My final sem results are out this morning. Yes it's my FINAL sem. No more exams. No more assignments. No more studying for the sake of exams after 18 years!!!
My last sem brought me my best result in my whole uni life. Got a B+ and 3 A- including FYP. I'm really grateful for so many people who had been there for me during these four years. They say NUS is a tough place to study. I certainly found it to be less tough and less stressful than I thought because of all these people.
I'm not one who loves to study for exams. And I'm not obsessed with exam results. To me, the learning process is more important. In my first year, I didn't do well and my CAP was like 3.55 out of a maximum of 5.0. My scholarship was under threat and I knew I had to do something to improve. So I got out of hall, readjusted my study habits like sitting in front in LT, find friends to discuss assignments, improved on my study discipline and so on. Although I worked harder, I didn't want to sacrifice time for friends, family and myself even if it's during exam period. I don't like to just focus on exams and exams only. I could have spend more time in studying but that would mean that I would sacrifice time for other precious things in life. I'm also not good at studying for long hours as my attention span will not last and productivity will just go down. So by making the necessary adjustments every sem, I managed to get back on track, improving my results bit by bit for the next 6 sems. Finally, I'm proud to graduate with a second class upper. It's not so much of the class which matters, but rather a self achievement and satisfaction having made the adjustments and see the improvement. Although I'd like to have attained CAP 5 and make big leaps on my CAP but it is important to recognize that there are others out there who are working very hard too and they also deserve credit to do well. So, I'm just pleased with the work that I've done and also thankful to the people around me.
There are a few important lessons that I've learned throughout my uni years and I'd like to share some with readers of this blog:
1. Be thankful to those who show love to you, your family, your friends, the cleaning aunty who talks to you etc. People who love you are the ones who care for you and appreciate you for who you are and you should spend more time with them. They are the ones who gives you energy to go on.
2. Assess your life from time to time. There is no use in setting a ambitious long term goal because life changes, our priority changes, the people who revolve around us changes. So give yourself some time to reflect on your situation from time to time and make sure that you are not sucked into a "system" that makes your life a routine.
3. Be honest with yourself. Honesty is important not only towards others but more importantly towards yourself. Do your work honestly. Assess yourself honestly. Ask yourself questions and answer them honestly. If it's bad, it's bad. If you don't like what's happening, then don't like it. There's no need to force yourself into some so called "positive thinking" mindset and psych yourself up that everything is going fine or you are blessed and so on. Just be honest to yourself. Not to say that positive thinking is not important but one has to draw the line on when is the right time to be positive so that we don't end up in self delusion. I will write a post about my take on positive thinking in the future.
4. Learn from mistakes and walk the talk. Assess yourself honestly and ask yourself what did you do wrong and what could you do to improve. Make slight adjustments according to your priorities and methods. Know your strengths and weaknesses and make the adjustments according to your capabilities. Everyone has their own way to get things done and there is no perfect way because everyone is different. Most importantly, execute your plans to improve yourself. You might not succeed immediately but if you continue in making small adjustments and execute them, you will see the results.
5. Write down the events and happenings during your uni life (and perhaps in your life). A blog, or a simple diary will do. We are so busy these days that every thing happens in a flash and if you would probably struggle to recall what happened last year. I think it is worth to keep track of the things that happened in our life and look back once in awhile. You will be more appreciative and learn more life lessons by being aware of the things that happen in your life.
Alright. So that wraps up my study life. Time to embrace for working life ahead. But first, GRAD TRIP!!!
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