New Year, New Dreams!

2008 is finally over, and what a year it was! The knowledge we gained, the experiences we had, the friendships we forged... Indeed, almost every single thing exceeded my expectations for the year!

Perhaps IJSO was the highlight of the year. I mean, we worked so hard for it, and when we finally set foot in Korea, we really had fun. Lots of it! How often do you get to meet people from all over the world, and spend time playing and chatting with them through the night until 4am? It's really not everyday that we get to leave everything behind, work, stress, competition, and all, and just be ourselves.

Plus it's simply so amazing to hear of the experiences of the people from other countries, experiences that would simply be unthinkable here! Guess it really added to our own experiences in Korea.

Still, though we might have exceeded our expectations for the past year, we just don't feel any temptation to relax this year. It's like a chain reaction really, where one accomplishment motivates us to accomplish even more, so let's see where time takes us!

Of course, it's not just academic achievements that are important. So are values like friendship and virtues. Guess the students from other countries really showed us how much we still have to improve in these areas.

Looking forward to a great 2009! Hopefully, this time next year, I'll be able to look back and say, "Yes we did!" =)

RISE Camp!

Barely hours after camp finished, I just can't wait for the next camp in June! Really, that was how much I enjoyed it, rehearsals, games, soccer and especially new forged friendships. =)

Of course, there were ups and downs, especially during the first two days, but after all, it was to be expected, since it was our first time organising a camp as the new exco. But we braved through it all with our never-say-die spirit, and all in all, it was a great experience, though it would have been nice if we had been able to spend more time with our groups, playing bridge, soccer, you name it.

And benn, although you probably will never read it, I really want to say a big thank you to you, for all the effort you put in and for being such a great companion and friend during the camp. You really changed your attitude towards RISE and gave your all during the entire camp, rehearsals, games, and all, and I really appreciate all the help you gave me, so keep it up man! XD

To the guys in my group as well as those in Violin 2, thanks and good work during the camp! =) It was great to be with you all (especially benn and ron)!

Oh, and really want the food chain and retrieving card games to be back. They were so fun (maybe cause I like running, unlike some people :P)! And I’ll make sure Mr. Sze doesn’t catch me next year... Argh, the feeling of getting owned...

Now that camp’s over, its really sad that even rehearsals will end in a week, but I guess the friendships will last much longer, and that’s what that counts. =)

'holiday'? what's a 'holiday?

Well, to the few people who still occasionally check my blog, here's finally a post, but it would be a quick one, given what I'm like doing these days. Wish I knew more science, then maybe I could just slack around like what some of the people are doing, but ah well...

Anyway, yes! We have RISE camp next week, and it's a 4-day camp too. So at least there will be some fun in my life over these 4 days, and a breather is just what I need now, assuming that I am prepared enough to be able to enjoy the camp.

Oh and yes, our sydney trip next year has been postponed to 2010, cause apparently there will be many tests in T3W2 next year, like what?! So that basically means that I won't be going to sydney, but yes, of course we are going to fight for the trip to remain in 2009, all the way. I mean sure, maybe most of the ensemble doesn't have much preference, given that they will be going for it anyway, but to the sec 4s next year, it's a completely different story. Plus I somehow just like the idea of us going there on the back of our performance at SYF: we'll just be so much more prepared.

And to our dear rantendo: just cause you probably won't be going anyway doesn't mean that you should fight to ensure that no one goes while you're still in RI. So please, stop it.

IJSO Training

IJSO training started today, and its at NUS High School. Really wonder why it has to be at NUSHS seeing as a majority of us are from RI. Injustice and bias I call it (ooh, strong words... :P), but nvm. =)

Now that I look back at where I was what, 4 or 5 months ago, it really amazes me where I have reached, and even more surprising is the really accidental manner in which I have arrived at where I am today. Then, I was just some nobody in science, who had somehow by sheer luck or chance gotten into the NSC team and the RI IJSO selection team. Compared to the likes of the Big Three as well as Kewei, who was I? Maybe some passer-by in the street who had absentmindedly drifted into this congregation of pros. Did I think that I had even the slightest chance of going to Korea? Maybe I had hoped, or even daydreamed about it, but it was certainly not a serious thought.

Then, by an equally odds-defying stroke of chance, as I was going shopping with my mum one fine day, a completely outrageous thought just floated into my mind: why not? I certainly had a fighting chance of getting into the IJSO team if I tried hard enough. And so in that overly-confident state, I raised the possibility to my mum, and she agreed.

So that marked the start of the days in which I seriously sat down with the sole goal of consuming knowledge about science, and it was during those times that I fully comprehended and realised the power people have when they set their mind on something. My homework was often neglected, and my english assignments including ERP, Blog, and Debate scripts were rushed out in an hour, but I didn't care, for at that time, I desired nothing greater than getting into the IJSO team.

And so I did. Some may call me a mugger, but to me, that was a time when I discovered what I really loved, which was of course devouring all the interesting tidbits of scientific information and better understanding the world and life itself, and if mugging is equivalent to doing what I like and discovering a whole world of knowledge which I in my ignorance had not known before, why, it really doesn't matter what you call me.

So now, standing where I am thanks to my outrageous luck over the past year, for which I am really thankful, I was compelled to make the long trip down to NUSHS today.

