(these thoughts have been lingering in my mind for almost a month already and i wanted to put them down pen to paper first, but i somehow procrastinated and have decided to just type them here for now...)
with final exams, grad trip, family trips and commencement ceremonies done and dusted over the last 12 weeks, i think i should be contented with the amount of leisure time i have been enjoying. it is now the right moment to get my brains cracking again to good use, leaving behind my student status at Kent Ridge and tomorrow, beginning my days as a salaried worker at Kent Ridge (again!?).
over 20 years of education may have culminated in my graduation from NUS, having amassed some minor achievements and clearing those ritualistic national examinations once every few years. however, tomorrow marks a reset, where i start from the bottom and work my way up the 'corporate ladder' (how cliched!) until retirement.
this being my first full-time job, i can only wish that my days will be smooth-sailing (hah, what wishful thinking), or more importantly, i'll be quick to adapt to the tempo of working life (ie. no more afternoon naps and late nights) and the demands of the job.
looking back, i sometimes wonder if this is indeed fate or just a coincidence of choices, that despite the earlier setback 5 years back, i were to encounter the same organisation again...
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Friday, 26 April 2013
i'm 21 years & 1460 days old.
so i've been neglecting this blog since the end of last year, and i've decided to pen down some thoughts before i become a year older.
looking back at this past year, it's been a rather roller-coaster ride, beginning with a first time that i spent my birthday overseas while on SEP, and then followed by the concluding weeks of my SEP where i probably mugged harder than i would while in NUS. next up was the start of my year 4, which wasn't very fantastic during the 1st semester because i was still in dreamland mode having returned from England and was basically just slacking the entire semester, before i decided to buck up this semester and requested for an overload of 26 MCs in a finale semester which would see me graduate half a year earlier than expected... in the meantime i also secured a job offer before graduation and here i am now, hours away from my 25th, studying (not very hard) for 5 final exams!
a reason why i decided to complete my studies a semester earlier was because i saw a need to work hard to 'earn' my graduation trip... it wouldn't be as rewarding if i were to be relaxing on my graduating semester, would it? another reason would be that i saw no point in extending another semester (and in the process paying more school fees) just to complete a single 4MC module which i could have simply absorbed into the previous semester and put in more effort into my studies.
despite the hectic-ness of this semester, i really cherish the new friends/acquaintances i met through the 4 economics & 1 singapore studies module that i'm taking this semester (apart from the highlight of FYP!), mostly juniors, a mix of year 1s, 2s and 3s. and i think i'm fortunate to have group-mates who have been putting their best effort to the group assignments so there weren't many teamwork issues to iron out amid the pile of individual and group projects... and i realised it helps that i don't attend the same modules as my close friends, so i'm forced to make new friends and meet new students in school.
as for FYP, i couldn't have asked for better co-supervisors & mentors who engaged in meaningful discussions with me during all the weekly meetings (even though my prof scheduled them on my lesson-free thursdays!), and the comments given by my examiner during my presentation on the last week of school were very uplifting. it's even more heartening when your examiner is interested in your future plans after graduation after you finish your presentation, rather than a can't-be-bothered one who probably just walks off without a comment as soon as you're done and treat you like 'just any other student'... even though i was nominated by my supervisor to take part in the poster exhibition (which followed the presentation on the last day of school) and didn't win a prize for it, it was still an enjoyable experience talking to year 3 juniors about your own project (because they'll be choosing their FYPs soon) and to entertain the occasional stranger/department prof who pops by your poster and bothers to take a closer look.
looking ahead to the coming year, i hope to be able to foster even better relationships with my family and close friends, and i'm definitely looking forward to the grad trip coming up in less than a month to japan with my coursemates! :)
looking back at this past year, it's been a rather roller-coaster ride, beginning with a first time that i spent my birthday overseas while on SEP, and then followed by the concluding weeks of my SEP where i probably mugged harder than i would while in NUS. next up was the start of my year 4, which wasn't very fantastic during the 1st semester because i was still in dreamland mode having returned from England and was basically just slacking the entire semester, before i decided to buck up this semester and requested for an overload of 26 MCs in a finale semester which would see me graduate half a year earlier than expected... in the meantime i also secured a job offer before graduation and here i am now, hours away from my 25th, studying (not very hard) for 5 final exams!
a reason why i decided to complete my studies a semester earlier was because i saw a need to work hard to 'earn' my graduation trip... it wouldn't be as rewarding if i were to be relaxing on my graduating semester, would it? another reason would be that i saw no point in extending another semester (and in the process paying more school fees) just to complete a single 4MC module which i could have simply absorbed into the previous semester and put in more effort into my studies.
despite the hectic-ness of this semester, i really cherish the new friends/acquaintances i met through the 4 economics & 1 singapore studies module that i'm taking this semester (apart from the highlight of FYP!), mostly juniors, a mix of year 1s, 2s and 3s. and i think i'm fortunate to have group-mates who have been putting their best effort to the group assignments so there weren't many teamwork issues to iron out amid the pile of individual and group projects... and i realised it helps that i don't attend the same modules as my close friends, so i'm forced to make new friends and meet new students in school.
as for FYP, i couldn't have asked for better co-supervisors & mentors who engaged in meaningful discussions with me during all the weekly meetings (even though my prof scheduled them on my lesson-free thursdays!), and the comments given by my examiner during my presentation on the last week of school were very uplifting. it's even more heartening when your examiner is interested in your future plans after graduation after you finish your presentation, rather than a can't-be-bothered one who probably just walks off without a comment as soon as you're done and treat you like 'just any other student'... even though i was nominated by my supervisor to take part in the poster exhibition (which followed the presentation on the last day of school) and didn't win a prize for it, it was still an enjoyable experience talking to year 3 juniors about your own project (because they'll be choosing their FYPs soon) and to entertain the occasional stranger/department prof who pops by your poster and bothers to take a closer look.
looking ahead to the coming year, i hope to be able to foster even better relationships with my family and close friends, and i'm definitely looking forward to the grad trip coming up in less than a month to japan with my coursemates! :)
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