Exams over but that's not the end!

Dear Diary,

Just caught the National Day Rally speech by the Prime Minister on television… somehow, wasn’t too impressed about it… especially when it almost seemed like he is trying to break the national record for rally speeches? Haha… it was a gruelling 1-hour-40-minutes speech! However, it is a good summary of all the news I might have missed out over the weeks as I prepared for my exams and did my job in my pharmacy.

Yup, nothing can beat that sense of relief and joy I had when I completed my 7.5-hour exam! Haha… there was someone (I know who you are, hahaha) who tried to search the internet to know what exam I could be sitting by typing “7.5-hour exams” into the google search, keke… she yielded no results! ;-P Anyway, when the examination ended at slightly past 5 pm… I almost exploded in cheers… but I didn’t. I am a grown-up. Or at least, the rest of the 50 candidates seemed to emphasize. Every single one of them filed solemnly out of the examination hall. Surely, there must be some reaction, right? I wanted to shout and clap hard on a friend’s back… and maybe laugh also… No… it did not happen at all. By the way, that was the last time in the whole wide world that this exam was to be done on paper-and-pen. There is actually a website counting down to that last “historical” paper and I used it as my count-down clock too, keke…

To be frank, regardless of the results, I am already so glad I completed that gruelling 7.5-hour exam. You cannot understand that till you are there with me. I have never sat for an exam for almost the entire day! It was almost a test of mental endurance! Besides, with 2 hours left to go, my shoulders and neck were aching so badly that I tried using my left hand to support my head, haha… The exam had a two 10-minute breaks and one 1-hour lunch break…. Which meant I stayed in NUS for almost 10 hours yesterday. Yeah… to account for that extra last hour… after that exam, I went to Student Lounge to play a game (which you defend your “goal-mouth” and try to score in your opponent’s one with a gliding disc on a smooth surface) with a friend. I beat him 5-4, 3-6, 7-3…. Yes, I am competitive by nature, hahaha…

As a student, I am more matured too. I don’t go scrambling for my notes at the slightest instance of opportunity to study. In fact, not to exaggerate… I may be one of the least prepared candidates in that hall. I only started studying for this exam just 1 month ago and all I did was to study during my lunch breaks at work which after food consumption were just 15-minute study periods. I thank God that near my workplace, there is an air-conditioned building which I usually settled down comfortably to study. =) Of course, I took few days leave of which that 3 days were the most intensive studying period for this exam. The syllabus was like all the stuff you study as Secondary 3 student to first-year in pharmacy school. It was that much! I remember I studied at the study lounge in the new National Library in the morning of my first day of leave, and left for SMU canteen in the afternoon. On the second day, I studied at the basement 2 library of the National Library, before proceeding to continue studying at the library@esplanade. So, I can tell you which is the best place to study if you ever need to study! ;-P

Well, during those 10-minute exam breaks, you could see people whip out books containing past-year papers for that exam. I saw a prominent pharmacy junior. Think he is currently doing his pre-registration training in a hospital. Heard some candidates even spent a year studying for it. They were obviously very well prepared while all I did was just one obsolete sample exam paper, hahaha… even during my 1-hour lunch break, I did not do any last-minute revision at all. Instead, I took a walk around the campus and guess what… I do miss my university days. The new Subway or Old Chang Kee outlets did little to spoil my memories. The halls were the places I once did all my examinations, the squash court which I once tried playing squash, the basketball courts… realised I haven’t tried out the tennis courts and the gym at all! Hate to admit but I sure miss the people who made my university life so colourful. Sigh… maybe it is a guy thing… but to say I miss anyone is just so… so weak? Hmmm…

Well, a long road ahead awaits me. I need to complete three 500-word essays and two 1000-word essays… plus a numerous number of things to do. I sure hope all these money-burning events will lead to a fruitful conclusion for me! Haha… Pray for me, won’t you? Hee… Hope you are still awake reading this boring entry! Haha… but you will never feel that excitement till you are in my shoes. I am now convinced of my mental endurance. Over the next few days, I will decide if I should run the half-marathon! ;-) Take care.

God Bless,

Andrew