Final Year Woes

As I say farewell to my final summer holidays of '07, I can't help but feel kinda old since I'm on my way to my final senior year in SMU (actually I'm there alway, SHEESH, its already my final year. What on earth am I talking about?). Going back to school feels different as a senior.

Oh well, its all in the mind, I kept telling myself its my senior year and this year in school marks the end of my Singaporean education. Perhaps, that's the reason why I feel old-er suddenly.

I joined Facebook (this is really random but i'll find a way to link it back to being a senior in SMU, you'll see.)

Ok, Back to the point about joining Facebook. I came across this really funny and amusing group called: "When I joined SMU, MS was called QM and B Pluses were above average"

Those were the days when MS (Management Science, which is a statistics related module) was known as Quantitative Management. And yes, B pluses were really above average when I was a freshmen. Now, when a student in SMU said he/she didn't do well, most probably he/she got only a B+.

B+ is the new F.

Yeah, we are ridiculously competitive. I can't stand it most times. I say most because, I'm guilty of that as well. Sucked into the whole competitive culture, I guess.

******

And I feel like going for some fashion show or something when I stepped into school this afternoon. I tell you, the standard of looking good is getting higher with each incoming batch of students. Dressing up takes on a whole different perspective now. Skirts getting shorter, heels get taller.

I'm getting nostaglic all over again.

A Walk Down Memory Lane.

Freshmen Year '04 - the year of the beginning of a new chapter in life, first college friends and short skirts.

Orientation camp '04 on Bukit Timah Campus, fondly known as the Old Campus.

The infamous SMU Jump. We tried jumping as a group but it was quite a vain attempt, our feet were barely off the ground. Ha

The mousetrap game where there were plenty of screams. If I remembered correctly, we were paired, one partner has to be blindfolded, the other give directions to dismantle the mousetrap without activating it. Loads of painful snaps. Thankfully, I was the one who was giving directions.

I have no idea what this is about.





Untying the knot

I love the gingerbread man's house float we did. The last day of orientation camp was a chin gay style float parade whereby we had to make our own group's float to parade round the school. Haha, it sounded tacky initially but looking back, it was so much fun decorating and making the float from scratch with the scrap material the organisers gave us. We even had to decorate our own teeshirts to wear on the day. Yeah, it was great fun; the laughters, the paint on our faces (deliberate attempts to sabo each other) and the communal eating and sleeping.

Group 1 Friends, My first classmates in SMU - we were all from different disciplines.


Our first X'mas party together.

Pizza Party at a random GSR in the Old Campus (it can never beat City Campus). It is good that the final year of students have the best of both worlds. The tranquility of the old campus and the hustle and bustle of the new one. I would prefer the old campus; the memories of nice crispy waffle fries, the zebra crossing, the brit colonial like buildings, Adam Road Chicken wings, walking to Serene centre for coffee and ice cream and the afternoon after class picnics in Botanical gardens. Aww, it was good times, really. We worked really hard (my friends, not me, I was slacking most of the time) and played hard as well.

Biking at East Coast Park; the first summer holidays of 2005

Business Government Society Project - the slackest project to date. I was in the same group as Jax's best sec school buddy, Duan. A small world indeed. It seems like most of our friends are inter-linked or has a form of connection.

Leadership and Team Building (fondly known in SMU, as LTB). The best group dynamics. It was the height of role playing and video making at that time. It was a whole different level of presentation. Haha, it was funny and hilarious, dressing up and role playing for a presentation. I remembered we had to present on the difficulties of working in a huge team, blending our different working styles, communicating and surviving first year together. Since it was in the topic of surviving first year together, we decided to present in a Survivor talk show style; hence we made video of us (think of the opening credits of the survivor show complete with the original music and sounds) and brought the fire sticks usually present at the voting sessions, to class that day. It was crazy but we did really well. All for the effort, it was worth it; the hours spent on brainstorming. The ending video of the friendship forged in the team made me teared. A good way to start year one in college, a new chapter in life.

Our role playing for a video. For another presentation. Long story. Haha, but we had truckloads of fun and laughing till I had snitches.

Not to forget my other friends from other classes I took, through other friends, or rather randomly. I like the variety and the good mix.

Ah well, good times end somehow or other. Thank God I had wonderful friends throughout my university life. It was a stage of growing up, learning to rely on each other during difficult times of stress and work, striking a balance between working real hard and playing real hard as well. A stage of moulding our characters (sound rather cliche) and attaining maturity in thoughts.

I would say, the days spent studying is like no other. I remember griping about studying back in sec sch days but ironically, when I have one more year before entering the working world, I would rather study a bit more. Haha, ain't it such an irony.