ephemeral moments, everlasting lessons
today marked the end of jc2 block test 1. i felt it came, defeated our hearts, and disappeared..all too fast such that i didn't even feel we even had to study for it. oh well, at least i didn't commit my 100% effort into preparation this time round. instead of testing what knowledge i've read thus far in jc, i learnt from the exams instead.
DAY 1 - GP
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" -Psalm 46:1
this sms came from my dear youthgroup leader while i was still scrambling to read-up on the notes about censorship and also religion which i painstakingly copied yesterday. i felt the questions were interesting and the responses clearly showed depth of thought and consideration for both sides of the argument. anyway, it really lifted my spirits for that day. the day before i was just sharing with some friends from the music team how unprepared i am for the exams this time round. we were discussing about how gp was then for them while indulging in some really nice ice-cream at "daily scoop", located off sunset way.
in the end, i managed to complete a proper essay even after changing the question i attempted after half an hour. *amazed* didn't really expect ideas to flow out continuously. was happy i'm getting into the act of questioning the assumptions and extremes of the question.
gp's over and done with...now move on to math and econs. i hate it when i've to study for two subjects that's being tested the following day.
DAY 2 - MATH, ECON
"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." -Isaiah 41:13
another word of encouragement to bring me through this long and important day. i felt i was overly stressed for math. even with 20x more practise, i think i'll still feel this way, thanks to some requirement to obtain 'A' for math or else i'll be forced to drop my math'S' paper.*sigh* well, things didn't go well...now i can only pray for the best scenario out of this trying situation. econs was fun because i could actually write whatever i choose to, well, at least they were mostly out of point. i call it my version of philosophy and economics. the easiest i felt was the data response question, contrary to what others felt was the toughest component. i returned to my abode, exhausted yet i have no choice but to push on...
DAY 3 - CHEM(with SPA Skill A)
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, " -Ephesians 3:20
Thanks to the JJC Chem '101 organic reactions' notes (courtesy of my roommate), Chem SPA was a breeze. i thought chemistry would be manageable after completing paper 1, but i soon took the other extreme stand about how i felt the paper was. it was massacre...i hardly could do any of the ionic equilibria questions. even the question on electrochem was tough. i felt totally devastated. but i'm not going to be defeated, yet. no, not so easy. i felt very down, didn't feel like talking to anybody. just escape to my quiet lil' room and ponder over the consequence of my poor time management. there is still time if i start now, i'm not calling it quits yet.
it's 0% revision for physics after chem paper. i was in a desperate situation for time. last hurdle.
DAY 4 - PHYSICS
"The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." -Habakkuk 3:19
i was actually waiting for the sms bearing the above 'verse of the day' to arrive. it really helped me keep calm during all my papers although i may be drop dead worried deep down in the depths of my heart. c'mon, a practical person like me would surely realise the importance of 10% of the overall grade when i know there is a possibility i may not be able to live up to the occasion during prelims. i was quite satisfied with paper 1, but when i looked through the following paper, i screamed inside. the questions weren't those that is too hard to do although you've studied for eternity for it. they're rather direct, but my mind blanked out when trying to recall the relevant formulas. ahh....understanding vs memory. i only managed to comprehend how each formula works within the short revision time frame yesterday, memory requires more time i guess.(i realised that i have compacted all my j1 material into short notes, so i was lucky and thus able to complete running through the entire j1 syllabus, but still..)
SO, now BT1 is kind of done with(minus physics SPA 'A' next tuesday). the class took 3o minutes just to decide they'll go to orchard. there they couldn't agree on what to do, and even where to eat. everybody split. myself,oliver,milton,alvin,wenjie,perry and ben decided on Oyabashi - this Japanese restaurant at the basement level of Cineleisure. it ain't fantastic, and the portion is small...so i wouldn't recommend anyone to eat there unless you're in a hurry, because they serve you the food really fast. oh, i bummed into lynn twice in cineleisure, what a coincidence. okok, so majority of class decides to watch 'howl's moving castle'. i chose not to join them as i already have the movie waiting for me to watch it in my room. =)
[sidetrack: howl's is a really lovely and beautiful movie. it's themes include beauty, magic, love. it managed to keep me at the edge of my seat even at 2am in the morning; truly captivating anime. heard it won several awards too.]
i ended up enjoying quiet time with myself, looking through CDs in sembawang music and listening to jazz/new age at gramophone ( i spent at least 40 mins there). i bought myself a new CD : the very best of Lee Ritenour. indulged myself in NYDC's macadamia nut cheesecake before heading back to boarding school. wow, i totally enjoyed myself as i had not done these things that i love to do for a long time now. i went for Maundy Thursday service - the mime presentation was really very touching. i even joined the JJ bonding session - my due respect to their hyper and enthusiastic J1's. they even changed the lyrics of 'i've got peace like a river' to some cool lines like ' i ponteng all my lectures, in jj' and 'i love my 1st 3 months, in jj' *smile*
i'm glad i persevered through to the end of BT1 given my desperate state of preparation. although the actual total time spent attempting the papers will total to only about 24 hours, i think the experience this time taught me many important lessons. it shook my confidence, it created stress, it woke me up...that prelims is in 6 months time. most importantly, it helped me grow in faith in Him.
