Sort of a mandatory post now.

3 mods excluding FYP, O suppose grades are a little bit lower than expected. Traffic Flow turned out to be my worst ever CE mod. Was kind of amazed when I discovered that I never got anything less than B+ for CE mods..duno how I managed that to be honest. Geotech portion of design project probably dragged down the grade a bit, so did ITS finals...so I still cant break through to get my As and A+s. CAP has more or less stabilized..only 0.01 difference throughout three semesters =.=....slow and relaxed stroll towards the end? Nah...there's FYP.

Got into the mood of planning next semester's timetable (hey, it's the last time we will be doing this!)..and then realized that there are changes and now I cant have my one day week anymore. HR is a must, and suddenly not very sure if I shud take a TE that might help in FYP even though I dun like it much (and it might help only) or a TE which I am more interested in and may help in the direction I am heading towards, or neither. The last module is a tie between French/Thai (I really want to take a language mod for once) and Accounting (which I always find interesting since Sec Sch but never had a chance to do more with it) or both..which would give me a busier sem and I am not sure if that's a good thing...with more FYP stuff coming up, as well as job applications, house/room hunting etc etc.

Suddenly I have less than 5 days left at home..both dreading and hoping to go back to Sg to face FYP (and Prof), given that I havent exactly done much during holidays...because home internet really prevents me from doing much. And the lesson didnt seem to sink in much....

To top it up I need to send in laptop for repairs as soon as I get back to Sg...it takes around 3 or 4 attempts everyday just to get it to startup as it will experience power failures halfway through startup...and cannot put it to sleep mode at all because after it wakes up its power will fail...maybe camping in comp labs/library will help me to do more FYP work...

Just realized LTA job application closing dates are coming up pretty soon...one more thing to add to my to-do list before CNY when I get back to Sg..

Oh well...shall see how..

Labels: exams, FYP, NUS

Hmm..gotta be the only time reading week was not spent on reading and exam week seemed pretty slack too.

Spent on a couple of meetings at Biz Library for the ITS report which ended up to be 108 pages. Lolz. Turns out Biz Lib is a pretty nice place to study...and discussion rooms are easy to book also, even during reading week. Too bad it is really far from hall. Anyway i think if things dont go wrong we actually did well for the project component of the module...kind of felt bad after that because I kind of assumed everybody's exam schedule is like mine...and have no guilt about completing the report during reading week..turns out some of the others have 3 papers this week alone and needed time to study. Uh.

The exam itself was pretty ok...because the topics of each question are already known and all we had to do is to bring in as much materials about the questions as possible...and he repeated quite a few questions from the past years which i read up on. The only uncertainty is that I think I wrote too much for some questions and too little for others. And no bell curve effect for this module..hopefully can score an ok grade?

The same cannot be said for the Traffic Flow mod...finished up the last report..and results of the first 5 are so so only, and took really long to finish up the last one..partly because there is time to do it during EXAM WEEK?! And i mean, my analysis showed no abnormalities and i am supposed to comment on the abnormalities and the causes..=.= Smoked smoked smoked. He is probably not going to be impressed with how long I took to finish it. *dies*

And to top it up FYP have been abandoned for ages and I still havent sent prof the email i promised, like, 2 weeks ago? And I wonder how much will be done during hols...

Sigh..this is so not working...gonna find ways to make myself occupied next sem. Take extra mods! Or maybe job-hunting and house-hunting will make me occupied enough. Something which I have blissfully chosen to ignore until next sem. When some of my friends have already landed jobs this sem. Lalalala~

I hope my ignorance now wont come back to bite me in my ass. :S

Home in 2 weeks! :D

Labels: exams, FYP, NUS

This should have been up last week...but yea, was away :)

Without doubt the quietest semester so far....a lot more time to spend alone. Only one lecture buddy most of the time and 2-3 dinner buddies most of the time. Oh well. I blame my lousy socializing skills for this.

