If I had chosen to not take a gap year or to go to Tokyo to secure the scholarship, I wouldn't have ended up here, going through bittersweet moments with friends who brought me closer to God. I wouldn't have met a mixed-up 'family' consisting of perverts, the God-driven student council, the 'sampat' (crazy in Chinese) gang, kiasu Chemistry classmates along with our beautiful NUS lecturer, the bunch of Further Maths guys who miraculously got me married to my husband, the awesome group of dancers and choreographers, lecturers and staffs who came from all walks of life and the list goes on.
Studying in MCKL has been one of the most amazing times in my life. I'd be lying if I say that my heart isn't heavy to leave college. Prior to the last day of college, I found myself going back to the first few days of college. Funny, it just felt like a few days ago. In a blink of an eye, three semesters have passed but we've all changed for the better. Many mistakes done, many valuable lessons learnt.
The last day of college went well. No tears shed, no regrets. Just faith in Him and the people who have coloured my life. Once an MCKLian, always an MCKLian.
Do I regret going on a gap year? Nope, not at all.
*If you're not one who is sentimental or emotional, I suggest you don't read the following paragraphs. But you're free to do so if you're curious. I'm sorry if it's such boredom*
27th November 2012.
Train of thoughts. I sat in silence in the monorail, time-travelling secretly all the way back to 4th July 2011. My first day in a college by the name of Methodist College Kuala Lumpur (MCKL).
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Last week, I was on a roller coaster ride as I go through waves of emotions. Who's not happy that college has ended and we don't have to wake up early for boring lectures? But who's not sad that we're parting with our college mates to our own ways, unsure whether we'll be in touch with each other? It's natural for us to take last-minute pictures in college, then upload them in Facebook or Instagram. And 5 years from now, sometimes even one day from now, we would look back at those pictures, either laughing in tears or regretting our mistakes. We would relive our college life as we walk down memory lane.
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As I stepped into MCKL that proudly stands up to its motto 'veritas vincit omnia', I was nervous yet excited to start a new life after returning from a gap year. Thinking that I have an advantage over the rest in terms of life experience, I was secretly slightly arrogant although I maintained my humble self. Thankfully, on the third day, when classes officially started, my arrogance was washed away by the excellent-and-smart-student image that my college mates were trying to uphold. After all, most of us had good results for our high school finals. Surely, we felt insecure to meet others who are on par or smarter than us. I was already panicking because whatever scientific knowledge I learnt in high school went down the drain due to taking up art streamed classes in Japan. With all these insecurity and effort to uphold such smart image, I felt really small, finding younger students who could answer simple chemistry questions which I couldn't.
Speaking about Chemistry, for all three semesters, I had a super-smart, gorgeous lecturer. I tend to say this, "I feel stupid everytime I enter chemistry class." That shows how intimidated I was (still am) by her. But it's not a complain. In lieu, it's sort of an encouragement to work harder to master Chemistry. She's actually a passionate lecturer, of course a well-experienced one too, as she used to lecture in NUS. The university where you find kiasu kids, mostly Singaporeans. She even prepared 10 post-trial sets for us to squeeze our brain juice on. The last set made me screamed in frustration. Too bad, we're the last batch of MCKL students whom she taught because she'll be moving back to Singapore, I guess back to NUS? Oh well. I truly appreciate her passion and effort in teaching us chemistry. Honestly, I would have quit Chemistry if I weren't intimidated yet inspired by her. Although she sent me shivers down my spine through her difficult questions, I'm still thankful to her for helping me to be where I am now. I wish her all the best in Singapore if she sees this post.
I'm sorry, but Chemistry is part of my college life, hence the long passage on it. Even my bed and table would be conquered by my Chemistry notes whenever I study this subject.
After settling down for a few weeks, the new intakes embarked on a real journey to know each other well. Orientation Camp, Midsummer Masquerade, Inter Cohort Games, High Praise and not forgetting the small events and outings we organised plus our first Edexcel exam. We were quite naive, unaware that Edexcel could bite us real hard. I still remember how solemn and disappointed we were when we got unexpected results. The worst was Psychology. My classmates and I were so demoralized that we were halfway to giving up. Some had even already given up.
Orientation Camp was probably the turning point for us to feel comfortable with each other besides searching for friends we could mingle with. I was placed in the camp with other cohorts. Initially, it wasn't something I look forward to because I barely knew anyone from the other cohorts. I guess things went well and soon, I found myself in a wide social circle. The best part of Orientation Camp is the stream-trotting. It was a tough journey, climbing up the hill through the stream, strong current pushing us down. Yet, you could see the satisfaction on our faces when we succeeded in reaching the top to enjoy the beauty of nature. We even had water fights, splashing each other. Little did we know that we would be the last batch to go for stream-trotting due to the Rota virus outbreak in the rivers nearby. 80% of the camp participants fell sick, but we took it as a record-breaking event in MCKL's history.
Second semester was just pure havoc. Hectic schedule for me. And it was definitely one hell of a life-changing semester. 2 words: Student Council. Even now, I still think that my term serving in Student Council is a dream. My first thought when I was elected: 'Ahhh...will it turn out bad, just like what happened in high school?' I wish to tell you more about Mushy Council (my Student Council's name), but I shall keep it to myself. All I can I say is that the 9 members I worked with were truly blessings from God. Things didn't go smoothly in the beginning, but we matured through the hardships, retiring with smiles of victory and sense of accomplishment. If I could travel back in time, I would want to be in Mushy Council again. Those late nights in college, sleepless days, arguments, tears, laughter, mistakes and endless list of events were highlights of my college life.
Being in Student Council has taught me things that I can never learn from the chalkboard. The most important thing I learnt, faith in Him. God-driven council. Whatever we did, was not for ourselves but for God. It's way different from how I managed my high school Prefectorial Board, in which racism, greed and misuse of power were among the main things. I never thought of Him when I had difficulties. All I thought were my effort and revenge towards rivals. I ran the board only for my school, but I never thought of it as being part of serving Him.
I also ended up having a bunch of friends being my 'family'. You know, the make-believe family, like how we used to play in kindergartens and primary schools. At this stage, you can't call it childish though, because we sort of treat each other like our family members. We call each other 'dad', 'ooki (big sister)' and so on. I even had a 'husband' who is actually my dance partner. We did all kinds of things together, basically nonsensical stuff that made us laugh non-stop. My only regret, being in Student Council snatched me away from them as I was too occupied with council matters and we drifted apart from each other.
Wanting to dance on stage so much, I joined a group of dancers to be in a performance competition during Midsummer Masquerade. This is one of the most awesome things in my life since I've always wanted to be in a dance group. It is through this group that I got to know my partner and 2 more amazing girls who were the main choreographers. We didn't make it to the final round of the Midsummer audition but we were asked to give an ending performance. Man, I can still feel the heat on stage and the screams from the audience. I never knew performing on stage could give such satisfactory.
After retirement, it was time to catch up with studies. I screwed up second semester's Edexcel exam and I knew that I can't slack in third semester. This semester was mostly spent with various people, cohort mates and juniors. What happened shall remain history but memories.
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