is what I whispered to myself as I got up today, a little tired from last night at Phuture with my sergeants and Yankee mates but nothing too serious to hinder spirited monologues. Didn’t have time to post up last week and I won’t be out till Chinese New Year due to field camp starting on the 25th, so I guess I’d better spew whatever I can before time and lack of strenuous mental activity get the better of me.
So it’s been one month and some since I’ve donned the heady mix of green, brown and grey. I know less and less the feelings of comfortable school uniforms and hair blowing in the wind. But it’s all good. I’m sure people have heard and will be hearing ad nauseam about the experiences of new enlistees in the times to come so I shan’t ramble. But a five word summary of my time in the army thus far? Can tahan, PT how fun.
I really missed school though, so going back on results day and seeing familar students, teachers and xiaoji aunties was really nice, as well as bringing back the yearbook to camp and letting my eyes wander and wonder with wonder over the next few nights. Wonderful.
Oh and talking bout results, I know this is like 2 weeks late and the dust has already settled but for the record, I wanna say that I feel incredibly fortunate, and thankful to have achieved 40 points by God’s grace from 31 in the mids and 33 in prelims, a result that I attained previously only during lucid dreams. The 7s for Math Studies and History made my day. Although the former is only Studies, the last time I’ve gotten an A for anything resembling Math was in Primary 3, so that was pretty special. And I felt before that nothing less than a 7 for History would do justice to the way Mr Tan has transformed the way I rationalize, analyze, think and approach subject material these past 2 years, as well as the confidence and belief that Mr Chirnside constantly placed in me to excel in the discipline, hence getting what they moulded me to get was a fulfilling closure to my pre-university studying of History. And yeah, getting As for both TOK /EE was a pleasant bonus as well, finally making the bloody one and a half years spent poring over books in the national library remotely worth it. haha. That aside, I was slightly disappointed that I didn’t get 7s for Bio and English, but bo pian, suck thumb*. And getting a 5 for French was hiyah, expected. But ah well, c’est la vie (can’t believe I actually said that). Still I’m gonna relearn French in uni if anything just to prove that I am not Le Suck and that I am, in fact Un Dieu de Francais! Hmph.
Ok, rambling bout IB results done for good.
What mattered more to me though, was being able to see a familar bursting trophy cabinets, auditoriums, coridoors, toilets (with DOORS?!) and the people that made these places alive, a talking and dancing Oldham not included. I was standing in the walkway from the SAC to the IB building, our cohort murals on my side, and taking in with a big gulp the wellwishes, notes, pictures and Eh Changs, I felt, for the first time since I enlisted, finally ready to lead a life beyond ACS. And as I walked (WALK SOME MORE) down the driveway for the last time as a student of the institution my legs started to rise from the ground and I became lighter due to a combination of PT and a burden for nostalgia and remembrance being lifted from me.
Seriously man, ACS forever.
Sigh, ok computer, Let’s move on…
*A commonly used vernacular in the Army having the same meaning as ‘grin and bear it’ with reference to the seemingly docile and vulnerable act of well, sucking one’s thumb.
2 Comments
Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 10:04 pm
dude, you know what! theyve got perc ensemble big country! hahas!
Friday, March 28, 2008 at 12:17 am
strangely feel proud of you :]