out, “This is the most fun I have ever had cleaning anything!”
I did think about them during my test. I saw their smiling faces and felt gratitude all over again. I felt them with me in spirit, making me smile during the hard moments of my test and reminding me what Gotong Royong really means.
-Mas Quinn
