A fresh beginning

Entries from January 2008

In honor of those good days

January 16, 2008 · Leave a Comment

What I miss about JC: the humility of people with big brains and sympathetic hearts.

visit “here” (hwa chong)

“Everytime we expand our horizons, we learn something new.”

“Hwa Chong has a no-blame culture & a can-do mindset”

-Mr Ang Wee Kheong

What we had then, is already gone. Time to work on what is here today. Rather than always looking back to what was. Thank God for those times and move on.

Yes, I am less idealistic and more material wanting.

Probably the alumni are the richest around now, still sound like the students they were in the JC days.

It was a place of innocence, of love, of friendship. I never knew how I’d miss those JC days; that I’d dream about them in 128 bit color and surround sound. It was a place of peace, and of rest. At least, temporarily. Until the reality of streams by ‘A’ level results entered the picture.

It was then that we moved on. Shed maybe a crystal tear or two, genuinely repented, and moved on. Moved on on that understanding that life is meant to be lived for the high achievers.

What happens to the rest of us that are normal. A stream of consciousness entered my thoughts and that is what this blog today is.

I have never been in such a ‘utopia’ before. It’s really heaven. I never thought I’d miss it, till I left it. It’s the place that has ursurped so many hours of my life, through friendships formed, band practice, jogs. And yet has given so much back; taught me to study and value sound advice.

“dan chun” – from the small village. Yet they are able to engage in commerce and politics so well, adapting, moulding to the environment. What will we be like in 20 years? Life is but a breath. We grow old, and then we die. Before that, we build our empires, environments, that we laugh, sneeze and build our families in. All in a semblance of imagined, fragile security.

Security that could go any moment, given that what if we die. What if we cast off our bodies of this world, and journey to the next where we are not met with train tickets for the long journey because there is no one to prepare them for us anyway. Because what we do on this earth cannot be transferred to the underworld; resistance is futile.

What if, what if. What if I had bought that Sony watch. The cheap one – 1 imitation for $10. Imitation is limitation. He might as well have said ‘1 limitation for $10′. I wouldn’t have known the difference.

Cynicism, fresh breath of creativity. In honor of those good, old days.

Categories: jc · stream of consciousness

How to study effectively at Uni

January 16, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Dealing with the idea

Students who do some study regularly throughout the semester are the most successful. Get into the habit of doing a little bit of study in each subject every day. Reviewing each class within 24 hours is a great memory aid.

Organizing the study process

Create a weekly timetable. First, fill in your ’solid’ commitments like lectures, tutorials, practical classes etc, then, fill in your study hours. Don’t forget to leave time for breaks, social activities, exercise and recreation.

Plan your assessment tasks for the semester. In the first week of semester you’ll probably be given an assessment task list for each of your subjects, telling you what is due when. A good idea is to fill in a year planner with dates for your assignments and exams.

Studying effectively

Review the way you study. Try to make your study interesting and different – don’t bore yourself by endless reading and re-reading. It’s a good idea to have a specific task in mind whenever you sit down to study – for example, “review lecture notes” or “begin researching warrior monks”, not just “study history”. Think about the purpose of each study task. How will completing each task help you succeed this semester?

Categories: organization · studies

Psychological

January 16, 2008 · Leave a Comment

I am like a bouncing ball; push me down, I will bounce back, even higher.

Sometimes we may have problems in school

  • difficult school work
  • bully
  • poor results
  • problems with friends

And sometimes we may face problems at home

  • parents quarrelling
  • scolding from parent
  • problems with sibling

Problems can make us feel bad in different ways…

  • sad
  • angry
  • helpless
  • afraid
  • anxious
  • frustrated
  • shameful

But no matter how bad we feel…

There are always things we can do to make ourselves feel better, like…

  1. crying
  2. talking to someone
  3. listening to our favourite music
  4. writing in our journal
  5. punching our pillow
  6. drawing
  7. thinking about things that make us happy
  8. exercising

Reach out for help, we all need it from time to time.

There are people who care:

  1. Talk to your school teacher or counsellor.

LIFE IS VALUABLE – TREASURE IT

-Psychological & Guidance Services Branch, Ministry of Education.

Categories: sanity