In terms of work..as usual, grand plans before the semester started that never really happened in the end. Had been dreading the two structural mods since last year and they lived up to my expectations, no thanks to the prof...dont think there is anybody in the lect who even liked him. Blegh. The textbook saved one question in the finals for the RC paper, smoked through two other questions..wonder how it will turn out. Structural Analysis finals was much better, largely due to the relatively easier part 2. Felt the same way abt Geotech paper as my two previous soil mods - dun reli understand fully wat is going on but finished the paper anyway. And the TE paper, thanks to the new inexperienced lecturer, was largely doable.

That brings us to the last two mods - my two S/U-able mods. Forensic was tough from the beginning, because there is simply too many technical things to memorize. After three years of not touching chem, organic chem structures are a nightmare and i wasnt expecting them to expect us to know the structure, only memorized the reagents. Similar case for SSD. To top it up, I FELL SICK. First time I fell sick during exams and it reli distracts me (and other ppl in the exam hall) during the paper..everytime I try to concentrate, remembering the stuff I read, *sneeze* and I lost the train of thought. Horrible really. Thank god it miraculously only lasted throughout the two exams and recovered fast enough to feel comfortable for the next paper. Had a marathon exam schedule again, and I am not so sure I survived it this time. Sigh.

But that brought an end to Year 3! FYP, Design Project, HR and 4 more TE/UE mods to clear next year...eeps exciting?

Unsuccessful VIP application..sigh I think NUS hates me. Made a number of applications via other methods and only got called for one interview by Singapore Tourism Board, got rejected in the end. Got ignored by all the other companies. Some companies started recruiting really late and I sent in three applications while in HK  (one of them called me within 10min after I sent the email application :S). Got a call by one of them today and after a really short phone "interview"/briefing...I GOT MY JOB. Almost cant believe how smoothly it went considering that I never really had this kind of luck for most of the things I applied after Form 5. Interning under A3C0M Transportation Team (! Just what I was looking for!). Sort of looking forward to work now....tho the feeling will probably only last for abt a week lol.

Last thing to settle - all the Phoenix magazine and the backlogged event reporting articles. Hall phantom next year?

Next up: Hong Kong/Macau trip report!

Labels: exams, intern, travel

Rotted for three weeks, without doing anything really productive. Sigh. Unless you count a week's worth of house chores coz I was alone at home....

Really need to get started on the things i need/want to complete in this hols! At the very least, got some emails sent out and responses are pretty sad, but I can't exactly blame the people who are off for vacation and stuff. Speaking of which, I realize the only time I can go for a trip some where is a grad trip (unless I start working immediately after grad - now that's sad) - next summer (right, I know there is no such thing in Sg) would hopefully be spent on internship, the hol after that would probably need to settle FYP stuff if I am unlucky, then after tat would be my final semester!

Suddenly there are only 3 semesters of NUS left. Suddenly.

You know when I am rotting and there is nothing exciting happening and suddenly I am posting a blog post during hols - it usually means results are out....haha...woke up at 8 to check my phone and it's already there :P Well I was kind of right to say I totally didnt expect something as good as last sem, but i guess it's still a good result..I mean, it sure beats the grades I got in Year 1. Engin Prof was the surprise this time round...can't remember the last time I hated a module but still ended up, somehow, scoring beyond my expectations, the rest sort of met my expectations except my project module this sem - guess individual marks pulled down a bit, after all there is more than a time when the prof questioned my involvement level because I wasnt speaking up much. Oh well...It's still an A- and I am happy with it :)

Overall..SAP deproved but CAP improved. And did a bit of random calculations using phone calculator coz i couldnt go back to sleep and found out that if I were to get 1st class honours I would need a full SAP of 5.0 for each of my remaining semesters and even that would only bring me to 4.51...nearly chuckled when found out. Not very possible huh. Especially when next sem there are two core modules which I am not exactly very fond of.

Duno why but after making up my mind two months ago but when I am attempting to plan my timetable next sem I randomly started taking all those chem and bio modules into account again..they actually fit my timetable and suddenly thought of continuing on the minor again...but then in the end decided not to again..tot i would rather spend the rest of my my time on something more related to my major...eg. more TEs..some more if I have VIP then i only have like 5 modules + fyp to clear for my final year =.=..shall see how it goes..dun exactly have a good idea on what kind of TEs i want to take also, whether to focus on one respect or a variety...like i really don't like/not good at/not comfortable with any structural related so i don't really relish the idea of any structural related TEs. Shall see how it goes then.

