Let me readily confess that before the start of Champs 2009, I did not expect us to be a contender. While I would never admit this to anyone outside of the fraternity, media reports and the pundits had me convinced that Calabar was about to 3-peat. Therefore, it was very satisfying to the win the Quiz because at least we would have had something to counter the Calabar euphoria after Champs, even though in a very real sense, Quiz and Champs are more like apples and oranges but KC people have always had an uncanny ability to justify anything and everything.
The writing was on the Wall from Wednesday night. The pundits were wrong from day one. To be fair, only GOD Almighty knew that it would come down to the final race, on the final day. In fact, ONLY KC could have done it this way. Let me explain.
We are often accused of being a cult. But I hasten to add U-R-E and explain that we have a CULTURE. A Culture of Loyalty, Love and Allegiance that is unparalleled. If 1/10 of Jamaicans had the Love, Loyalty and Allegiance for Jamaica that we have for KC, we would be the World's Super Power not the USA. This CULTURE is enigmatic to those who have never attended KC because it cannot be experienced vicariously. In other words it is exclusive and esoteric. This Culture bequeathed US a supreme confidence often mistaken for arrogance or worse hubris. These adjectives though are merely the manifestations of an ignorant disposition and is rarely met with contempt but rather commiseration, for as the words of the Desiderata reminds us: "Listen to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story".
That KC Culture was again manifested at Champs 2009. Fortis Cadere Cedere Non Potest, is not merely a motto to us, it is a philosophy that is permeated in all that we do. It is the spirit and substance of this that propels us to do well when the statisticians predict otherwise. There is no LOGICAL reason that a school that does not get the best and brightest coming out of GSAT should consistently be ranked among the BEST schools in Jamaica in CSEC and CAPE. There is no LOGICAL reason that a school who does not or ever had a programme of recruitment could have won Champs for 14 consecutive years then followed up with a further 6 in a row. There is no LOGICAL reason that KC has won the Quiz more than any other school. There is no LOGICAL reason that despite being half as young as many other traditional schools, their achievements pale in comparison to OURS.
Who says KC is confined to LOGIC? The KC Culture has no respect for logic and that is why we defied and will continue to defy those who foolishly forecast without accounting for the KC factor/spirit/culture. I am proud of the boys at Champs. The KC Spirit that existed before we got there is still alive and well. And while all of us reminisce about the 'good old days', these are the best years of our life. We can rest assured that the KC Spirit continues to shine in the present boys, though if often reincarnates in different spheres.
Fortis for this Life and the Next. Fortis Forever...Forever Fortis. Fortis Cadere Cedere Non Potest.
The Brave May Fall But Never Yield.
