Friday, December 12, 2008
I was on my way home from town yesterday when the news of the release of exam results reached me. Philip msged me when that chap was still probably outside at East Coast Park himself. Very soon after, a couple more messages came and the journey home was honestly in agony. It got to the point I contemplated getting off at the very next station and take a cab back home. Well, I'm glad I didn't because it would be a very silly thing to do - all to just seek a peak at my exam results. The results will always be online but I would never compromise my wallet or safey (such as dashing across a road) just to view it.
The early release date came as pretty much a shocker to me and my friends because it was expected to be out earliest today afternoon. After having been in university for close to 2 years, I've learnt that even though the original date for release is 15th December 2008, Monday, it always comes out 2 days earlier. This is to prevent the system from crashing when the whole campus logs in to check their results. Well, now I've to factor in the fact that for next semester, it will come out 3 days earlier.
On the journey home, I was thinking about how wonderful life is to be able to have close bunch of friends in school whom I can depend on, not just on the academic side but also when it comes to personal issues. I mean friends do not just exist in your life to provide company, advice on schoolwork or provide a listening ear, they do more than that. It's something that many of us take for granted in our daily lives. A simple gesture such as receiving a message from a friend to inform me of the release of results means alot to me. I do that for my friends as well because they're important people in my life and don't expect anything in return. Add to the fact that many of my friends want to return the favour and had enough me always "bombarding" them with school news. One of my classmate even told me he wants to be the first one to message me the news when the results come out, instead of the other way round. Well, he didn't manage to do that.
Most would probably agree that the end of the semester coincides with the last exam paper but I personally beg to differ. For me, it comes with the release of your exam results and with that, you can safely say there's been a closure for this entire semester. Looking at my results yesterday, I'm pleased because after pushing myself hard, as in really hard to not just survive this entire semester but also to make something out of it. When the odds are against you with that ridiculuous timetable, you can either give in or make a battle out of it. I chose the latter. All of us only have 24 hours a day and to make sure I have more than that, I sacrificed sleep and my social life suffered. Looking back at it, it's more than worth it.
An argument broke out between me and my parents during the month of October because I defied their wishes to attend my cousin's wedding. You could probably agree it's a right thing to do if it falls on a weekday evening but the truth is, the wedding was on a Sunday afternoon. In fact, I was being polite but telling them way in advance - like around late August period that I forsee myself having a busy schedule and not to expect my presence at the wedding. I was glad I stuck to my principles and not give in to their demands and pressure. Even when I first brought up the topic that I wasn't going to the wedding, it was the first of many arguments to occur. The most intense one was of course on the morning of the wedding itself. In the end, the entire family left without me.
There I was typing out my remaining rugby reflections and trying to finish up on my motor learning lab reports while watching Total Rugby on cable tv. Although I have to honest and say I felt bad for not turning up (he's my cousin and it's his wedding), I have to know where my priorities lie. The next time when I get married, I would feel like shit if he doesn't come for my wedding too so yeah, you probably get what I mean. My sister tried to tell me that all it took would be 2 to 3 hours of my time for the wedding but I countered back with the fact that I would be able to finish up to 6 reflections within that time. In fact, relationships were strained back then. My family doesn't agree with what I'm doing and some of my friends feel that I should take a backseat when it comes to mugging/studying.
What happened yesterday was not to show off my results to my father especially, but to demonstrate to him the reasons for my actions back then. I carried my laptop over to the kitchen where he was sitting and told him "I hope this has convinced you that what I've gone through for the past 6 months was for this". He nodded but didn't really say much but I can tell from his eyes that he acknowledged the effort I put in. Hopefully this will better convince him that I love what I'm doing and am willing to put up for a fight for it. I'm definitely not going to rest on my laurels but work even harder the next semester to achieve better results.
The greatest challenge always comes from within and when you better your own personal mark, the satisfaction I get is always the best. With the early release of the results, I can now look forward to the remaining holidays and enjoy it alot better too.
Happy Holidays!
