Saturday, November 22, 2008
2 months of not updating my blog, so unlike of me really. Compared to the army days where I will update it with every book out, it's such a different case now. I'm finally done with Year 2 Semester 1 and the exams proper. There's so many words that I can use to describe this semester but I know the list will never end so it's better not to get started. With this free time that I've have till school begins next year, I hope to get a decent entry into this little space of mine once again, a space that had been neglected thanks to a busy schedule of mine.
There were times where I wanted to take a breather from schoolwork and blog down my feelings and thoughts. However, I thought of the opportunity cost lost just by spending 15 to 30 minutes online typing. This time could be better off spent typing a piece of rugby reflection, doing my geography assignment or completing a pe lab report. That's what my life had become for the past 4 months - revolving around work and work only. Few of classmates called me a mugger but I know it's all in the name of fun. Even friends from outside of pe call me by that nick. Well, I can't help but admit that I've been extremely nerdy this semester but this is just to make up for the lack of quality as well as the lack of time this semester had provided for me.
Starting school at an obscene time of 7.30am and ending at close to 8.30pm, I'm often too drained to do anything else but eat dinner, pack my bag for the tutorials and lectures the following day and attempt to do some work. Weekends which are supposed to be the relaxing 2 days of my life became time that was used to catch up on work. I gave up on my social life and that is something I felt was necessary in order to survive this torturous semester. It got to the point that I didn't really enjoy a date with a friend - a simple movie and dinner on a public holiday. It was supposed to be a day where I told myself that I had to forget all the work on hand and just go all and enjoy myself. Who was I to kid? I ended up thinking about my uncompleted work towards the end of the date, felt it was not fair to the other party. Maybe I do need to do some self-reflection sometimes. When I got home, I actually regretted going out. Seeing that stack of uncompleted work, the situation was that bad.
Come to think of it. All things have to come to a closure and this semester was not exempted too. There's so many things to do in this one and only life of ours. I gotta make sure this holiday of mine will be well-spent. Recharge my energy and have a good rest. I deserve it and all 23 other classmates of mine do as well.
Today's paper was pretty good but the time management was left much to be desired. Never in my life have I encountered such a weird format for an exam paper. 10 questions that were all compulsory and must be attempted within 2.5 hours. One of the reasons that accounted for stress that I've learnt in sports psychology was ucertainty. My tutor created that by not really revealing the exam format till I flipped open the question booklet today. I meant he did mention to us everything that he taught would be tested but the format and mark allocation was really terrible. Some of the questions and mark allocation were pretty much mismatched too. 45 minutes into the paper, I told myself that I had to leave 1.5 hours for the second half of the paper. Otherwise, the second half which accounted for like 56 marks was going to at risk. It was a rush to the finish really. I do amaze myself sometimes with the number of booklets I take for an exam. From the usual 2, it had become the third booklet today. It's no wonder that my friends commonly say that trees were never my best friends.
I'm certainly glad it's over because for the last 30 minutes, the paper was becoming a chore to complete. I wanted to complete it and just get it out of the way and the information inside my brain was just waiting to spill out. Took the train with a few of my classmates to Marina Square for a good dinner at Billy Bombers. Quality time spent in the presence of good food and company, what more can a person like me ask for? Freds gave me and Boon Hui a lift back to the West after dinner but we ended up getting on the highway towards the north-east, Ang Mo Kio, Yishun and finally back to the familiar grounds of Jurong. It was partly my mistake for not telling him to stay on the right lane - that will enable us to turn into the Newton and be on our way home.
Well, sometimes getting lost isn't that bad an idea where you have someone to hold a conversation with. It helped that today was the last paper for the semester and time simply wasn't going to be an issue for any of us. The only bad thing was the petrol waste. So this begins the start of the holidays for the class and boy do we need it. I'm tired and I shall go get some sleep soon. Tired of so many things in life sometimes really.
I think Freds was right about going out on Fridays and seeing couples walking around hand in hand. It does get to you, not just him alone. Well, I take comfort that I've got the company of my friends to share the evening with.
