Unforgettable: Bye NUS

AFTER 18 YEARS OF STUDYING UNDER THE MOE EDU SYSTEM, 

I'M FINALLY DONE!! ;D

Soooooo, I've just graduated from NUS unofficially at 11am on the 29th Nov 2012. 

I had 2 weeks to prepare for my Soci of sexuality module and seriously couldn't get any more bored of sex. And sexuality. Lol. The readings are interesting, i must say, but to be honest they are quite repetitive as well. The entire module is about cross-cultural comparisons, power inequality, gender inequality, homosexual, heterosexuals and human rights. The most interesting insight I learnt would probably be on prostitution and the historical of ancient China, Japan, Greece and New Guinea societies whereby there was a compulsory phase for all young guys to have an older same-sex lover. It was believed that young guys would become more masculine and manly only after they have swallowed their older male lover's semen. OMGWTFBBQ right? Guys, be glad that you're born in this era, where people don't think that an older man's semen is magical. I shall not continue elaborating and painting the explicit image here. Anyway, yes all the abovementioned are very intriguing to a certain extent, but my brain got really saturated after studying it for 14 days, 10am-10pm straight.. 

So after studying Psychology for 3.5 years, and having done an experiment on it, i realised Psychology is not what I had expected it to be during my pre-uni days. It's soooo much broader and diverse than what I had imagined. So basically, the basics of Psychology can be divided 6 different aspects -
A, B, C, D, S, P. 

Abnormal, Biological, Cognitive, Developmental, Social and Personality.

In my naive and confined mind 4 years ago, I thought that the only career path for Psych graduates would be to ultimately become a psychologist. I chose this particular major, thinking that it's the only course which is most appropriate for me to take in order to help my family since the gene susceptible to depression runs in my family. Being in the stiff competition for good grades among all the psych students had not been easy for me, yet i've never regretted taking this major up, tho at the expense of my grades. heh. I still remember how i partied my Year 1 sem 1 away and only studied 4 out of 12 chapters for my PL1101E (basic psych module) for the finals. I got back a C+ and spent 1 month of my precious holiday studying for the placement test (a re-test for people interested in majoring). Luckily it wasn't too late for me cos i managed to scrape through and major it. Through those uni days, i noticed that i never really enjoyed studying modules from other faculties, i.e. Math, E-commerce, Cybercrime, etc. But, i enjoyed reading almost all of my psych modules. I'd say my favourite Psych modules are bio of emotions, psychosocial of emotions, personality and social/abnormal psychology. Can't really handle the neuro brain parts, neither am i interested in how kids' brains develop. I wanna thank my psych/close girlfriends Qianhua, Meijun, Shenn and Val for always patiently giving me useful tips and endless motivation in my studies. Thank you baby Leonard for always accompanying me go early to school to chope tables and power sockets at the Central Lib and Utown these 1.5 years. Love you all! <3

Besides having learnt so much content knowledge in school, I think my biggest take-home from NUS would be my personal character growth. I've never been the most popular kid in school or among my friends. I used to take pride in how ferocious my personality was, just cos i thought nobody dared to voice out their stance and opinions and i dared. Never did I realise that this stubborn and selfish mentality of mind would bring upon me nothing good but so much interpersonal relations issues with some 'friends' and even got the bitchy friends wagging their tongues behind my back. It was only in the recent year in uni that I decided to tear down the mask and attempt to think in others' shoes. Fortunately, it was easier to smile than to frown. The friends who were really afraid of me before my gradual change found it easier to click with me ever since. I also learnt to cherish my family more and am always gladly looking forward to spending quality time with them. My siblings and bestie surprised me when they said that they like my refreshing change, hence i really enjoy being more genuinely sociable. :) On the other hand, I am nonetheless still certain about the types of people who would turn me off: Chauvinistic guys (worse if they're vain), girls who act dumb and think they are cute, attention-seeking bitches who complain about every aspect of their life when they're already considered blessed in others' eyes, girls who touch or flirt with Leonard, insensitive people who say stupid things that hurt others and people who squander off their parents' money without any practical goal to be productive/useful in life. I think such people are pure waste of space. If you're none of the above, you don't have to worry about me hating you. :p I'm a really sweet girl. (erhem)

