College Life

2009-08-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

It was seven weeks ago that I came back from States. Time fled like the bat out of hell; I can hardly remembered what I have done past few weeks. With no reverse culture shock, and State's Home-Sick, I am presently enjoying my life as a Taylorian, and eating Malaysian food again. It was tough for me because I did not have the chance to stay in my sweet nest even on my arrival day. I have to forthwith check-in Casa Subang, the apartment that is assigned for me.

The impressive induction programs led by Ms Janice, our program director and other admins, for about five weeks, had a consequential effect on me. We were all "brain-washed" for Ivy League. Well, yea. It is unquestionably that going to Ivy League (like Harvard, U PENN etc) is what most of the scholars desire.

"Hey, it's Ivy! It's the best Universities in the World.."

"A Bach Degree in Ivy is better than Mast Degree in ordinary University"

"Since JPA sponsors us for Ivy, why don't you go for it?"

bla bla bla....

So yea. We were all uplifted and inspired : "Ivy League, here we come!!" While some of us still believe in "100% intention = 100% results", we strive our very best to study for the SAT test. Some even skipped lunches and stayed in the library all day long. Taylor, I would recommend to anyone who who plans to write journals or research papers titled "Determination", because here we have resolute scholars that can study 24/7. I wonder : Do they ever feel tired?

Healthy competitions are everywhere among us. Ji Chuan & Yi Hang - the Mathematic genius; Kay (My buddy) - the SAT and critical reading expert; Wei Ling- the vocabulary freaks; Girish- the walking encyclopedia. These are the geniuses among us. They are all experts in certain fields. Knowledges and ideas run among us. Crazy ones, creatives one, stupid one, all you can find here.

I enjoy so much spending time with study groups and also chatting with others. Well, I can't survive without talking. As the process continues, I get to know each of them deeper: all kinds of people. I especially like to fool around with bunch of humorous and playful guys : Emir, Qiqi, Shazz, George,Khim Yong, Lee Ying. They just simple disburden me with funny expressions and jokes. Humble, thruthful and caring are the qualities that are planted in them that attracts me.

Tons of girl friends, which I am unable to list them all, make my day wonderful and cheerful.

However, being brought up in this era, some of us are being trained for individualistic. They refused to share their knowledge, notes and basically everything. Well, of course these clever ones never show their expressions on their face, but you can easily sense it, if you are a observant enough. For these minorities, sharing is killing. There are never win-win situations in their world. It's always dog-eat-dog. I don't blame. In fact, I understand them. Hey, we are mostly "so-call" top students (excluded me) in the school, and now, top meets top. For sure, everyone is tensed. They're just not used to be in competitive environment. Perhaps, they have been watching "War and Beauty" too frequently and have all sorts of mindset. Ha-ha. They just need some time to come back to the reality that we are all living as one.

Not to deny, I was under the "study all day long" catagory that I mentioned just now. Well, my housemate, Mei Ting and I usually sleep after midnight for the SAT test. Study study study... That was what I had been doing few weeks ago. Last monday was our PSAT test. My scores were TERRIBLE. Well, I had expected it anyway. My 1600 is obviously far behind the Ivy League's 2150 standard. It's impossible for me to improve swiftly. I know where I stand. I am not the Ivy genius. It broke my heart that day when I decided to forgo my Ivy League, in specific University of Pennsylvania. It was heart-breaking for me to admit that I am not good enough and it's time to follow my own pace.

It's always better for me to realise my standard, and to choose the best for myself. Sometimes, what is best for others is not neccessary suits me. Anyway, I still believe the quote "100% intention= 100% results". I am still aiming for Ivy-standard Universities, slighty lower rank compared to Ivy Leagues, I guess. That is the most I can do.

So.

Overall I'm enjoying my life now. Knowing myself is uncomparable with my genius friends, I slowed down and follow my own pace. I return home every week to spend time with my family members, and appreciate every moment that we get to spend together. After all, family is my first piriority, that is why I forgo my USA's scholarships, and chose to stay in Malaysia before I fly and leave them again.

As my dad always says:
"Live is to enjoy; why should one spend too much time stressing themsleves?"

Ah Peng

College Life