The Week So Far

Life has been painfully uneventful since the last time I blogged. But I am going to blog anyway because boredom is slowly gnawing my sanity away. In the time span of a week, I have had hair surgery -or 'hair spa' as the lady calls it; gone to the gym; experienced boredom like no other on the first day of work -continuing from last week; gone to the gym; accomplished something albeit small as a student helper; met up with a good friend for lunch; sulked; did a ton of word search puzzles; gone to the gym and; best of all (no sarcasm whatsoever), caught up with my dearly missed high school friends.

Tomorrow, or rather, next week is going to rock. And boy am I looking forward to it.

First Impressions: Third Take

It just dawned on me that I had completely forgotten to post about my views, lame as they are, on the courses I had pursued in my third semester (Fall) of college. But it is actually a good thing to be posting it now instead of during the semester because I have a natural tendency to, uh, freak out very early in the semester. So as per normal, here goes:

MATH172
This is my Calculus II class and is particularly famous for its high failing rate among the students. I entered this class fearing the worst and made sure I paid attention to every single lesson and finished all the homework given even if it killed me. Failing would be worse than death for me. (I don't know when I became a pathetic academic wuss.) In the end, I did so much better in this subject than I could even dream of doing and I owe a large portion of my gratitude to my lecturer because she is, in my opinion, one of the best lecturers in my program. Even a private tutor couldn't help me as much as she did (Read: couldn't help me at all) and I am now fond of Calculus because of her. Fortunately, I will still be under her tutelage next semester for Calculus III. This time, I don't expect to do half as well as I miraculously did this semester. But I hope to give my best, at least.

CHEM106
This is my Chemistry II class and my lecturer had taught me Chemistry I back in my first semester. Truth be told, the subject materials for this class were hideously boring and it had been impossibly hard for me to make it past two pages of the Chemistry textbook whenever I revised. The lecturer, however, was far from boring. Her slightly eccentric character and random outbursts definitely made the class a very interesting one and I am glad I was under her guidance for two semesters. I still cannot comprehend how I got what I got for this subject because I honestly didn't give it my best. I only remember complaining on end about how the textbook is an object of torture and how I may not survive this class. But I am eternally grateful to her for being way too kind to me.

PHYS211
This is my Physics I class and is the most nightmarish of the lot. Physics had been one of the few subjects I absolutely loved back in high school...but my love for Physics shriveled up and died the minute I stepped into this class. Many sophomores had claimed that this class was a piece of cake but man were they wrong. Because it was like a bowl of noodles. At least, in my case. My lecturer was a bit of a merciless dude and there were many times when I had thought I was actually going to jump off the 12th floor where our classrooms were because he kept encouraging us to do so since our test results had been so devastatingly bad. And we could also deepen our understanding on projectile motion by doing so -if we lived through it. Oy. I vividly recall walking into the examination room during my Physics finals feeling wholly defeated and completely hopeless. I may need someone to explain to me how I actually got what I got for it because really, I had sucked big-time in this class. I was and still am expecting to see a minus (-) sign behind the first Latin alphabet in the set of letters every time I re-check my results. It is not paranoia; it is the search for justice. Ha-ha.

Next semester which would possibly be my last in college here, I will be attending classes for Calculus III (dead), World Religions (dead meat), Microeconomics (pork chop), Sociology (seafood spaghetti) and Malaysian Studies (dust). I have a hunch that my last semester is going to be the deadliest of them all but I am conjuring a strategy now to beat the Beast of College to a pulp when it attacks next semester. But then I have yet another hunch that I am going to lose in this imminent battle. Oh boy.

Second and Third

My first job ever as a student ambassador (a fancy name for 'student helper') turned out to be nothing to shout about because (a) I was the most useless, antisocial, timid, clueless and unapproachable one of the bunch of us and I wish I was kidding but no, that is the sad and horrid truth; (b) I read more than I actually talked and; (c) I realized I wasn't eligible for the job (at all) regardless of how much I love being around cool adults. (My parents being a perfect example.) I'm not sure if I'll still be working one last time next weekend but really, I kind of suck. At something so simple like communicating...or holding a pair of scissors. Oy.

Crappy work performance aside, the workplace was incredibly stupendous. Although the place isn't fully completed and furnished yet, there is no doubting the splendor of the place once it is done. The new lakeside campus -at present time- is complemented with a man-made lakeside where one can go kayaking in, a moot court, a restaurant (for the Tourism and Hospitality students), a housekeeping room (ditto), computer labs with huge-screened iMacs worth groveling for, colossal lecture theaters (one of which overlooks the gorgeous lake) and a ton of other nifty rooms I didn't get to visit during the three-day work period.

It is pretty upsetting that the ADP program will not be moving over to the Cool Campus as aforementioned but instead will seek residence in another college campus which kind of...sucks. I don't plan to stay here long enough for the move to the Uncool Campus if things go according to plan. But then again, my plan isn't always the best or the most bulletproof. I'll see how it goes.

In other news, there are four more weeks to go before the new semester begins. I can't believe it. It honestly feels like two months have passed even though it has only been two weeks. And there are still four more droning months -as opposed to weeks- to live through. But I will stop complaining because I actually need to utilize the time for the university applications. Pshaw.

