Midway

Here am I, stranded in the midway of the year, the quagmire of studies, and the toil of applications.

I attended my AAA (graduation for January/March/July 2014, an unwonted tradition of my college), but I have 5 more months before completion of course; I finished two rounds of SAT, but the results can never make me complacent (although this time the inscrutable nature of the exam successfully dissuaded me from another retake); I completed my AS, but there’s till A2 to go.

The relaxed past

I anticipated the upcoming (by then) month-long examination marathon just before the AS exams, but towards the end of it, the sparsely distributed schedule defused my paranoia. On the other hand I was right that the conclusion of my SAT equaled the release of half of my examination burden. More so when my writing papers for Econs and Physics were done, and for the rest of the period we just have to keep doing past papers to keep up our momenta.

We utilized these ample gaps not only to prepare upcoming papers, but also entertain ourselves: we marched into the cinema for three times (all of which were after the end of a paper), hanged out with old friends to KLCC (after an elaborate ride on Rapid KL and LRT), enjoying ourselves in mindless loafing. But the adventurous trip to KLCC was well-justified: I spent 4 One-Malaysia book vouchers (due 30 June) to buy books of my interest: math and writing (reason: these are the books that I didn’t find in the Big Bad Wolf book sales).

The intense future

Now that the third (and final) semester starts, and we return to our studies after a paltry of one-week break, because the whole world knows we (as 18-month students) will be rushing for syllabus frantically. And can anything be more hapless than that we have learned only partially on a chapter or two out of 15 stipulated in our coming exam? Main reason was our ravenous need of revision for AS previously, and consequentially the normal 6-hour slot for each subject is no longer enough.

More so when cumbrous application requirements approach us like tides, i.e. essays and some more admission tests (you feel it when you apply to institutes of different countries, each demanding different set of tests), and the idea of retaking left us in quandary: should I sacrifice my extra time for these? Meanwhile, since we had few months to race through our college essays, we have to collect the essence of our thoughts and exercise every drop of flair into coherent piece of work, about 600 words each. Just imagine the writing topics deluging us amid our formidable A2 exams: this proves the semester as tumultuous.

Resolution

Having come so far, there’s no reason for us not to remain gallant (remember the prerequisite to secure our scholarships). Yes there’s still more to go, but the progress I have can already force a smile out of me. Although I didn’t meet my target for SAT, one year ago I would have considered my score today as “high”, if not “brilliant”. And I’m fortunate to have done this by second semester: the preliminary preparation started in last September (memorizing words), the time when I had a luxurious amount of time to do so.

Abrazar la Aventura: a quote I would like to remind myself not only for the rest of the year, but also for the rest of my life (by the way, this is the theme for this year’s graduation, meaning “Embrace the Adventure”). Also, not forgetting “I’ll move on” by Olivia Ong, whose lyrics depict how the feeling of turning away is then replaced by the determination to move on, knowing that she has come so far.