Only 2 more weeks of holidays left :(

Labels: exams, holidays, NUS

So much for revival...last post was a month ago, on a different island, for that matter.

Labels: exams, holidays, Raffles Hall, skin

"Forced out this entry in the middle of rushing two subsections of a 70-page report (or at least that's the aim) because I know, if I don't, the next entry from me is probably at the end of the month (a.k.a end of exams).

I thought it's kind of insane to have project deadlines and assignment deadlines all the way until three days before my first paper. T.T. Even the thought of it is mentally draining enough."

Okay I admit i started writing this entry on Sunday night and guess what? I didnt finish writing and so I will continue now haha.

As of now...had my last lecture of the semester just 2 hours ago and its now chiong all the wayyyyy....oops, one more project deadline and one more assignment to submit. T.T But i suppose I can always treat it as part of revisions..

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Duno what's wrong with me but I have been severely unproductive this week which results in me sleeping at ungodly hours and I have classes at 9am the next morning or what not. Second time this semester I overslept for a class, woke up at 9.20am for a 9am lecture (the first time, it was a 10am class and I woke up at 11.10am). It's kind of scary that I am so used to the pattern that my alarms are ringing that I can switch them off without knowing it (does it work that way?) At any rate, this has to change because exam timetables are out and all 4 papers I have are 9am papers. Oversleep for any one of them and I promise you I will cry.

But yep, 4 papers left, the least ever in 5 semesters in NUS (last semester was the most ever) because got rid of the my project module on Tuesday. The 70 page report ended up as a 90 page report (woots!), the longest report I ever compiled and I kind of think its fun doing it (the report). But with a report that long you are bound to miss some points (e.g contradicting points). Anyway I wonder if anybody is going to seriously read a hypothetical proposal for a University Master Plan. Only manage to sleep 3 hours ++ when I have a long public exhibition the next day and by the end of the day I was dead tired (which caused me to oversleep the next morning) but all the hard work we put in (including the last minute brilliances) paid off!

Our first judge happened to be our most "favourite" prof who's face changed like lightning once he declared "you may begin" - smiling -> garang and pissed off face. Kind of intimidating and he was happily shooting away without even giving us much chance to talk. Brr. But the other three judges were much nicer and by the time the last one reached us, he was rushing to end off the session that he took in whatever we said without much questions =.= But anyway, some pics....

1. Learn basic photoshop! Yeainoeiamslowbutnvmitsnevertoolatetolearnright.
2. Write my resume! Havent got around to write one yet coz I dun need any so far but I need one really soon so gotta fast fast start writing.
3. Re-layout my room (at home) and clear away all the stuff that shouldnt be there! My room is a place for a lot of random stuff coz I am usually only there for two months in a year :(
4. Randomly want to play Sims3! Anyone have it?
5. Outings outings outings :)
6. Erh yea - start checking all my Phoenix articles. And I am quite sure there will be lots of IHG-related emails.
7. Fill in when I can think of anything else...

Labels: exams, NUS, updates

This time its because exams have ended!

Wasn't pleased with my last paper. And by my low standards if I cant even please myself you can imagine that it is not something nice. Couldnt study well for the paper coz was rarely in the mood. So entered exam hall hoping I can pull of another miracle and smoke my way through...didnt happen in the end.

Always hated questions that goes like "The consultant says blah blah blah....comment on his statement and provide appropriate justification". It's like Physics papers last time that goes "Mr Chan claims that upthrust yada yada yada" and I instantly go "Oh no". Sigh. And made a big mistake for the last part which is otherwise doable. Double sigh.

Oh well. Hoping I can pass this one. Retaking a module you dont reli enjoy is never fun. Come to think of it, retaking any module is can never be fun. =.=

Spend the whole day out yesterday from Bugis to Orchard to The Helix. Pretty lights! <3 Will post pics once I get my hands on them (hint hint)..hahaha.

Only after I got back to hall then I realized...half of my university life is over. First year has been rather forgettable. Year 2 feels much better though it has been one hell of a hectic semester, as a result of 6 modules + a wrongly timed CNY holiday. I think I enjoy the civil modules better than the freshman engineering ones..imagine sem 2 last year when I hated all the modules I was taking then. Torturous.