DAY 1 - GP
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble" -Psalm 46:1
this sms came from my dear youthgroup leader while i was still scrambling to read-up on the notes about censorship and also religion which i painstakingly copied yesterday. i felt the questions were interesting and the responses clearly showed depth of thought and consideration for both sides of the argument. anyway, it really lifted my spirits for that day. the day before i was just sharing with some friends from the music team how unprepared i am for the exams this time round. we were discussing about how gp was then for them while indulging in some really nice ice-cream at "daily scoop", located off sunset way.
in the end, i managed to complete a proper essay even after changing the question i attempted after half an hour. *amazed* didn't really expect ideas to flow out continuously. was happy i'm getting into the act of questioning the assumptions and extremes of the question.
gp's over and done with...now move on to math and econs. i hate it when i've to study for two subjects that's being tested the following day.
DAY 2 - MATH, ECON
"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." -Isaiah 41:13
another word of encouragement to bring me through this long and important day. i felt i was overly stressed for math. even with 20x more practise, i think i'll still feel this way, thanks to some requirement to obtain 'A' for math or else i'll be forced to drop my math'S' paper.*sigh* well, things didn't go well...now i can only pray for the best scenario out of this trying situation. econs was fun because i could actually write whatever i choose to, well, at least they were mostly out of point. i call it my version of philosophy and economics. the easiest i felt was the data response question, contrary to what others felt was the toughest component. i returned to my abode, exhausted yet i have no choice but to push on...
DAY 3 - CHEM(with SPA Skill A)
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, " -Ephesians 3:20
Thanks to the JJC Chem '101 organic reactions' notes (courtesy of my roommate), Chem SPA was a breeze. i thought chemistry would be manageable after completing paper 1, but i soon took the other extreme stand about how i felt the paper was. it was massacre...i hardly could do any of the ionic equilibria questions. even the question on electrochem was tough. i felt totally devastated. but i'm not going to be defeated, yet. no, not so easy. i felt very down, didn't feel like talking to anybody. just escape to my quiet lil' room and ponder over the consequence of my poor time management. there is still time if i start now, i'm not calling it quits yet.
it's 0% revision for physics after chem paper. i was in a desperate situation for time. last hurdle.
DAY 4 - PHYSICS
"The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." -Habakkuk 3:19
i was actually waiting for the sms bearing the above 'verse of the day' to arrive. it really helped me keep calm during all my papers although i may be drop dead worried deep down in the depths of my heart. c'mon, a practical person like me would surely realise the importance of 10% of the overall grade when i know there is a possibility i may not be able to live up to the occasion during prelims. i was quite satisfied with paper 1, but when i looked through the following paper, i screamed inside. the questions weren't those that is too hard to do although you've studied for eternity for it. they're rather direct, but my mind blanked out when trying to recall the relevant formulas. ahh....understanding vs memory. i only managed to comprehend how each formula works within the short revision time frame yesterday, memory requires more time i guess.(i realised that i have compacted all my j1 material into short notes, so i was lucky and thus able to complete running through the entire j1 syllabus, but still..)
SO, now BT1 is kind of done with(minus physics SPA 'A' next tuesday). the class took 3o minutes just to decide they'll go to orchard. there they couldn't agree on what to do, and even where to eat. everybody split. myself,oliver,milton,alvin,wenjie,perry and ben decided on Oyabashi - this Japanese restaurant at the basement level of Cineleisure. it ain't fantastic, and the portion is small...so i wouldn't recommend anyone to eat there unless you're in a hurry, because they serve you the food really fast. oh, i bummed into lynn twice in cineleisure, what a coincidence. okok, so majority of class decides to watch 'howl's moving castle'. i chose not to join them as i already have the movie waiting for me to watch it in my room. =)
[sidetrack: howl's is a really lovely and beautiful movie. it's themes include beauty, magic, love. it managed to keep me at the edge of my seat even at 2am in the morning; truly captivating anime. heard it won several awards too.]
i ended up enjoying quiet time with myself, looking through CDs in sembawang music and listening to jazz/new age at gramophone ( i spent at least 40 mins there). i bought myself a new CD : the very best of Lee Ritenour. indulged myself in NYDC's macadamia nut cheesecake before heading back to boarding school. wow, i totally enjoyed myself as i had not done these things that i love to do for a long time now. i went for Maundy Thursday service - the mime presentation was really very touching. i even joined the JJ bonding session - my due respect to their hyper and enthusiastic J1's. they even changed the lyrics of 'i've got peace like a river' to some cool lines like ' i ponteng all my lectures, in jj' and 'i love my 1st 3 months, in jj' *smile*
i'm glad i persevered through to the end of BT1 given my desperate state of preparation. although the actual total time spent attempting the papers will total to only about 24 hours, i think the experience this time taught me many important lessons. it shook my confidence, it created stress, it woke me up...that prelims is in 6 months time. most importantly, it helped me grow in faith in Him.
thoughts of tanoshi at 3:34 PM
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