2008 thoughts...

Wootz! Internship ended today! Freedom for a while b4 sch reopens. Really need a break...Today was kinda haps too as I was sent to the lab to oversee some experiment and witness and verify the lab testing results from contractors, who happened to be my former FWC senior. (not even supposed to be my dept's job scope as the lab guys were mostly on holiday so there was nobody else liaoz.....aka send in the intern!!) Black gold has never been blacker before.

Anw with 2008 coming to a close, kinda time to sit back and really reflect on this yr. I think 2008 has been an incredible year for me. A most memorable, enriching and certainly different one where I decided to embark on a journey of a lifetime and step out to do something different. Took a bit of a gamble also by returning to do an internship which surprised myself and some of my friends. (the fact that I managed to even get the internship stunned me liaoz) And the internship has been reasonably challenging with of course some ups and downs but definitely manageable on the whole.

With regards to relationships, I'm glad to have found new friends, forged new friendships, strengthened some existing ones although my absence and the time gone by has also sort of weakened others and made me feel a bit out of touch at times. Change happens so quickly that it is important to catch up. It's difficult and even more so because all of us will be walking different routes (in fact most would already have), but I'm trying and I hope everyone's trying. Nevertheless, my experience both in SEP and internship has made me more sociable than usual (more chatty and chill-lax attitude perhaps?)

With regards to self, I don't deny that part of my reason to go SEP and then IA was to just get away from NUS, whether is it the people or the system or the way of life. I had to find a bit of a break and peace away from all the noise, the competition, which I must say I'm not performing too well. Yet ironically, during this SEP and IA, seemed to have performed much better than expected and surprised myself at times. (Not just about grades but also my own personal well-being and my own self-management) I won't say I'm totally at peace with myself as I am kinda apprehensive at times, especially with the new and final semester starting. (it's been officially a whole friggin year away from school! And no, taking an evening class HR doesn't bloody count! Plus I have the intensity of 1 fyp, 1 design project, 1 TE, 1 breadth and oh....night training for RT as well) But I'm taking things one step at a time, and adjusting back.

Sometimes, do things and look at life a bit differently. You will be surprised at what you would have discovered and learnt. That was what I learnt in this bloody fabulous year. Cheers to that!