What Grade Do YOU want?

The answer to that would be nothing less than an A*(hopefully). Getting Top for something would be a wonderful bonus though.

With now being exam season and all, it would be easy for one's mind to lose focus and drift off to the allure of social networks, manga and random things I come across on the internet. Thus, I am writing this post(which ironically, involves me using the Internet) to let my thoughts settle on what I want from working for this exam.

Yes, Zhi Min. Remember how exams used to be quite a thrill? Remember the blog post you wrote about maybe 3 or 4 years ago on why exams could be a form of pleasure too? Maths used to be something that would get you into an adrenaline rush as you challenge the clock to complete everything in the shortest time possible. But today, you were uncertain, you were slow, you hesitated. Is this the stress of knowing how much significance these results hold for you, compared to the years when they were mere numbers?Or was that an act of cautiousness?Yet you still were careless. And you are probably hitting yourself on the head for it.

Things have gotten more serious now. You stand dwarfed among giants. Fortunately, years in high school have taught you to be ambitious, to have a hunger that only the sweetest fruit of glory would satiate and you hope to climb higher than those giants by starting a perilous journey to the tallest peak. You've faced adversity along the way, nevertheless you prevailed. Now, you tend to lose focus and are seduced by complacency and arrogance. You also crumble at the slightest of disappointments and would only regain composure with days of ruing.

So, remember what you want, what you're aiming, why you're doing this. Never let yourself go astray. Your goal is the highest peak, you know what you got yourself into, you know it won't be a smooth journey. You know it will be hard, but you never backed down, you can never let yourself be distracted. You know you can do it.

Interview Moments

During my supposedly very crucial Cambridge interview,

Interviewer: (flips through my application,stops at college's testimonial with I presume,my forecast results)

I'm guessing your favourite subject is Mathematics?( as I got forecasted A* for it)

Me: (Must have given him a somewhat incredulous/astonished face)

Interviewer: Ok, I guess not then.

Interviewer: I see you take Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics.

Me: And Thinking Skills!

Interviewer: Yes...Thinking Skills. *Scoffs* I'm sure it must be very fun.

The 8th Ball

After a day of not much productive studying, what would PM4 do?

Play Pool of course!

I don't even know how this fascination with the "sport" came by, but it definitely started off with the guys in class. They would go off to the top of Asia Cafe during any free period. Two hour break? Pool la! Fed up of studying? Pool! Just feel like it? Pool! And pretty soon, the girls would occasionally join in, with some of us being more eager regulars.

Our Physics teacher even seems to encourage us playing pool. Since it involves the applications of Physics. You would have estimate the trajectory of the ball so it rebounds at the right angle, or apply the right amount of force to prevent your white ball from following the target ball into the hole. The element of luck is also needed when making uncertain shots.

The one setback would be coming out of the area smelling of smoke. Or finding yourself stranded there when a storm hits.

Hail pool, and how it has dominated much of PM4's break times. And to many more games to come!

Buckyball

Now a few hours after the rant, I feel bad about the post=.=

I hate settling conflicts, and leaving them suspended there, unattended to forever, will live a bad taste in your mouth and a regret to carry to the future.

Sigh sigh sigh.

But do note that the rant was meant to be out of annoyance. Not anger =0 Or not that much anyway. And sadly, there are more pressing matters to attend, so I can only leave it at that for now.

Staggered Ends

I didn't intend to write about this, but since I woke up to thoughts of the situation flooding my mind, might as well then.

I didn't expect that conflicts over such trivial matters could still occur now in college. This is why I have always had the notion that students from CHS are that much more superior, or "weathered" at least. I think that we mature faster than others as we are ...prone to such trials at an earlier stage. Frankly, I don't exactly understand what the problem is anyway. I doubt that I have actually wronged you directly or that I could actually scare you. Is my presence that intimidating to the extent you don't want to be near me? I personally suspect that there are other factors at play but I will question no further.

And to have the assumption that I do not favour you because of how I don't seem to strike as much conversation with you as our mutual friends, may be justifiable in some circumstances. But really, it is because I have no conversation to think of so we do not converse. If you really wanted some conversation between us, then why not you start one eh? And yesterday's attempt at reconciliation with you, if it wasn't for the help of some "bystanders", I would probably just aggravate the situation more, because it really is ridiculously hilarious in some ways.

And unfortunately, I do not take this as such a serious matter yet. We can go on like this as long as it doesn't affect our work. I'm not one to concede defeat if I'm not the one who is certain to be at fault.

There is no side to take in this, except maybe that of sense and logic. May you have a nice day.

Tell Me About A Banana

A thought reoccurred after reading a certain blog post. How people would always be comparing( human nature really) themselves to those more elite and wondering why they cannot ever attain that level. Having been at both ends of the spectrum, it should be that people though seemingly are better equipped and more gifted, would also be equally plagued by the obstacles of their levels.

Like me, yes, I do have high standards. Though I probably only became this ambitious during my Form 2 days and how that hunger to succeed has developed over the years. =0 And people all seem for some reason, are so astounded by my capabilities. (though they are only mediocre, compared to the real giants I have met). So even if I seem that bit more gifted than others, it doesn't mean I fret any less, I have even higher expectations to live up to(basically my own), more self-developed stress and standards to maintain. Thus, we've always been told never to compare... Because you never know what the other person has gone through.

And speaking of all the stress, my efforts and attention have to be split between BMAT, the Cambridge interview ANDDDD AS. Today, I was randomly called to talk about my mock interview and the admin said according the feedback, I would have to work on my knowledge and applications. Sigh, thus I would have to do much much outside reading D= One unfortunate matter, is that if one does not succeed at obtaining a place at Cambridge it would mean about..... almost 2K done the drain. Such exhilaration.

As for my title, it's the name of a book on Oxbridge admission interviews. Yes, they asked such a question during the interview!

You Shall Not Pass!

I seem to have this strange habit of passing up of certain events when an exam looms, even if the said exam is still about a few weeks away. For instance, today there's the Adidas King of the Road run, one of the few marathons that won't fall during the AS exams. Yet, I still pass it up because it's NEAR the AS exams. (One reason I didn't join could have also been that I had earlier thought my AS would start next week due to practicals). Whereas yesterday, Raleigh's MM was caving! =0 But of course, I did not go. Luckily I went for September's one or who knows when I'll meet up with them again.

What makes it even stranger is that I can pass on events like this which are quite beneficial on the physical sense, saying they would take up much of my exam preparation time, yet, I'm still here, on the computer, typing this blog post, doing random things online that aren't as beneficial. So, isn't being on the computer even more a waste of time then attending such events? I argue that going for an event like that would eat up more time due to travelling and getting prepared whilst you can plonk yourself in front of the computer anytime. There seems to be a major flaw in my time management skills. =0 Reading an article in R.AGE has come to make me suspect I have symptoms of ADHD...

I should follow the footsteps of a Raleigh senior of mine.He was taking AS finals during our May IW yet, he still chose to go for all 3 days, while me, for just my Sem 1 exam, chose to only help with the registration on the first day. When I asked him why he was still going, he just said "because I wanted to".

And later today, I will be going to an event, that is supposedly more for aspiring dentist, but whatever, still educational.