Now I wonder when they will release SEP Round 3 results. Meanwhile...dun need to pack pack pack either! How glorious! Float appears to start falling into place slowly too. Which sounded like good news.

Home....here I come! In 4 days! :D :D

Labels: around singapore, exams, SEP

Exams are not over yet.

Dunno, but I was in a sufficiently good mood coz it felt as if it is over. Which is like damn wrong lah. Guess I am a bit used to having 5 final exams every sem.

Sigh. What a life we engineers-to-be have. So far I havent taken any non-examinable modules.

Anyway, I guess what contributes to my somewhat end-of-exam mood is because I survived through my 5 papers in a row stint. It's really energy sapping and I survived, and I am proud of myself! Even though I am definitely not proud of my attitude these days I am glad to still be able to survive exams, wonder if its luck. Eh wait, is it too early to say that I have survived?

I kind of felt positive after each paper, because, even though I am pretty sure its not a well done paper at least I have a chance. I am yet to leave any question blank! Even though I didnt answer some of them in full but at least the attempt is there. Some I gave up minor parts of the question to save time. Barely have time to finish 3 out of 5 papers. I suppose its coz i spent quite a bit of time flipping through notes and tuts. Oh, did I mention, all 6 papers I have are open-book exams. Wonder if it is a good thing.

"Rewarded" myself with a night of rest. One last paper on Tuesday! And I havent touched it at all coz of the 4 day break in between. And I happened to like it least among my modules. Hmmm..

*******************

This year somehow feels better than last year. Got minor stuff like accommodation settled early. Minor stuff like vacation stay settled early. Holiday plans settled because I sort of feel obliged to help. Sigh. If only I am a bit more persistent. Oh well. The only thing not settled now is whether I will still get SEP and even if I get, whether I will accept it. For the record, after three rounds of applications (this being the third) I am yet to discuss with my parents properly. I duno how to start.

*******************

I am kind of sorry that forensics is over. The only class I have a 99% staying awake rate over two semesters! (Fell asleep once during last sem's lecture and eyelids were heavy in the Sci Centre lecture this sem). Lol. Added ppl on FB but dun reli know them lor. Sigh. Blame my lousy socializing skills. Final paper was doable though my writing hand was aching two pages into my first essay. Ouch. They need more training....

*******************

I am really excited about going home soon!!!! :D :D

Labels: exams, forensics, NUS, updates

3 days.

40% left to revise for SP3202.

40% for CE2112.

60% for LSM1301.

50% for CE3132.

40% for CE2183.

90% for ESE3001.

Chiong ah!!!!

*************************

I know I have said I wouldnt mind odd gazes, shouldnt be 自卑 and even the brochure suggests that it is common and I should "learn to accept it as a part and parcel of life". But I am getting fed up. Nothing works. Western, or Chinese. I dread the idea of it staying on with me for life. I am sick of answering questions. I find it hard to stay optimistic any more.

I guess I mind after all. Who wouldnt?

*************************

Days like today makes me wonder again. Makes me reminisce. Things change, I am not sure whether it's me, or is it always like that but I just realized not too long ago. Were they all fake? I doubt that it would ever go back to the original state. I wonder what went wrong.

Labels: exams, NUS, reminiscing, skin

4 more days! 4 more days!

I am so dead.

Desperate times = desperate measures? Looks like its back to Music Lib.

******************

YOG Training last Saturday...learnt more about my jobscope and it wasnt exactly what I expected, especially the pre-games commitment part. Was thinking that volunteers will help in production of accreditation passes but apparently its not the case..but will try to make it happen, one way or another. Haha..especially since float is confirmed and I will be back anyway.

*******************

Reiterating my tweet the other day...I am extremely pleased because I dun have to go through all the rubbish I went through last year...though 41 points for on-campus accommodation is really scary. As one complainer put it, the cap for one category of CCA is only 40 points...so even if you maxed-up say organization activities which will most likely take up freaking a lot of time you will still be unable to stay. Which is really scary for those residence people. Imagine. :S

********************

I must survive.

