Memories...
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
had my 1st paper todae..felt good bout it =) learnt my lesson from 2 sems ago, when i took this module call dynamics of inter-personal effectiveness..which was open book, so i yaya banana never study at all, haha then buang when i went into the exam hall n couldnt finish writing..so this time open book i prepared (tho for only 1 n a half days), knowing better of what to expect for open-book stuff.
Also got back an essay todae, politics of sea, got A-, which makes it easier for me to score in exams, coz the essay was worth 25%. The tutor who marked it was the one whom i mentioned last time as the fascinating guy haha. He put in his remarks that i was a do-er, and hope that i ll keep this spirit for the rest of my life. V encouraging indeed, but that got me thinking, what does he mean by a "do-er"?
Going for exams for the 5th time in nus is really different from going for it when i was a freshie. Hmm, i guess it makes one more relaxed, coz got more experience le, but i realize there still exist a significant difference between those going for honours year and those that intend to graduate after 3 years. Some of my year 3 peers who dun intend to go for honours are really quite relak haha, while those goin for honours apparently get more pressurized, coz we just need 1 module to cock up, and that ll affect our cap score. Speaking of which, by the time in yr 3, cap scores really quite hard to pull up or pull down le, and most people kena stuck in a fixed zone liao, esp after this sem. Of coz then there are also those crap modules taught craply, (like IPE heh) which can really make one feel xian.
Been seeing a lot of worried freshies..hmm..some tips for u if u re reading this now. Tips which have guided me thru out the past 2 n a half years, some of which i mentioned before le =>
(1) Study smart. No need to chunk down e whole coursepack and every single reading wan. No time. Pick out the main n most important issues and topics.
(2) Bring a personal alarm clock and a stopwatch to the exam hall (i m serious). Come on man, the exam hall clock everytime so far away how to see clearly? The stopwatch must time and press zun zun once the examiner says "go". Every second counts man, and seeing the seconds n minutes speed away can help to rush n poke yr backside to write faster also. Somemore ah, dun let the examiner cheat u of seconds by stopping the exam early!
(3) Time's up, Examiner announces "Stop writing, put down yr pen". Normally thats e 1st call, so do u stop writing? Of coz not la! Write somemore lah, dun care. Next he or she ll normally say "Any student caught continuing writing ll be disciplinary blah blah blah.." Take this time write somemore! Then comes the 3rd warning "I still see students writing blah blah".. Here comes the tricky part. If u sit far far behind in the exam hall, good for u. Very hard to catch u. Write somemore, n squeeze out whatever u can. If not, then yeah, stop and act pitiful if any invigilator niao u. Must always try to write out a conclusion at least, else yr essay ll look half-baked.
(4) Bring some giam1 sng1 ti1 (those kind of sour sour plum thingy) with u into the hall. I learnt this from last sem. The more sour the better. Coz can wake up yr idea wan, esp if u see the questions n get a mental block or scareded.
(5) This one always works for me. Whenever i m feeling shitty about revision, i tell myself "haha, prob hundreds of others re feeling as shitty as i am". That always makes me feel better. And come on la, nobody ever finishes studyin or reading everything. If we could, we wouldnt be in nus, wud be in havard or stanford loh.
(6) Ask for help from friends or seniors when u dun understand certain topics or concepts. Talk to them when ya feeling stressed. It always makes u feel better.
(7) There is only so much u can write in the exam due to time constraints. Thus, answer the question and go straight to the point. No time for writing grandmother stories. I always feel that having a strong argument and viewpoint helps too, coz it can help in makin yr essay stand out from the hundreds of scripts (who say the same thing as one another). Put yrself in the shoes of yr lecturer. If u mark everything the same u also feel xian rite.
(8) Play Kingdom of Loathing or some relaxing game everyday. And i mean everyday. Haha~ It can keep u sane.
(9) Dun be intimidated or scareded if u noe yr frens study much harder and much more than u. History has repeatedly shown that studying hard doesnt necessarily = to good results. (yes, the world is unfair).
(10) Finally, halo friend! you still got 5 more sems ahead of u leh!! now only 1st sem results buey3 zun4 wan! If u do badly this time round, always look ahead to the next one! And learn from yr studying mistakes.
Hmmm, these principles do work for me, hope that they can be of some help.
Last night when i was lying down on my bed, i suddenly thought of my old seniors when i was a freshie...people like Ken, Eunice, Arvin, Frances, shiqi, leonard, Ridhwan, Rudy, Patrick, Issac, Siling, joey, siang hou, kailing, meiyin, audrey, ginny, janiani, dennis, priscilla, kelvin si..even though i may not know all of them v well, i just rem that they were always around the clubroom..some always playing dai di and bridge haha..these was the generation before 25th took over..i dunno why i suddenly just thought of them..even missed them in a way haha..mayb it was coz of Ken's msg n well-wishes over msn..dawning on me how fast time flies..can still rem clearly him as my house ic haha..
I also tot of song kwang..haha! i miss him man..kwang ge..miss working with xuzi and chonghan as well in 25th haha..e 3 of us realli had so much fun and laughter and memories in 25th..i rem the daes of playing winning 11 in clubroom overnight! With steven as well ahha..then stupid soozie always use his dumb italy, while i always use lyon or newcastle haha..
also miss working with rayner boi n bobsie..e 3 of us complement each other really well haha, making up for what each other dun have, even tho half e time when we were working, we were always cracking our brains trying to solve problems..
I miss a lot of other people as well..haha..both past n present..
Yeah, and before i dozed off, i thought about rag 2006. Truly unforgettable wonderful memory..Sometimes i still go to bed at night thinking why e hell didnt we win, and what wud the scene have been like if we had won. And then i remember the bitterness n tears of everyone at the end, that i get so frustrated about it n stuff my pillow over my face.
