December 15, 2005

• Two months have passed since the completion of my examinations. It has been a nerve-wrecking wait, since I felt that my Mathematics examination was touch-and-go. My frustration was compounded by the fact that my secondary school Mathematics teacher could have dished out the marked examination scripts the very next day. Anyway, I was supposed to do my revision a month before the examinations but I had just accepted a job offer then and had to undergo a fortnight worth of job training. The gruelling sessions lasted from nine am to six pm with only a lunch break and two ten-minute breaks each day, I chose to unwind instead of hitting the books again.

  
  

  As it would be an open-book examination, I decided to concentrate on finishing my computing project instead. I accomplished that thanks to huge dose of help from a friend of mine (and I owe him a couple of drinks). I procrastinated until the day of the examination itself and just brought the guidebook (textbooks not allowed) along with me. My heart sank the moment I flipped open the booklet and it reminded me just how detached I am from studying. Mathematics examinations usually provide you with formulas, but they mean nothing unless you know how to apply them. I did not panic though, I just did the best I could and left. Thank goodness I at least put some effort into the homework assigned to us even though I can count the number of times I have been to school this year with both my hands (I delivered the assignments to my tutor mailbox so technically, I did not go to school).

  
  

  Tuesday night, I happened to visit my university website and was unable to sign on to the student portal. That signified a high volume of traffic which might have resulted from it being the day that the examination results were released. There was not a lot I could do about that, so I decided to try again yesterday. I momentarily forgot my password and I must whine a little about how many passwords I have to remember nowadays. Off the top of my head, I can think of my dial-up connection, e-mail accounts, Xanga, internet banking, a handful of bulletin boards and the four passwords at work for four different computer programs…

  
  

  Guess what, I actually passed my Mathematics examination, with more than ten marks to spare. My computing score was quite high, but it did not matter as basic modules do not have a lot of result grades (one lousy assignment scotched any chances of a distinction). I should be able to finally embark on my degree programme proper come January 2006. Hopefully it will give some direction to what has been a rudderless eighteen months since fulfilling my National Service obligations.

  • 5:33 am
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