Labels: exams, Raffles Hall, YOG

First paper up on next next Saturday...forensics and there is quite a bit to study on! Luckily its open book. Would die remembering who is involved in which case and some general details. Still, must prep a cheat sheet to help. Heh.

Speaking of which, did moots exam on Friday and I cant say it went very well, given that I really started preparing for it on 2.30am on Friday itself. My partner/opponent started around the same time too but came up with a much comprehensive question list. Had to go in office wear, then when we entered the LT we were given gowns to wear too. Woah. 15 minutes seemed to pass by fast enough and lecturer/judge din reli gave me warning. Oops. And lecturer/witness was, sigh, a bit out of script (or was it I dun rmb the scenario well enough) so I got thrown off at points, my questions lose focus and I have a valid point which I din have a chance to ask. Well I prolly wont get much out of that point anyway. Sigh. Kind of stressed out a bit while doing it hence all sorts of broken English came out. Lecturer commented sth to me while I was making my way out but din reli catch wat she say...a bit depressed at the time. Anyway senior batch appeared to watch us and left after me and my partner's exam (we are the second pair)...so means we are boring to watch? Haha Not sure...but that is another 20% down...last 60% to chiong....

Was quite disappointed with myself after ESE test...to be honest I didnt really make an effort to prepare for it. And its a closed-book quiz. Have no probs with the calculations part but I literally gave up on the other 3 questions, coz I simply could not rmb the points. To begin with substantial amounts of my lecture slides are not filled with notes coz i was either stoning or fell asleep in lect, and I didnt borrow anyone's notes copy after my recordings let me down. Cooked up sth for one qn but sort of gave up for the other two. Catch up during finals? Still have 50% to go...

It sucks when I can feel disappointed with myself but after a while I manage to put it aside and slacked again. Like last night when I spent a relatively productively day in the lib only to waste the night away. And today. Even though I know I will be out for tech chairperson treat but still managed to waste away quite a bit of time. Only consolation was managed to get some Phoenix work done and managed to attempt module mapping a bit. But things are looking rough if I were to go for SEP (in Monash, that is). I will still be able to do forensic minor and SEP but I am inviting trouble for myself. My moots partner thought I am admirable for even trying out for the minor because of all the extra mods I need to take up...wonder what he thinks if he found out I am about to try for SEP at the same time. Need to be Superman in my next few semesters to achieve that - am I capable? I do not know.

Two more weeks...will be unprepared for sure..as usual..but I really want to push it beyond 4.0....given that I am quite close to it now...hopefully that works as motivation...

Labels: exams, forensics, rants, SEP

Wasnt feeling much about results ever since exams ended...in fact, i kind of feel ashamed to say it now, but i was kind of quietly confident about getting good grades.

Woke up a few times last night, something that hasnt happened in ages. Woke up with my heart beating fast  at 930am and tried to count the number of heart beats per minute without the help of a clock. Suddenly wasnt feeling very prepared to see the results.

Plus all the effort to log into the WebVPN thingy in order to log into MyISIS in order to check my results, I got a shock when they suddenly pop up in front of me. See, I was just trying to check my Forensic grade (which I assumed I should have gotten an A or A+ coz i was offered the forensic minor). I got a shock when everything else showed up in the S/U Declaration System.

A bit anti-climax.

As usual, my prediction skills sucked to the core. Except for one module which I got what I expected. And it wasnt my favorite module a.k.a the Forensic GEM.

Two positive points I took away from this sem's results:
1) Positive grades. Literally.
2) Presentable SAP (but then again, my definition of presentable is different) and CAP improvement. Nearly there.

Sigh, I supposed I expected better because I am pretty sure I did better compared to my previous two semesters when it comes to absolute grade (is that how you call it?), as in, the marks I achieved for each module. At least I did not leave like half of the final paper unattempted. My CAs were quite good (I dunno and dun wan to think abt the projects thank you very much). What I failed to consider is the bell curve (sigh). Less people = more competitive (correct me if i am wrong).

And to imagine that you are in the same boat when you are actually not because we all pictured the boat a different way.

Whatever.

At any rate, I suppose I can be reasonably satisfied with my results given point 2 above.

