May just be slightly obsessed with this song ever since I caught Pitch Perfect 2. Pitch Perfect 1 was definitely much better though :/
So after finishing my finals one month ago, I have been doing nothing much I guess. Trying to find a job, reading books, watching movies like Pitch Perfect 2, Avengers and My Neigbour Totoro (yes I know it's damn long ago). Hmm so recently I have this urge to reflect on my education journey... Well, the reasons are:
- I spotted this primary school friend (let's call her K) on Linkedin which led me thinking about primary school days...
- Heading back to Andss for its fun fair got me reminiscing about the good old days
- Some interviewer actually asked how I have changed in the past five years (erm)
Pre-school education
I do not have much memories from my pre-school days but then again, who actually remembers pre-school days? I remembered my Mum saying that I switched school after my Nursery days (4 years old) and continued studying at a PAP Kindergarten for the next two years. Hmm. So when I was five/six years old, I only remembered these:
- Throwing my heavy bag at this classmate's face (let's just name him J) because he was making snide remarks at me (but I can't remember what were the remarks). His spectacles were broken by the impact (HAHAHA) and I was forced to apologise to him by some teacher... which I ended up crying like crazy cause I didn't want to?
- Being excited in class cause there was a rainbow outside (I think that was my first time seeing one? Or at least the first time according to my memory)
- Crying when the class monitor wrote down my name for being noisy in class.
- Telling on someone for cheating for spelling (Wowow horrible me)
- Walking home with my Mum and brother and J's mum and sister which ended up in the kids competing who can run faster... And in the end, my brother fell into the drain LOLOL, sorry that image was damn funny. Oh yeah, J was still my friend even I threw my bag at him (refer to point 1).
Primary School education
I think there aren't any other kids from my pre-school who headed to the same primary school as me... Other than J LOL no idea why. But possibly because my primary school was considered quite far away and maybe also cause our parents were quite close? But nope, we are no longer in contact because they fell out and I have no idea why this J told other people not to be my friend. :( SAD ME.
Academic
So my parents sent me to Woodgrove Primary School with the biggest worry being me unable to cope with the Chinese language because of the Hanyu Pinyin component... My mum bought numerous supplement materials (remember those days with CD players haha) and dictionaries so she can teach me Chinese haha.
But guess what, I did well (hehe) for Chinese and top the class during lower primary.. And my weakest subject was actually English HAHAHHA. I just couldn't get all the vocabulary terms and I couldn't even get the grammar questions right. The best example I could think of is this:
Jane and Mary are friends. We/They/-inserts other options- are friends.
Oh guess what I wrote... Yeah, I wrote "We" HAHAHA. I don't know whether to attribute it to bad grammar or lack of common sense...
Sigh my English was so bad till I couldn't even do certain Math questions because I couldn't understand what the questions wanted, especially the more/less than questions. Recently (or maybe not very recent cause it was during 2012/2013), I taught Maths tuition to primary school students, I saw the more/less than questions and they were erm.. really easy??? But luckily, Math didn't contain too many of such questions and I did okay for Maths phew.
So during Primary 3, we started doing Science and I have no reason why I excelled in Science (hahaha, sound so proud). I really did enjoy Science all the way till Junior College days (sadly). In fact, I was actually part of the Science club in primary school HAHAHA omg I am so geeky/nerdy. But I really did enjoy doing Science experiments hehe.
During Primary 4, there was this streaming thing (which I bet kids nowadays don't know what it is) and being competitive, I wanted to be in EM1 which required me to get >85 marks for all subjects... Given my horrible English standards... I am sad to say that.. I STILL MADE IT HAHAHA. Please. My English had improved since Primary 1 because I started to read. In Primary 1 and 2, I always read Enid Blyton, then I moved on to Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Babysitter series, Sweet Valley High... I know there are many people who read Harry Potter in primary school BUT surprise, I didn't like it then because my English and imagination sucks.
So I went into EM1, did Higher Chinese, did okay during PSLE days and went to Anderson Secondary.
Social
By social, I really mean the friends I used to have. I wasn't much of a social butterfly (Actually, I still am not haha) and I was really quiet and soft spoken. Whenever the teachers called me to answer questions, I will speak so softly that the teachers had to ask me to repeat one more time. I wonder if my current friends will believe that I used to be so quiet hmm.
Other than being quiet, I was an overly emotional (sounds better than crybaby) person who cried each time when I didn't get what I wanted. Luckily I was not the target of any bullying despite being such an irritating kid haha. And I did have friends (hey don't look that surprised)
So in Primary 1, I was initially close to this girl called Y. But we didn't talk to one other after Primary 1 because we were in different classes. The last time I saw her was when after O levels when I visited numerous JC open houses. And many thanks to Instagram, I do get to see updates from her #notastalker. Hmm so from Primary 2 to 4, I had this best friend called G. We really did everything in school together. I kind of offended this boy during Primary 2 by calling him a durian head which resulted in G having to run away from him, along with me. Oh by running away, I really mean running literally HAHAHA. Maybe that's why I used to run quite fast in primary school napfa.
Sadly, G and I went to different classes after Primary 4 which resulted in us drifting apart. I didn't manage to find G on social media I think and now I can't even remember her surname so I can't even find any updates about her and hopefully she is doing well?
So in Primary 5 and 6, I became closer to this girl Q. Q and I hanged out with several other girls and A was one of them. A was Q's friend since Primary 1 and one day, another friend asked Q whom she considered closer to her (i.e me or A) and she chose A cause she knew A for a longer period of time. Awww. And here comes a lesson.
Lesson 1: Old friends are gold. Don't forgo your old friends for the new one.