Still, the trip was rather eventful, for once we (Zi Yang, Matthew, Hong En, and I) had reached there and had our lunch, the first thing those 3 table-tennis fanatics did was to seek out the table-tennis table in their school, after which they immediately went about enjoying themselves in the game. I, not being such an enthusiast, tried my hand in a few rounds, but mostly watched with amusement on the sidelines, and they played in full view of a bemused NUSHS class.

I shall not bore you, the reader, with details of our usual training, but here is one of the interesting dialogues during tea-break, when Ms Joan Lim talked to us about our trip to Korea.

Ms Lim: In Korea, you will meet people from all over the world, from Pakistan... aiyah, all the '-ans', Afganistan, Iran...

Zi Yang: Oh no, now I'm scared...

What prejudice against other countries indeed from our CEC council chairman. :P Ah well, got to go back to NUSHS tmr too, but at least their school is nice, abet a little small. =)

On CCA

At long last, the results of the Science Club Student Committee selection for 2009 are out, one whole month after the interviews. I guess the results were rather expected, with Zi Yang and Kewei as the new vice chairs (Matthew is the chairman, but everyone already knew that). And so now, I'm in the senior committee and well that's quite positive, considering I only joined the Science Club this year.

Of course, this would mean that next year would really be a fun year indeed, what with organising all the cool events and tormenting our juniors with crazy questions in the interhouse science challenge. So in short, next year I won't have to worry about facing a shortage of science activities, which is great seeing as the past few months have drastically increased my interest and passion for science =)

Now I face a dilemma in terms of my other CCA, RISE (i'm so sorry zi yang, math club doesn't count), cause with SYF and our Sydney trip coming up, we will probably need all hands on deck there as well. Still, don't worry people. I've made a promise and I'll make sure that I fulfil it.

Btw, I suddenly find myself with an extra 4 hours of free time today, thanks to a mass-escapism from french class. Wonder what I will do during these 4 hours gifted to me...

La fin des examens!

At long last, the EOYs have concluded, and without any knowledge of the results, I would say that they went rather well! =) For most subjects anyway... So lets go by subject, since I'm feeling rather free and slack today.

English: CA score of 73.2, Need a 65% or above in EOY to get 3.6, 90% or above to get 4.0. Our dearest Mister Adrian Channnnn has kindly informed us that the paper was a complete screwup in some cases, with people scoring single digit marks upon 30 for compre, so now I'm getting scared...

SS: CA 81%, need 80% in EOY, which means 12/15 for both essays! Hopefully i get it :p

Chinese: CA 79%, need 82% in EOY. Paper was doable, so we shall see...

Chemistry: Rather easy except for a few screwed up questions (like how do you identify SO2, to which the actual answer of using KMNO4 doesn't really IDENTIFY it per se, so nvm...), so will just have to hope that I can still do well, as defined by Mr. Zi Yang of 3G =)

Math: Rather easy again, but I have a feeling that I wrote (5-m)*2 = 10-m for paper 1...

Geog: So-so, but I guess I will get my 4.0 cause as quoted from Sng Zheng: it is impossible to get lower than 28.5/40 for geog, and that's the mark I need to get for my 4.0 XD

Physics: It was much tougher than expected, so time was a major issue, and I may have made some careless mistakes. Plus my answer to the bonus question is different from Hong En and Zi yang!!! =(

Biology: Quite easy, stephen hwang was comical (I'm so sorry :P)... Eg. Whops, you can flip the primers around?! Oh ya, thanks a lot zhong jun for pointing out the Beri Beri thing, or else I would have had completely no idea for that question... :P

So now I shall just wait patiently for my results XD

Oh and anyway, seeing as unlike 18 other people in my class, I don't take lit, I decided to play badminton with Dom Lo and Dom Kuek! It was really fun, especially dom lo when he was trying to rediscover his touch for smashing at the start. Then i lost by 2 points to both of them, 25-23, and 24-22... grrr... Still, it was a great way to destress after the exams!

RE Congress

Wow, today was a rather busy day for RI, with both the RE Congress and Science Hub opening falling in the morning. Still, the good news for us students is that there was no lessons!

Yet, somehow or another, I was arrowed to be a prize steward, and a 'mouse-clicker', for the RE congress. However, this turned out to be an extremely slack job, and you could say that we were better off than our peers seating in the hall listening to the RE presentations, for we were only called upon to present the prizes on 2 occasions, for less than 5 minutes each time, and the rest of the 4 hours was spent playing games in backstage =)

Anyway, something interesting happened in the morning as we were being introduced to Dr. William Tan. Our deputy headmaster Mr. Kwok was with the few of us stage crew talking to Dr. Tan, and here was the exchange:

Mr Kwok: Only 100 of the sec 4s will be here today, as the rest have to man the RE congress booths.

Dr Tan: Wow, your boys are really capable aren't they, can juggle all these extra events with their exams. But oh yes, they do not have to take the O levels this year?

Mr Kwok: Yep, but they still have their End-of-year Exams... Small test only lah... *laughs*

*Everyone (including current head boy, and future head boy) stares*

*Mr Kwok hurries to amend his statement*

Mr Kwok: Of course, EOYs are not small tests, but not as bad as O levels right?

So you see, its really fun being prize stewards =)

Anyway now I'm in a terrible dilemma about whether I want to join SMP next year. Normally, I would have joined without question, but our school apparently felt that 1 RE project was enough for 2 years, and so we won't have much RE periods next year, with which to do our project. Moreover, its SYF and sydney next year, so now I have even less time. So it seems like my only hope is that 3rd lang changes to 1 day per week... But the deadline for application is today! So now I really dont know what to do...=(