I supposed I am better off worrying about the modules I want to take next sem and oh, before that, deciding if I want to take up the forensic minor, and have to factor in SEP plans (which, sadly, is still hopelessly obscure) into the decision.

Labels: exams, holidays, NUS

And I am not done with exams yet. :(

Hydraulics paper tomorrow and despite almost 4 full days to prepare for it - I declare myself as under-prepared. Can't seem to focus after the 4th paper, especially with distractions around. We shall see what happens tomorrow - have set a low target for it and I hope I get the minimum.

Comp manage to come to life after the previous post. =.= Turned out that it was a power supply problem after all. Tweaked the connections of the adapter a bit and voila...comp is back on although the connection is a kind of fragile now. Touch it a bit and "poof" - blackout. Stuff my 1GB thumbdrive so full that it burps (sorry, had to recycle that line :D) and the remainder goes into my phone which had 8GB internal memory. Lol. Rest of the not-so-important things like movies and dramas will have to wait...

Discussed with parents and sister and they thought I should get a new comp anyway - :D :D :D and how convenient that SITEX is taking place and I had a 4 day break to my next (and last) paper. And yeah. I did it. Lol. It's still in its box though....dun dare to take it out and play with it...as if I dun have enough self-induced distractions...next post should be about it :)

Plan to pay for at least half of it myself since I sort of earned it lor. By staying in a double room this academic year = save $$. I feel good about this point :)

Exams so far - I suppose din have any major screw ups...or maybe i am not aware of it...but I suppose I am mentally prepared for a big one tomorrow..

Looking forward to post-exam stuff! Volunteering for Standard Chartered Marathon..outings and outings :) YOG sent me two emails yesterday, one offering me a post as a techinical officer for BMX Cycling - need to pay for training and its in December = no way I am staying back for that. Another one is transport assistant for some Friendship Camp - supposedly a form of hands-on for the actual YOG - also in December. Too bad, have to continue waiting lor...

One more week to home...:)

Labels: exams, techno, volunteering

Some things just happen at the wrong time.

I have seen more than one person complaining about why SEP results came out in the midst of finals and people were not given too much time to consider the offer. Not that I was offered anything - that bit was, at least to me, expected, given that Canada is a popular destination and my arsenal consists of a few Bs and B+s - not enought to fight with people. Abel says it could be a blessing in disguise - I could probably apply for some other country next sem - let's just hope I can add on something to my arsenal this week.

Next thing, laptop decided that he couldnt hang on anymore - he gave me enough warnings i guess, and I didnt take in those. Finally it collapsed last night. Just when I have a fair bit of work to do on my comp! I actually dun reli know what is its problem - either power supply problem or Windows problem. Freaked out and decided to go to ThinkLab - ended up rather productive. It is currently trying it best to start up too - let it rest for a few hours and it can manage 5 minutes - including boot time - sad. Not enough for me to salvage anything. Got official permission to buy a new comp already though, might be heading to Expo this weekend. Meanwhile hopefully I can rescue some of the stuff in my comp...

60% done with finals! Must accumulate as much positive energy as possible so that I can defeat Hydraulics!

Labels: exams, SEP, techno

I know we always use the phrase "OHHH..I am so gonna kill you for this!!"...but how many of us actually thought of really doing it? Should be none. (It better be.)

I cannot imagine what could anger someone beyond a limit such that he actually pick up a towel and strangle a person to death. As if that wasnt enough, he grabbed a chopper and chopped up the body (though he wasnt professional enough, that gave him away), wrap them up nicely, and dispose it in a river and other places.

Dr. Majeed, a forensic psychologist guest lecturing us the other day, suggests that its because most Singaporean homes don't have a backyard for the murderers to bury the body of the victim they killed so they chop the victims up as well. T.T

A worse case is randomly choosing people and kill them, then chop them up and dispose the parts. Poor innocent victims who have not done anything to offend the killer (they probably offended other ppl before but that is besides the point) at all! What have they done to deserve this? Sad. If you are interested, this is the case of John Martin Scripps (wiki article here), a British national hanged in Singapore after he killed another tourist here. (Hence nicknamed "Tourist from Hell")

Forensic Psychology is an interesting branch indeed.

