Reflections of my 1st Semester in Nus

At the age of 19, most males will probably be envious. While their female counterparts are relishing the new found excitment in University, the appalled male "nation warriors" had to be shrouded within the big organization of "The Army"... I'm no different.

Often, i anticipate the alluring prospect of life in University. After a long and gruelling wait, this day finally arrived - August 2005, I discarded the familar green uniform and put on the so called "civilian clothing". Holding my head high, I walked pompously into The National University of Singapore. "This is where i truly belong", I said to myself with aplomb.

A new chapter of my life has begun. I exuded great enthusiasm at the beginning of the semester. "Start off with a bang" was my mentality. Its widely believed that University life is happening and fun, but i beg to differ. Perhaps i chose to be insipid, but Im here to study, and to graduate with a respectable honors degree. Its that simple, and i made no efforts to complicate things.

Despite my early surge, my dormacy in Army is taking its toll on me. There's no question about my work rate, yet i always seem to flop in tests. Not enough exam / test practice? Lack of sleep? Or am i simply not good enough? Im terribly daunted by my sporadic failures to perform in tests. At one stage, i even confessed to my mom that an honors degree is perhaps out of my reach.

Despite the trepidation, I didnt do too badly for my first sem, managing a CAP score of 3.9, just missing the 2nd Upper Honors Mark. In retrospect, its probably decent considering the long lay off from school and the impeding low self belief that i had prior to the exams.

Earnestly, I told myself to work even harder for Semester 2...

(To Be continued...)