Holidays Update
Ten weeks, 1 whole term from my last update. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I was simply too busy to spend time updating my blog. Sorry, I had a very busy, hectic schedule and time is very precious. I had to prioritise my work and blogging is always at the bottom of my list.
A brief summary of what I had been doing during term 2. I would love to call term 2 as the killer term, once it’s over it’s basically smooth sailing towards the end of the year.
This is what I have been doing for the term - Economic Symposium, Council Admin, Paradigma, etc.
Economics Symposium
I signed up to represent the college in the annual premier Economics competition for JC students. I was duly selected to represent the college in the team of 5. The title of our presentation is “Remaking Singapore: Discuss how the development and promotion of the creative industries (arts, design, media) help in the remaking of the Singapore economy”
It was hard work throughout the whole duration of the competition. First, it was preparing for the audition, then preparation for the preliminary round and then preparation for the finals. We did well by qualifying for the final round and then finishing 2nd. I was extremely disappointed at finishing only 2nd. We believed we did extremely well and deserved to win the competition as we didn’t believe the other finalists were that good as compared to us.
A brief outline of what we did during the course of the competition. We stayed back almost everyday doing research, crafting out a script and practising. I was glad the team is a really cooperative, commited and dedicated team. Shona, Leck Khai, Candice and Hui Li - you guys rock!
We stayed back almost everyday after school. Call us crazy or what but we really worked hard. You guys really taught me what is hard work. In the initial stage we would stay back till 10pm to complete our task before splitting the work so we can further work on it at night. The school officially locks up at 9pm, so we were chased out of college. But we decided that we were better off if we stayed outside the college gate to complete our work.
Once our main script was completed, our schedule was toned down to going back around 7-8 pm. This is DAILY schedule. We practised, rehearsed, prepared our slides for our competition. We were so committed that going home at 7-8pm actually felt early after getting used to getting chased out of school almost everyday by the guards who were preparing to lock up the college.
Whenever we can go home seeing broad daylight, we were extremely happy. For me, I would be extremely extremely happy if I can still see the sun when I reach hostel. And mind you, the journey back home from school to hostel in a good 45 minutes!
Students’ Council
Not only was I busy with Economics Symposium, I was also busy doing random Council work here and there. I’m the Secretary and every once in a while I would be busy doing some admin work which I wouldn’t even remember.
There was an Elects Camp during Term 2 and I was also involved in 2 adhocs at the same time - Council Elections and Paradigma.
In Elections, we had meetings to discuss how to run certain stuff.
In Paradigma, I’m involved in a Research Team to investigate the Rich-Poor gap in Singapore. It’s like doing Project Work again. In my team of 4, we had to do our due research on the project, before crafting out a report.
We are towards the end of the report phase and in term 3, I’ll be representing my team in doing a presentation to a big crowd in the college Auditorium.
SAT
It does not help that I have my SAT right in the middle of my busy term. It was never my intention to take it in term 2. I wanted to take it in January but all spaces were filled up when I wanted to sign up. So between all these stuff, I also had to study for my SAT, learning new words with the hope of doing well for the test to stand a better chance of landing admission into one of the top US universities.
The results had been released. I wouldn’t say I did extremely well, but neither would I say I screwed it up big time. It’s just an average score; slightly above average. Hopefully it’s good enough to land me admission to one of the Ivy League universities.
Studies
With all those co-curricular activities happening at the same time, my studies somehow took a back seat. It was not as urgent until there was a test. Lectures were completed with a super fast speed. It would take around 1 week or at most 2 before a chapter is completed and a new set of tutorial will be waiting on my study table.
My study table in the room is completely messed up for the whole weekday. Only during weekends will I clear it up. Sometimes only after 2 weeks or so. How do you find time when you leave for school at 6.30am and only reach home again at 10 or 11pm? I’m just so dead tired everyday that I can just bath and then sleep.
Luckily there were many public holidays and long weekends during term 2. The breather provided by the holidays is the only time I have to consolidate my studies and complete my tutorials. I’ll usually complete my tutorials ahead, normally 2 to 3 weeks’ worth and then not do a single tutorial for the next few weeks. That was my only way of surviving.
Alas, I still managed to find time to study during weekends whenever there is a test, be it class assessment, lecture test, common test etc. Although I didn’t do so well for one or two of the tests, I’m proud to say I did pretty well for the majority of the tests, scoring mostly Bs.
Holidays
It’s finally the mid-year holidays. I now have a 1-month break from schooling. I’m studying hard. I want to convert my Bs into As. I’m sick of getting Bs. I’m staying in Singapore till 7th June. Then I’ll come back home to KL for 11 days till 17th June. After the holidays, it’s stressful time back again in Singapore. Everyone in the hostel will be busy studying day and night for the mid-years. This exam is crazy coz it’s almost every topic in the syllabus for all subjects.
Well, I’m not staying in Singapore till 7th for no reason. I actually signed up for AJC’s internal selection to represent the college in the National Economics and Finance Management Quiz in Term 3. I just took the test and I surprisingly ended up 2nd highest. Now there are several training session for this quiz with the last session in NUS on the 6th.
So, that’s about all my life update from the last post up till this point.
I’m now looking forward to going back KL to catch up on a good breather.
Then again, it’s not really a holiday. I’m in this study mood. Everyone is.
Bryan, organise a class outing for me!!!! Haven’t seen you guys for a LOOOONGGG time. And mind you, this will be my last trip back home before my A-levels at the year-end. The next time I’m back I’ll have a good 7 to 8 months break from studies.