Labels: exams, forensics, NUS

Had my last lecture of the semester on Friday - enjoyable as usual and sigh I didnt manage to get any of the freebies. Should have shouted an answer or sth..too bad. And I really feel like kicking myself for deciding not to buy the forensic class tee..was on the spur of the moment and I kind of regret it afterwards. Probably coz I was kind of upset coz I didnt score well for both my lab report and midterm...lab report was littered with "Good", "Informative", "Excellent" but still end up with a B. :S

But anyway...Subway, McD, YIH Study Room and Central Library opening 24/7 can only mean one thing. Reading week has started on Saturday and I spent a quarter of the weekend fixing the (stupid? nonsensical?) 2184 report. And somebody please explain to me why I have 2 more assignments due this week..:S.

Don't mind me...I realized everytime i post, I am ranting about something. Be it a big issue or something normal which everybody faces. 

Went for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon briefing yesterday! No, I am not running, I am volunteering :) I was assigned the role of a route marshall...supposed to point the runners in the correct direction and cheer them on! Have to report at the ungodly time of 1am on raceday and was deployed to an even ungodly location named ECP...Oh well. Only full marathon-ers will appear there and there are already 17k of them. Briefing was at Republic Poly - the LT was super nice! Apart from the narrow path in between rows of chairs (cannot stretch out legs properly) the chair was super comfy and sleep inducing. I cannot imagine myself having lecture there...I will probably sleep in all my lectures. T.T

Am actually in a good mood now coz I was ahead of schedule..planned too much time for one particular topic and I finished early...in fact tmr morning will be free hahaha. Nice time to catch up with the other modules.

Feeling positive, for once. Hope the feeling lasts.

Labels: exams, NUS, volunteering

Back in my blog = exams end!

Yay yay yay.

But exam results gonna be...boo boo boo.

I duno le...i think I kind of put in slightly more effort this sem compared to last sem? But I think results will be worse. Coz I am handed 3 modules which, frankly speaking, wasn't my favourite subjects. CTW, though different from GP, had the same effect of exposing my poor critical thinking skills. Physics, as usual, wasn't my best, and Statics, something I have been dreading since last sem, lived up to my "expectations".

Gosh, what's coming to me? Blaming the subjects instead of myself. Haha.

Chinese Heritage wasn't as interesting as I want it to be..in fact I think my opinion of it has been influenced by the professor of the literature portion (I was happily shooting him during Online Teaching Feedback) and my whole project group. Sigh.

Maths was, unexpected, though I told myself to prepare for the unexpected..but still...I felt the strong effects of time pressure today. Towards the end even the most standard questions got me thinking for quite some time, coz my mind blanked out when I saw them. Ah well.

Sigh. I will be happy with anything above 3.5.

Gonna repeat this cycle at least 6 more times. Gosh, what a depressing thought.

I am almost at a state when I duno if I shud be happy or not..exams ended!! More time to do my own stuff! And yes, I am very excited about going home. :D


Pack pack pack. (Have to repeat that 6 more times at least too. :S)

JDP interview on Monday. Gasp. I duno if I can even make it lah..given my shabby results. And I still have absolutely no idea whether I made it for Master's List.

On the other hand...my long awaited debit card finally arrived! My second debit card (coz the first one can't do online shopping for some strange reason) and I thought this one which is exclusive to NUS undergraduates wasn't bad (Its free anyway). So I applied. And though it took super long to process and I had to go down once to update my signature..the card came before semester end. Whew.


I hereby declare...post exam activities Sem 2 08/09...OPEN!!

P.S. Double post today, since its another special day.

Labels: exams, holidays, updates

Eeks! 2 days to exams and I am still super unprepared.

Physics and Statics are currently at the same level...read notes, can understand, apply to questions, stunned. But Physics is slightly better i guess.

CTW and GEK are at a "just see what happens lo" status..frankly speaking cant prepare much for CTW, only can practise "thinking" and know the structure of a critique inside out..reading the literature questions from GEK past year papers freaked me out, though the history section seemed more manageable..with all the readings I managed to catch up..I shud be able to manage one page? Haha..hopefully i can still rmbr wat i read.

