3 Months Left

   It's been 3 months ever since I've really looked through this blog and updated it. And yes, this is the first post of 2014. Essentially I was waiting for my new Macbook Air to come in April before updating this spot but I guessed I've had some time on my hand. Moreover, there's too much to tell. So, what happened during these 3 months? I can call it more like a roller-coaster ride.




1) Work reshuffling

   During these months, there was that worry that the number of tuition that I was taking was way more than I could handle. Initially it was too little, but after some persistence and blessings I've managed to secure 3 tutees. Unfortunately, one of my tutee, Panittha, had to cancel prematurely the tuitions after I had a fallout with her. She was frequently late and was uninterested at some occasions. Strictly speaking, I had some part of the blame for reprimanding her, knowing very well that it could cost the job. I was badly in need of a backup plan thereafter and thank God I've got one in the nick of time. As of now, I'm holding onto 4 tutees, with a net worth of about $1000 per month. The question now lies in the future - Can I withstand such pressure going into the University phase in August? Only time will tell.

2) The Results

   After 4 months of nervous waiting, 3rd March finally came. At 1.55 p.m, I was sitting in front of the computer with Ben, waiting for the results to be revealed. I don't need to mention how important it is for me to get the right result in this one. The clock struck 2.00 p.m, and with Adrenaline by Gavin Rossdale playing in the background, I opened my results page. The results - BCC/CB. Essentially all my grades remained stagnant excluding GP and Physics, which had went up by a grade. Of course I was ecstatic with such a result as it could have been much worse given the circumstances that I was facing. Yet, when I look forward to the EESS application and the transfer window, I know that there's still a long way before I can completely redeem myself.

3) The March "Transfer Window"

   Although I had the end goal in mind, I was still lost in applying for a university (And yes, I've called it the "transfer window", as in the soccer transfer season.). I had until the 1st of April to complete my applications to NTU and NUS. Along the way, I've realised that this was more complicated than I expected and I also had to apply for bursaries, scholarships and grants. This required me to repeatedly go to the schools to submit my supporting documents and look up on all my past achievements since I was in Primary School. To add to that stress, I had to write up a unique 300 word essay for every admission and scholarship application I send in. I took the liberty to send in emails to some of the professors in an attempt to further strengthen my position in the application (This idea came from an EESS professor at the open house). Fortunately, I was able to complete all the paperworks in time and even managed to catch up with some of my classmates in those universities. 

4) The dreaded wait, again

   It has been 5 days ever since the closure of the transfer window, and I know what to expect from here on out in April to June. As I chatted with Cel last week, she told me that 13 transfer students had already been chosen for the EESS course from the first batch of interviews. This leaves with only 17 spots left in the course to be prudent. The cut off grades were rumoured to be AAB/C,  far off my grades although it may had improved. I went on to try sending essays to the various professors in an attempt to entice them but no news had come out of it so far. Nicole (One of my schoolmates from JC), on the other hand, told me that it is much easier to secure a slot of interview in NTU based on her experience. She claimed that out of the many who had applied to read Linguistics in NTU, 200 were chosen for interview and all of them eventually made it into the course.
   
   Frankly speaking, I'm not confident of anything. Yes, I may had done better in the Big One this year but the applications is a different ballgame altogether. With that in mind, I've send out another application to NUS to read Geography as a backup plan while still holding strong to my application to read EESS in NTU. Ben told me to send out more emails to the professors while waiting, but somehow it's too early to tell. I know that the worse case scenario would see me taking up Physics in NTU in the hope of re-applying to EESS next year but I was adamant that there could be a better way out. Either way, the wait for the interview and results in April and May seems like forever to me, and it could well decide my future.

5) The final phase

   After Dinn, Jaryl and Boon went on to collect their IC's from the office, it had meant that I'm the next in line to go. And it goes to remind me that the civilian life (and uni life) is drawing near. As I further relieved my task as the Platoon Administrator, all I can think about it the preparation for that transition period. There were questions about the finance and time management after I ORD and I've had to sit down and think carefully of what to do. What's more, as I looked at the faces around me now, I realised that everybody than I've known since I've entered SRU in 2012 had already ORDed. Simply put, I'm ready to ORD! Then again, I still have 3 months to go and needed to plan further on my finance and future.

6) Movies

   Divergent, The Raid and Captain America came out in the cinemas and I just had the slightest of free time to catch all of them. Spoilers? No no no... you'll have to watch them to find out! :)

Divergent :

The Raid 2 :

Captain America :

   So that's it for now. April and May will be an interesting month (hopefully) and then there will be June, when I'll be taking my holidays. All I can hope for now is that everything goes as smoothly as possible and that God continues to bless me along this road that I'm taking. Insyallah. ;)