Filling in the Gap: A Levels and the Post-JC period.

So what exactly happened after my last post which was like eons ago? Oh well, there was the A levels, what I referred to as "Judgement Day".

Its a bit hard for me to recall now how it was, I remember fearing for my Economics exam for I never liked the subject. GP (General Paper) was good, Literature was alright with a degree of uncertainty, Geography was ok (at least that's what I thought at the time).

Anyway, my A Levels didn't do to bad (that's fast forwarding a lot, but since I'm talking about A's I might as well not build up the tension). Got an A2 for GP, A for Literature (which was pleasant :-] ), C for Econs (Which was expected), and (to my absolute chagrin :-[ ) an unexpected C for my geography.

I had initially expected an A or B for my geog, but a C!!!??? To be truthful, I'm not quite sure I've quite gotten over that C. I went over to my physical geography teacher, Ms Mandy, and apologized. She said I shouldn't worry for with those results I could easily get to NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (which is where I am now).

Here's the thing, I remember having a most horrid dream weeks before the date the results were released, only to wake in cold sweat in my 20 man bunk in my barracks. What I dreamt was that I had attained horrible grades, I vaguely remember F's and D's. However the clearest detail I remember was that I got a C for geog. Creepy huh? But I guess the dream was 70% wrong cause I didn't perform too badly after all.

So what happened after the A's? I had always imagined this intense feeling of exuberance and joy upon completion of the A's. Upon completion of our last paper, what I remembered feeling was not bursting exuberance and freedom, but a sort of calm, contented but relieved fatigue. What I remember was going to Jurong Point (JP) with my friend Brian and having a coffee and talking about the exams.

Aside from that I don't really remember much of the period between my completion of the examinations till my enlistment in NS. I remember generally bumming around, going out with Brian and chillin out and watching movies at Cineleisure (we still do that though our commitments to our studies make it less often now).

Than of course came the dreadful, anxious and somewhat exciting day (much faster than anticipated of course). I still remember it crystal clear. 26th December 2004, I enlisted into the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), BMTC (Basic Military Training Centre) School 2, Ulysses Company, Platoon 2.

Thus I began a totally new form of education in what I have affectionately (and somewhat bitterly) come to call the "School of hard Knocks".