Of course, I have to mention the CCA that blessed me with so many awesome girlfriends and buddies, as well as provided me with the valuable and priceless experiences that brought me a step closer to realising my passion and dream. Voices had been the most integral aspect of my uni life especially after going through countless training and rehearsals in preparation of the 5 major performances (3 Emerges and 2 Mini Concerts) and a few internal and external gigs. Even though I did get labelled as a wild party girl (when I'm clearly not!??!) and was disliked by one of the members, I'm confident to say that probably 99% of my CCA-mates are actually ok with or neutral towards me. The membership in NUS CAC Voices was the most enriching once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that was presented to me in NUS. I'm thankful for my closer friends like Qian, Val, Kelly, Marcus and Kendrick. During the times when I doubted myself and felt the all-time-low in NUS, you are like the angels who never let go of me to crumble by myself  during my weakest point. Thankful that my bestest and most clickable bunch of friends came from NUS Voices. :')

I remember telling myself that I'm definitely gonna cherish my final semester in NUS in August this year. What exactly is the best method of cherishing time and moments? I'm not too sure. What I'm sure about is that when I start working proper (in about 2-3 months or so), I'm gonna be reminded of NUS (esp with so many juniors on twitter) and reminisce about the deck's legendary Yong Tau Fu laksa and people-watching bazaar, about the fully-packed NUS Central Library level 6, about the crazy queue outside YIH study room, about the empty space outside NUSSU office where my girls and I practised for Emerge, about the loooong sweaty walk into Utown, about giving in to a cup of Starbucks to keep ourselves going on long mugging days, about going for Macs breakfast at Engine at 1059 for cheap brunch, about the NUS Central Forum fleamarket fair where I'd spend on impulse purchases of makeup and blog shop apparels, and last but not least not forgetting the full days and late nights we spent in school just to finish 1-2 pathetic chapters of 1 (just ONE) module. -.- Well, definitely I wouldn't want to return to this kind of life anymore, but i'll miss it anyway. It occurs as quite surprising to me that just a few months back in April, I recall telling Leonard and my friends: Omg I don't wanna graduate! and in October, I couldn't wait for November to come so that I can officially not return to NUS for lessons anymore. To a certain extent, I enjoy school because it makes me feel young and productive as I'll always have things to keep myself busy and of course to learn new knowledge. After a few months of experimenting with stuff and going through serious thoughts, extending an extra semester in NUS was in fact just an excuse for me to search for my true identity as an individual (and also to pull up my CAP). I can't model for nuts but I can pen down a hell lot of opinions (in other words, a long monologue) of interesting people/shops/restaurants/places which I've came across. I can't (even) get into D'hoppers dance crew, but I have a much deeper and stronger passion in singing, hence the youtube channel. 

Many seniors of my (seemingly) designated 'line' told me that as long as you work hard, results and opportunities will follow suit. To be honest, I'm quite skeptical about it probably because I haven't really REALLY worked hard enough for any dream (which is still not entirely concrete even now). Here's my plan: to give myself 3 months' break from doing anything beyond my wish and dedicate it to my slowly-forming ambition and so-called dreams. I just need a tad (a lot maybe) more maturity to miraculously develop in my system so as to bring my aspirations into reality. I have plans. At the same time, i'd need your support and feedback to keep improving. So do be generous with your comments (or even likes) as usual. More information will be up about my plans in time to come. The only thing I'm confident to reveal now is, I'll never stop expanding my knowledge universe, so watch out for new things coming up! :)

I shall end off with a few tips for those who are still searching for your personal identity:

If it's within your financial means, go try out new hobbies and activities which interest you. If you've always been interested in certain activities or skills for quite some time, be it singing, drawing, baking, photography, dancing, modeling, setting up a business or doing up a sports, beat that inertia and the procrastination devil in you by planning out a practical timetable of goals you wish to achieve for that month. Remember to do sufficient research on your interest this December holidays. You are one of a kind with an entirely unique personality, surprise people with the capabilities you have secretly hidden away from public gaze. If you happen to not be so well off (like me), do it one step at a time. What's important is taking the initiating step, because in an eye blink, you'd see yourself working halfway towards your goal already. Good luck all! 

Lol. I never knew i would say the above.
I suspect, once in a while i'll have magic fingers that can generate inspirational stories and sentences. Hehe.  

Alright. Will be singing for the next few days.

Thanks for enduring through the looonng lor soh post, i feel so loved. 

:)

Do help to like my fb consolidation page if you haven't! 

Thanks in advance!

Other channels to stalk me:

Twitter: @ZiweiSandy

Instagram: ZiweiSandy

Youtube: Ziweisandy