Left with Maths..my only hope I guess. Past year papers looked quite ok, but one thing is after the midterms nobody can ever underestimate the paper again...lesson learnt.

8 days left to end of exams! Think positive positive positive....................

Labels: exams, updates

Skipped lunch again today..and 2 packets of Oreo and one can of coffee from Engin Welfare Pack for breakfast. Haha...feeling really unhealthy lar..but, sigh, nvm la, won't die one.

I know probably waking up early to study is theoretically much better and can absorb more blah blah. But I realize I am probably better off staying up late to study..since I can never wake up early anyway. Slept at 1am last nite, planning to wake up at 7.45am...around 7 hours of sleep should be sufficent...ended up waking up at 10am...by Sam's sms asking for my matric card.

I know. o_______________O.

I was half awake at around 8am and i was like, sleep a bit more la since today is Thursday and my class starts at 2pm. The next time I wake up, it was almost 10..and I was like, lucky classes start late today. Then start realizing sth was wrong when I was trying to think what I shud be studying today according to my timetable. I felt like I skipped one whole day.

Then I realized its Wednesday and classes start at 12pm. T.T

Sigh so that is one morning wasted.

I suddenly dont feel good for any of my papers. I think my concern now is CTW. Heck I better don't get another B- for the 4MC module. Come to think of it, keeping my scholarship is much important then going to Melbourne lar. Rite, back to my tutorials.

Labels: exams, rants

..with more of it to come in the coming years.

Of which I shall go into with higher confidence level and more well-prepared.

This semester's exams totally sucks lah. The papers are not difficult, I know it. I know I will be able to do so much better if I actually spend more time preparing for it. Apparently I knew consistent work is very important, but I can't really bring myself to do it. Not to mention extreme lack of self discipline. I don't think I ever felt so underprepared for every single paper i sat for in a major exam. Save for last year's H3 paper which happened to be an NUS module as well.

Quoting my programming lecturer,

This is just the beginning, and there is no honeymoon year in NUS unlike in JC where you can still play in the first year and get away with it; in NUS, you have to start working very hard from day 1 of every single semester.

Welcome to NUS. :)

Yeap, the same me who was assuring other people to relax and don't think too much about exams is actually thinking quite a lot about it now.

• Physics Paper was quite a killer. I was kind of disappointed because I thought (well, I THOUGHT) I was kind of good enough for it. In the end 2 full days to study for one module with some basic knowledge about it isn't quite eough.
• Programming Paper wasn't hard, if you understand the question. And that slows you down by quite a bit. But still I finish 91% of the paper which is my personal record for this sem's exam. Note that finish doesnt mean answers are correct.
• Maths Paper wasn't hard either. There are even some questions that are straight out of the tutorials (or modified) and I almost kicked myself the moment I saw those questions. Skipping all the Maths lectures since end of September (I mean it) dealt a blow as my concepts are not very strong.
• In the end, one night to try to remember the names of polymers and their uses and the properties of metals and uses of composite materials didnt really paid off, since they made up small portion of the Materials paper. Lack of practice of calculation questions and poor memory of formulas was the killer.
• The little confidence that I built up after the two midterms for Electrical Engineering paper diminished the moment I saw the first question. Again I was left cursing myself because there were questions straight out from the tutorial, which I was planning to read the morning before the paper but somehow I was too occupied with understanding the concepts(which could very well be done much earlier) and I decided to leave it. And so..

Most of the time after the papers end I don't really feel anything about it. Probably due to the fact that I am trying to coax myself into the false (?) assurance that everybody else didnt do well, judging by the loud curses and so on, typical after a paper. What I probably failed to realize is that more people left the exam hall quietly confident about their grades. The above reflection will serve to remind me of how much more I could have done. Obviously there wont be anything that I can do now, except hoping for a CAP that is enough to maintain the scholarship and possibly a trip to Melbourne.

I totally think I deserve every stinking grade that I got this semester. Next semester shall not be a repeat of this sem. And as for Year 2 Sem 1..duno if I shud get myself involved in big hall events like concert (that is, if I get to stay back in RH la). Maybe I am thinking a bit too far ahead.

Labels: emo, exams, NUS, rants