The Year that was

It was a year that welcomed new stages in life as some things had to be left in the past.

The one major component of this year was college, and more specifically, the people of PM4. It was a new environment for us all as we fresh out of high school. I remember the first day of class where we had our "orientation", everything seemed so awkward still. I think the one who really spurred the craziness of our class was John, the weirdest assistant class rep you could ever get. A guy who leans in so close to your face during random times it's claustrophobic, who can do splits, wakes you up by going "HARK!" when you least expect it and who likes almost every comment and post on our class group page. According to him,the class was so quiet initially, he figured he had to do something crazy to lighten things up. And thank god he did! We've gone through so much together now, there was our epic oreo prank on Ms Lim during April Fool's day, class parties, farewells, sleepovers, badminton sessions,movie and karaoke sessions and the class trip to Singapore!Ok, I shall stop going into detailed on the class as I think PM4 deserves a post on its own when we graduate next year. So, it's been a year of ups and downs with the Pre-MAD people but I'm looking forward to another 6 months of mayhem!

Another big chunk of college was CALEB. Ok I know most of my readers would fall under this group (Hi Yunny! Hi Shufy! =3) so I shal try to keep this short too haha. Well, joining CALEB has introduced to people who I think have clicked better with me than some classmates. Maybe we share more common interests( like the love of manga/anime XD) or somehow it's just much more easier talking to them. Things never got off to a great start and are still pretty rough now. Conflicts seem to keep arising from certain parties but what organisation doesn't have it's share of politics? Just that sometimes I really feel like bitch-slapping someone and telling them to quit living in their own delusional bubble or to acquire some sense of self-respect. Geez. Well, our tenure has yet to end to, so I stop here. Let's hope the yearbook doesn't turn out a disaster. *shuffles feet and moves on*

From this year onwards, I won't be directly involved with the Girl Guides of CHS anymore, only a senior who visits occasionally to dish out advice(whether it helps is another thing) or just to observe. After going through so much with an organisation that taught you so much, and possibly changed you for the better, it is hard to fully detach yourself from it. I've managed to return for most of the major events- Junior Camp, Night Gathering, and most recently, the Permit Camp (and it was during AS!). Nevertheless,it isn't the same when you're not the one building gadgets under the hot sun all the long, fretting over the goings of your camp, or losing sleep to finish more gadgets and rush logbooks. Haha it doesn't sound as bad as it does, seriously. All these activities are what bring you and your groupmates together.Camping really does bring out the best and worst of you. When I returned for Permit, Ms Margaret even asked me to help her be the tester by checking on their campsite. Sigh. Glad to still be part of all this. Looking forward for more events in the future.

I guess, as a result of not fully being part of the girl guides anymore, I joined Raleigh. It was actually something I knew of for quite a long time. I read articles on it in the paper years ago, about how they traveled rural areas to help the communities there. So, I finally got the chance to join one of their Introduction Weekends(IW) March this year. I think,besides the activities they do, one of the factors that make you stick to Raleigh would be their people. Never have seen such dedicated and passionate youths. These are really people with hopes of bringing change for our community. They come from all walks of life, but have all gathered under Raleigh( and for some, other youth organisation of their own) to channel their beliefs and knowledge to future eager young participants. Unfortunately, I couldn't be as active as I would like to be. Due to other events clashing or exams looming, I missed out on most of the Monthly Meets and couldn't be a facilitator for the other two IWs held after mine. Hopefully, next year allows me more time to be involved with more simpler pleasures such as this.

Now for some more possibly life-changing events. One was how I had gotten a scholarship from JPA, which entails a chosen Pre-U course and then a degree course in medicine in IMU. Let me digress a bit here, I recently finish that Steve Jobs' Biography by Walter Isaacson. One thing I can relate with Steve is how he has this urge to control every aspect of his company. For me, I would say it's more of an urge to want to have control of my choices in life,to have everything pre-planned in my head and to be played out like how I wanted it. Sure for more trivial matters, like whether I should go out tomorrow or when I do my work, I leave to chance. But for those major ones, I would like to have the decision made in advance. So, I had already set in mind that I wanted to apply to UCAS and to at least, get an offer from a UK uni, probably the moment I decided on A-Levels. So, when the scholarship offer arrived, I knew I would not relent so easily. In the end, a compromise was worked out( Eternal Gratitude to my mum for all her effort in making this work) and I'm still in Taylor's,the scholarship is sort of suspended until I go to IMU and I'm nervously awaiting the results of my university applications. Would things have been different if I has gone to INTEC(which was the Pre-U institution I got offered), who knows, but I don't regret not leaving TCSJ and even if I am to take a Gap Year, it would be way more beneficial than studying A-Levels again for two years.

Now this is the most shattering event of the year, which was my grandmother's passing in June. She was with me us our whole lives as she stayed nearby and come over every day and after she got very ill, stayed at our home. I really did wish there was more of her time here to be with us, to see me and brothers grow up but it would only be selfish upon that. We could see that she was already in a lot of suffering during those final months and at least now, she is finally at ease.

That's all of the more significant events of 2011. I would say this is more of a record than it is a reflection. I don't know what next year has in store for me, but I'm sure it will be one full of stress(A2!) and maybe heartbreak(Uni apps!)