Change of perspective

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so people say.
Just as quickly as the oppressive mood hit yesterday, a new wave of determination (to some extent) took over today. True, there are tons of things to do but i'm trying my very best to not let it get to me.

One could say it's cognitive re-framing.
Or one could also say i'm simply choosing to ignore the fact that i've got 12 chapters of CSC, 8 chapters of Psycho and 7 chapters of Calculus to revise in 3 days + SAT 2 subjects to study. And that is denial kicking in.

Hahahaha.

I realize that little little things can often make me happy again.
Like the much anticipated plan for a food escapade down in the city after finals. Having friends who enjoy food as much as i do does wonders for my spirits. =D
And moments on the phone when i can be cheeky, kiddy and totally relaxed. Thank you.
And noticing that there's an AUP lecturer (teaching accounts, i think) by the name of Kiranjeet Kaur. Haha!
And realizing that it's the end of semester 1! Hello Penang, goodbye jungle.

There has been a dry spell of pictures for quite a while. So here are some not-so-recent ones to provide a respite from the usual routine.

The horror!!!!

The good ol' days. I still think we should've beaten the Saints boys. Hmph.
=P

High school
vs.
Out of high school

(Sorry Lynn, I don't seem to have a high school picture of the 5 of us..)


On an end note, SAT Maths Level 2 is no walk in the park.
ps-Did anyone notice that Lynn was holding Joanne's finger in the 2nd picture? A bit odd. Hahaha.
pps-I am NOT a High School Musical fan. Period.

Drained

Starting to feel physically and mentally drained from all the work that's slowly but surely piling up. It's like running a hurdle race where the hurdles seem to stretch on to infinitely. I just stumbled (and possibly toppled it in the process) my way across one hurdle today - the final Psycho class quiz.

The distance between each obstacle seem to grow shorter and shorter until there's barely time for me to catch my breath, much less prepare for them. In 5 days, there's going to finals..which at the moment, i'm ill prepared for. And halfway through finals, there's SAT 2. Yeah yeah, it'll be all play and no work once i'm back home. NOT. There's uni applications to fill in, essays that say "choose me! i'm suitable for your prestigious uni!" to concoct, recommendation letters to obtain, more confusing forms to fill in, transcripts to send, proof-reading and editing of the essays (reminds me of the good ol ed-board days), aliasing with Inti and MGS teachers/personel..Much of which, i'm still rather blur with. Sure, there has been much help from briefings, friends and online sources but still. After reading the walkthroughs and what-nots, i come out half as dazed as before. =S

The essays are what worry me the most. They all require me to write about how i'm supposed to be suitable for the uni, how i can contribute to the uni, how special and different i am from the pool of 30 000 + (super smart and accomplished) applicants and most improtantly the essays need to leap off the page. I kinda wish i had some amazingly spectacular life event akin to that of the main character in the movie, 21. Though i wouldn't wanna get beat up. Haha.

Seriously.

Do we all need to lead a double life counting cards (and win $$$ in Las Vegas) during the weekends and going to classes during the week, get caught and lose everything and get beat up just to impress the people scrutinizing our essays? I'm not so sure about what i have that can make a difference in those universities. My mediocre credentials are very unlikely to impress as compared to International Olympiad winners, world-class athletes..and all those ho-liau people out there. So, it has to be the stuff inside me. My ideals, my visions, my traits, my flairs...stuff (or fluff) that other people are missing. Which i'm not sure what those are. And which i have not had the time to think about. Yet.

Sigh.

Will go play Word Challenge for now.
And maybe think hapee thoughts.
Like haagen dazs.
And baby Ryan's birthday.
And seeing friends.
And glorious Penang food.

Done deal

The results are in.
For the SAT Reasoning test i mean.
Weellllll.
I got an okay score..Though it's nothing to shout about.
And it's so much less than what i got for the mock SAT test prepared by Inti.

Makes me feel a bit not so bright..but hey, the psycho book says that SAT tests have been criticized for not really predicting a person's aptitude in college. It's only MODERATELY correlated. So, a person COULD do not so well in SAT and yet be fantastically good in uni. =P

Hah.

So there.

The universities need to know this fact. =P

Annnnndddddd,

MGS Review 2009 is out.
Got my face inside wan.
Wheeee!
Hahaha.

I'll see it. Soon.
=)

=(

Will only get to enrol for next semester on next Tuesday.
All the slots this week are full..
Don't even know if the subjects and time slots will be available by then.
*cries*

Decisions

Decisions, decisions, decisions.
What to take as an elective next semester. I'm definitely taking 3 pre-major subjects (Calculus 2, General Physics 1 and General Chemistry 1) but the confusion comes when deciding on my electives.

These are the electives i have to complete:

2 Social Sciences (PSY105/ SOC103
2 Humanities (HIS251/ HIS252/REL200)
2 Computing (CSC202)
1 Communication (COM110/ COM211)
1 Fine Arts (ART 105)

This semester, i've already done one social science (Psycho) and one computing (CSC) and i'm definitely not taking another Psycho or CSC class. Don't wanna anaylze human perceptions or computing technologies anymore. Who wants to know what S-HTTP, TCP/TP, WiMax and all that stands for anyway? Or what metacognition, Freudian theories, Gestalt psychology means? Not me. (I suppose that makes me shallow..=P)

And i'm definitely leaving Fine Arts to be done in US. I don't wanna waste my Fine Arts elective on something boring like Music Aprreciation/ Music Theory when i can do theater/drama/more fun stuff in US.

So, the plan now is either to take Econs or US History..Leaning more towards Econs though. Maybe US History in the second semester.

The plus point here is that i'm exempted from both MPW subjects so i got more free time. =D =D =D and i'm better equipped for SAT Chemistry and Physics subject tests. Thank you, Disted. So you see, going to school for 6 months wasn't such a waste.

On another note, FINALS ARE COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 AND SO IS SAT 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Final draft for the final exam timetable is not out yet..but there's a 99.9% probabilty that Psycho and Calculus will be on the same day. And that would be the Friday before the November SAT 2 paper which so happens to be on Saturday.
Crazeee.

*bangs head*

Why?

...

Panic At The Disco Hostel Room

It just dawned on me that Inti expects to see great achievements from our class. Since our class was the only one to fully have scores above 1800 for the SAT mock, the head honchos(including Dr. Lim) definitely want to see good scores for our real SAT 1 and SAT 2 test. Not to mention they probably want to see MOST, if not all of us flying off to Ivies/Ivy Standard unis.
*gulp*

Ok, sleep first.
Work tomorrow.

=P