“There will be nine one day.”

Adieu, RBG.

I remember vividly when my parents would go to my school to collect my progress report — it was on one of those second Saturdays, and funnily enough, I’d look forward to it whenever I’d top the class! It was my moment of glory when Sister Flavria would hand out the progress card to my parents, or my very strict Principal, Mrs. Grace, would flash a huge smile. Yeah, the whole confetti! Some of the best days of my school life.

But what was so cool is the whole experience taught me how to self-evaluate in the now. We acquire knowledge as we go along on this life path; knowingly or unknowingly, we are consistently giving tests, we will face the inevitable fork in the road. If the results are good, you know you’ve implemented all your learnings well. If they aren’t, you know you got more ‘re’ to do — review, revise, repair, renew, and so on for better application.

You are not in school, so you don’t have a curriculum set by someone, but one of the perks of being an adult is that you chart your life course and set your milestones. If you are satiated, you know you’ve fared well for yourself. If you feel bliss, you know you have served a purpose in society, which gets you going.

RBG was at the front line of opening up opportunities for all of us, left us with such a huge legacy that it would be unjust to not carry it through, in our little ways. If there is one thing she taught us, that’s determination. Determination to achieve, question the norm, stand for what’s right in the society, against all the odds. She showed us that if she can be best friends with Scalia, an ideological opposite, we can see the human in the role a person plays even if they are not on the same page as you. She looked at her work as a passion and not as work else she wouldn’t be at the bench the next day after her husband passed away. Even in her 80s, she was determined to stay fit! A tribute with push-ups was just the right send-off by her trainer.

She was not all work & no play; she also had fun — from her love for the opera to her Jabot collar, damn she even rocked the title that was bestowed upon her after a fellow Brooklyn rapper! She sure was notorious.

As she lay in state at the U.S. Capitol this morning, the first woman (and the first Jewish person) to be accorded that honor in the history of the United States, she reminds us Time is on the side of change.

So, rise & shine.

(That incidentally was my school motto!)