a story in progress

At week 3 of my term 2 academic calendar, life cannot be any more happening. (note the sarcasm/irony) The past week was most unkind to me. I was sick. On top of it, I was and still am trying to catch up on my lessons with the usual mix of CCA, meetings, group projects and other misc, stuff to attend to.

Despite me being in my all time vulnerable self, things did not seem so bad this time around. I recall myself feeling much crappier last term when I was hit by a similar plague of illness composing of flu, cough, fever and sore throat amidst all the other stuff I had to attend to. Perhaps I am at my final stages of normalizing to the culture here. The only time where I wasn't occupied with something is me trying to catch as much sleep as possible.

I am much aware of how in the coming weeks things will only be more uphill than ever. With 5  full modules to handle this semester including the notoriously time and effort consuming LTB (Leadership and Team Building) and AW (Academic Writing) mods to look out for, I am surprisingly not  pessimistic about things in general. Contrast to how I would normally be. I am begining to think that I am even somewhat optimistic about how things will unfold. This is of course particularly dangerous according to one of my prof's theory.

Thank you for giving me such an awesome memory for sem one. The time we had is undeniably one of my fondest moment at SMU so far. From the pizzas to the Cove to the presentation. No doubt the whole process consumed a lot of time and effort but looking at what we achieved today, it was really something worth being proud of.

As much as I lament at the fact that our time together has ended, I am hopeful of us collaborating again in the near future. Even if we don't do this as a team again, this whole episode has inspired me to look forward to similar chemistry in the near future.

Okay there is a need to blog at least one post on my current updates at here. It's now the sixth week of my academic calendar and I just realized there has been scant posts about what I am currently up to. My previous posts have been somewhat vague on it.

Come to think about it, haven't I always been this vague with my postings? Oh well, I shall be unreserved and straightforward now and then when I feel like it. Wtf, right?

Anyway, back to what I am currently up to. For those who don't know, I am currently a freshmen at SMU's School of Business, Singapore. I am taking up to five modules this semester. In total they only make up to 4 units worth of Credit Units. I need up to 36 units in this 4 years time to graduate with a Bachelor in Business Management. If I am planing to take up a double major or a double degree (both possibilities which seem rather distant and far off right now) naturally, I will need to take up more credit units.

Although I am currently undergoing my sixth academic week, (we only have up to 15 weeks per semester) I only have a vague idea of what is going on.. I mean I get the working culture here, with the late nights, multi tasking, juggling of CCA's (clubs and societies that is) with group meetings, datelines, assignments, presentations and whatnots, academic wise I can only tell people so far as to what my subjects are.

Content wise, I am still trying to figure them out. I mean I have Financial Accounting. That is something solid. I am taking up other mods like Technology and World Change, Creative Thinking, Analytical Skills and Business, Government and Societies as well. In which so far, they have been rather vague? I don't know. I get the usefulness and the values they are trying to impart, but I am still wishing for something more tangible? Lol. I don't get myself at times.

Compared to some of my fellow freshmen, they are literally slogging with some of the others mods. I am relatively "free" when I am put on the same pedestal as them. I keep telling myself and others that I will suffer in epic karma-tic proportions for my subsequent semesters.

Enough bout academic stuff, I shall talk about the livelihood in here. As expected, the city state has been so far a pleasant experience. Streets are safe, transportation are systematic and so on. I really don't have to reiterate what people already know bout Singapore right? On the other hand, stuffs that some might find it interesting to note are that, the staple food in here has to be chicken rice. I find it everywhere. At food courts and basically every corner of the street there is bound to be chicken rice. Even at Little India. Which I find that to be rather ironic. The price of stuff here isn't that bad as well, if I don't keep mentally converting every price tag that I see back to Ringgit Malaysia. Wtf. Such a bad habit. Cause then I will be like, asking myself how much can I get that plate of chicken rice back home? How much does that milo and cookies cost in RM? Invariably, I will arrive at the painful conclusion that stuff at home is cheaper and that I need to save up more at here. Wtf. I hate the meager spending power.

Besides that, another thing to note about the social setting at here is that at my uni, there are quite a number of international students. I have so far come across people from various nations. No kidding when they say, at SMU, one get to find every single South East Asia countries to be represented. In a way I get to learn a lot more from them as well as clearing my bigotry. Make no mistake, I am that daft at times.

Awesome people asides, the side activities are very rampant as well. I recall donating blood at the school's blood donation drive for the first time in my life when I was only at Singapore roughly about the second or third week. There so many opportunities to nitpick from. Conferences, info talks, luncheons, high teas (free food!), and many more. Really, time management is a serious issue that I need to re-examine in my life. I need to be more efficient and less forgetful to manage my time. I need a better diary planner. Goddamnit. (why are the ones here so expensive ah?)

All in all, my time spent so far at here really prove my expectations. And to be wholly honest, certain areas were way exceeding my preconceived notions. In a good sense that is. Hence, I really look forward to my next three and a three quarter years of education at SMU. How could I ever think that four years for a degree in Business Management can be a tad too much in the past? How gullible.

I will stop myself at here for tonight. I do believe I have been outright forward with my thoughts and experience so far in this post. Something that I need to do more in my future postings. I know.

It has been almost two weeks since I landed at Singapore. In retrospect, the week has gone by amazingly fast. The rhythm of the city state has been unsurprisingly fast too. In that very short time span, I also feel the evident urgency to grow along it as well.

In the past, I don't often give thought on how it will be like to be an undergrad. I always thought that once, I am to enter an Uni, everything else will fall into place. In hindsight, that much is probably true. But there is also the unfactored equation. No amount of research, digging around, or mental prep-ing is sufficient for the life ahead. It be presumptions of me to assume otherwise.

So to the life ahead that awaits me, I am steadily looking forward to it. I am still fumbling with my footing now and then. But in due time, I will find it. By then, I hope to accumulate enough wealth to call it my own.