First Day

First day of work went in this order: Woke up with three hours of sleep. Waited. Signed in for the job with the red t-shirt. Freaked out. Decided I couldn't betray my program. Donned the navy blue t-shirt which was the exact same shade as the janitors. Freaked out again. Failed miserably to ignore a pest of a friend. Stood around. Greeted prospective students. Talked to parents and their children. Cringed. Banged my head on the wall (or at least, I imagined it). Walked around. Sat down. Stood up. Sat down. Stood up again. Sat down again. Got home. Oy.

And now I will prepare to head to bed even though it's twenty minutes past 7PM. Having a 9 to 5 job even for three days which require me to do more of nothing than something is really driving me up the wall. Tomorrow I will definitely bring the necessary things which keep me sane: A book and the iPod...though I don't think I'm allowed to read or listen during the job. No matter. Their very presence brings great comfort.

Grades Don't Mean Squat

Today was a terrific day! It didn't start off terrifically though. It started off with a call from my college asking me what blue T-shirt size would I want to promote my program (ADP) when I was told at the briefing that I would be wearing the red T-shirt to promote other pre-university programs except ADP. And I am expected to wear both tomorrow. I'm doomed.

After having an unhealthy lunch, coughing here and there, rotting away in front of the TV and reading, I got an unexpected news from a friend: The 3rd semester results were out at the student portal. I was gobsmacked because the results were supposed to be out next week, not today. I frantically logged into the student portal and clicked on the ominous buttons which led me to the academic results. I didn't even have time to be anxious because I saw it before I could even blink. And flipped out. It really was such a shame that I couldn't produce any tears of joy but my bubbles of happiness and gratitude were expanding rapidly. God is always good. Too good. And this isn't the first time. 500% of the glory belongs to Him. Thank You.

I am immensely grateful for what I got...but grades are, in the end, only grades. I am more thankful that I survived this semester because it was deemed the hardest since I had taken three t-u-p-h subjects along with several friends. (Though in my opinion, I think next semester is going to be the t-u-p-h-est one for me because I have two reading subjects. I don't read books which aren't storybooks well. At all.) So many times I had accepted the fact that my CGPA was going to free-fall, as predicted by one of my lecturers. And so many times I had wanted to allow the Beast of College to swallow me up so I could rest in peace. And I think I did...for a short while. But I don't know what made me persevere though I think the Man Upstairs had a lot to do with it.

I only hope for the best for my collegemates in the semesters to come. I think I irked and possibly angered a bunch of people with my extreme happiness earlier today. I couldn't help it but I should know better even though the only way I am capable of expressing any kind of emotion is through something virtual. Oy me. It would definitely be ten-folds better celebrating something with amazing friends but that would be asking for too much. I am just majorly thankful that a person's value isn't determined or measured by the grades they get from pieces of paper with questions designed to confound the test-taker on purpose. And I hope the friends around me realize that.

Tomorrow is my first day of work and I am kind of dreading it. But I'm sure I'll survive. At least, I hope I will. I pray I will. I beg I will. Oh man.

"A growing body of evidence suggests grades don't predict success -- C+ students are the ones who end up running the world." -Source

I think I'm doubly doomed now.

She Rocks

Today was a fantastic day mainly because I got to watch my cousin sister perform in the play she had been rehearsing for for too long. Since the play was adapted from a work of literature, the storyline was a tad bit difficult for me to comprehend though I finally got it sometime after the first ten minutes and enjoyed an incredible performance by madly talented people who are my peers. I am very proud of my cousin sister for being culled out of many to be a part of the cast and for being so committed to the play. Cheers to her.

Dudette on the top left, dude on the middle left and dudette on the bottom right: Brilliant.

OK-ish Day

Today was a painfully odd day. I had to get up early so I willed myself to sleep early last night. Naturally, my mind was wide awake until 3AM. I woke up after five hours of sleep -which is a far cry from the usual ten hours- and went to the train station. Since the highly efficient train was extra efficient this morning, I decided to befriend a stranger at the train station who was, coincidentally but not surprisingly, from my high school. The train eventually came after thirty minutes of waiting and we got to our respective destinations.

I had presumed that I was going to have to walk to college alone this morning -which isn't a huge deal at all- but God is always kind. Always. I bumped into an ex-schoolmate in the train who was also attending the briefing. And so we ended up walking to our college whilst having a good chat.

The briefing lasted for an hour and I discovered, much to my chagrin, that I wouldn't be promoting my program (ADP) with the rest of my ADP peers. Huh. I still don't know what it is I am assigned to do during the Open Days but I will find out soon enough -on the first day of work.

Once the briefing was over, a friend arrived at college; just in time to miss the briefing. Genius. Then we headed to the closest mall for lunch. Then the friend kindly dropped me off back in college because I had to settle some stuff with my transcripts. Of course, I couldn't log in to the library computers because my "username and password did not match" for the first time. And of course, the office at the computer lab was closed so I couldn't get the problem fixed. I ended up moping in McDonald's and then visiting the gloriously peaceful program office to read while I waited to get home.

I got home in the evening and the bed screeched for my name that I had to relent. I slept for two hours in complete darkness and woke up to find exactly ten horrific mosquito bites on me. Fantastic. After frantically slathering myself with anti-mosquito balm, I proceeded to do what I wasn't able to accomplish back in the library...and realized that there is something more mentally challenging than Calculus: Translating high school transcripts from Malay to English. The pain is almost enough to make me quit applying to U.S. universities and try out for Australian universities. Almost. But not quite, thankfully.

I predict tomorrow will be a bit of a banal day with a lot of reading and musing and boiling of water (which I have done numerous times now) and translating of transcript (which I don't want to do numerous times). And breathing. I am grateful.