Before I end this part of my (grandmother/excessively long) story, I MUST narrate this story. During Primary 6, our English teacher wanted us to do a school project on Vincent Van Gough. So I worked together with Q and K (the one I found on Linkedin!). And this K disappeared for ALL project meetings. Being the angsty bitch, I refused to write her name on the project. Oh well, so she fell out with me and Q. Maybe I shouldn't call myself a bitch because... the last time I bumped into her and her friend, she was making snide remarks about me. HAHAHAHA, yes it's really funny cause I have really gotten over it???
Anyway, ya my primary school days sound quite cool right. Got school projects HAHA. One other cool thing was how we used to go over to Singapore Sports School for lessons!! ^^ Sidenote, it has many millipedes BUT the clean toilets at Singapore Sports School was very awesomeeeee compared to the ones at my primary school HAHA.
Secondary school education
Academic
HAHA, so in primary school I did okay for Maths right.. But sadly, in Secondary 1, I had a F9 for one of my Math exams. Yes, friends like to talk about how I failed my Art but I really find my failure in Math more embarrassing? I still can't understand why I can get grades like C5/C6 for Math during my lower Secondary days hmm. It wasn't even that difficult? I mean I really do badly for questions related to symmetry/pattern because... I don't know why I can't just SEE it?!?! I hated the D&T diagrams too (hey remember D&T days? HAHA) which is one reason why I can't never do Engineering haha.
Despite disliking a lot of things, I really LOVE Science and Geography. I participated in competitions for both Science and Geography hehe. And I feel really privileged to have the opportunity?? I will attribute it to the people I hang out with so here's lesson 2.
Lesson 2: The company you hang out with makes a lot of difference in your life.
I can still remember all the conflicts during the Science competition but it really felt damn good seeing the end products (the banner, the presentation slides, the report) and getting some form of recognition. :') HAHA it was also the one and only time I wore the blazer during my secondary school days.
Anyway, I remembered I was so into Science that I actually wanted to be part of the Science Research Programme which some teacher anyhow chose the students to be part of the programme. Tsk. But I guess it doesn't really matter now since I am not doing anything related to Science hahaha. BUT hey the people who were part of the programme went to U.S. Argh thanks. But I guess because I didn't go to U.S, I could take part in the school's Taiwan Immersion Programme which made me fell in love with Taiwan. I am still in love with Taiwan's sights and culture :)
Well being into Science, I naturally wanted to take the Triple Sciences + Double Humanities combination.. But I didn't do well enough during Secondary 2. I had to appeal to get that combination. And I am really thankful for that opportunity? Because I really do not know where I will be if I didn't get into that combination. It's not just about the friends I made during Upper Secondary. It's about not being able to do Biology. I did fail Biology consistently BUT somehow managed to do okay during O levels and for some reason, I decided to do Biology during A levels hahaha.
Wow, what a long story about Science. Well, I really do enjoy Geography as well. I still remember the competitions I took part in related to Geography and how our Geography teacher drove us to the competition venue on a Saturday HAHA. And I remember how we won one of the group components which was related to writing some essay HAHAHA. Those days... Sadly, I didn't get an A1 for Geography when I actually I thought I DEFINITELY will have gotten an A1 for. And because of this, I didn't dare to take Geography at my A levels :/ But again, I am glad I took H2 Economics instead of Geography? And this brings me to lesson 3.
Lesson 3: Everything happens for a reason
I guess I sound like a total nerd again because I love Science and Geography rightttt. And guess what? I WAS IN CYBERNETICS (yes building robots). How geeky is that hahaha. And I was the only girl in my level in it omg and I was really upset by that because I really couldn't get along with guys :( HAHAHA, but that was during secondary school. Because... sometimes, guys are really much easier to get along with.
Social
During my lower secondary school days, I was in a class that frequently do badly for many subjects (compared to the other classes). I guess the good thing was that I NEVER worried whether I will be the only one who did badly oops. I guess it was also because of that, I had the mood to use my computer frequently and blogged my whole afternoon away. YES, I was very into blogging BUT no, my content sucks so I deleted them all away phew HAHAHA.
Okay, so other than discovering all the social media websites like Blogger, Facebook and Friendster during secondary school days, I also began listening to English songs and I think one of my favourite artistes then was Taylor Swift and The Click Five? Teardrops on my guitar, You belong with me, Jenny, Happy Birthday etc. Love them both.
Oh, I did continue reading during my secondary school days. And I have moved on to reading... more chick lit (love Princess Diary!), Harry Potter, Twilight (omg wth hahaha) and even Jodi Picoult (which remains my favourite author) after my O level days!
Oh, I did continue reading during my secondary school days. And I have moved on to reading... more chick lit (love Princess Diary!), Harry Potter, Twilight (omg wth hahaha) and even Jodi Picoult (which remains my favourite author) after my O level days!
And my biggest take away from Anderson Secondary wasn't the awards etc but the friends I made which I kept in contact with till now. It sounds so cliche haha but heartfelt okay. And we just went back to Anderson for her 55th anniversary!
The two girls that I know since I was 13 years old
VS NOW
HAHA much prettier now is it?
Our first overseas trip in 2014- Batam!
HAHAHA at the above photo which was taken during 2010.
Remember how I said I wasn't the target of any bullying during Primary School? I wasn't the target of any bullying in Secondary School as well BUT I wasn't really nice to this girl... I can't find her on any social media previously so hmm I honestly hope she is doing well now? And maybe if I had the chance, I would have been nicer to her?
This story is getting a little too long, er, so I guess I will leave my Junior College and University days to another post.
I doubt anyone will really read this post also hahaha. Good bye.
