Letting it out

I was going through the folder in which I save all the random things I write every now and then. I've got lots of documents dating back to 2005 and 2006, when I had much more free time on my hands to write. I used to love sitting down alone, letting my pen scratch on a blank piece of paper while the words flowed in my mind. I used to love the satisfaction I got every time I marked the last period. But things have changed. I began having less time to myself, less privacy, fewer moments for me to simply introspect. Nowadays, writing has become more of a task than an enjoyable past time. Now I write factual essays, essays that follow guidelines and flow according to what is expected of an academic essay. I don't write for pleasure anymore. The only time I write freely without worrying too much about my spelling, grammar, sentence structure and the occasional use of Manglish, is when I blog. I guess I keep on blogging simply because I miss the joy of writing. Hard as I try, I just simply cannot find the time and privacy to write as I did before. It saddens me, but that's just how it is.

Studying for the SAT is tough. I won't lie and tell you that it is a bed of roses. We are expected to clear the 1800 mark in the mock exam to qualify ourselves to apply into the Ivy Leagues. I've got almost only a month left to the mock exam. We are now gradually going into the writing section, which is no joke. It requires you to dig deep, reflect and reproduce the maturity of your thoughts (which you are supposed to have) onto the paper in a short period of time. Sometimes the topics can make you feel downright incompetent. It was just like when we had to discuss the motion "this house regrets the Beijing Olympics" in debate a couple of months ago. My initial reaction was a big HUH? and then a sudden nagging behind my head appears, telling me that it is something that I should know at least a little about. In some ways, the SAT writing section reminds me of the AQs that I did in JC. The first AQ I wrote earned me a measly 3/8. Needless to say, it was demoralizing to see the score at first, but then I realised that, hey, you need to work on this to get it right. Nothing comes by too easily. You need to make sacrifices and put in a lot of effort to get to where you want to be.

My timetable gives me plenty of time to slack in between lessons now, but I'm trying hard not to do it. I have to keep reminding myself that just because it isn't as hectic as JC was, I have to keep my focus. Now, I've got two projects to work on, one for English class, another for Psychology class. Both are PW-like projects which require us to conduct surveys and all. It is like PW all over again, only on a smaller scale. Oh, well. Hope that the projects will turn out successful because they contribute to our final marks. I'm quite glad that I learnt something from PW (even though it did involve A LOT of frustration and late nights racking my brain for something decent to write!). =)

Okay, before I get to my work, here are some photos of my room:

This is what you see when you walk into my room. I think it goes without saying that the right side of the room is mine. (Hint: Look at the mess la!) =p

And this is our nice orange door. =p

This is the wonderful air-conditioner which can be switched on 24/7.. Bliss!

This is a close-up of my curtain. Neat thing, except that it cannot be pulled aside because the loops won't slide along the metal bar which holds the curtain.

And that is my bed. Upper bunk bed no more! Now I can just flop onto the bed whenever I want to. =D

The top of my closet, where I keep my luggage.

The front of my closet, where I normally hang my clothes when I come back to the room in between classes.

My big closet! (Extremely big when compared to my previous closet.. phew)

I was so bored I decided to colour-code my clothes. =p

And this is a close-up of my desk (with thepapers which I bought - and read!) to show you that I still love my mess. Hehe..

My books on the desk

My toiletries, dishwashing liquid and iron (in the box).

And above it is where I store all my food, from breakfast items to instant noodles, which are a MUST to have in a hostel.

Lone cream crackers tin on the second top shelf

My reliable electric kettle which saves me the trouble of waiting to fill up my bottle at the water dispenser (the rate at which the water flows is maddening!)

My hot pink broom and red dustpan which my parents bought when I moved in (Shing Yee, see, even my BROOM is pink! Hahaha!)

This is the garment rack which I bought for RM29.90 outside the college. I took about 15 minutes to assemble it - all on my own! =D

My much-loved laundry bag! Hehe!

Shoes under the bed

My bulletin board

The cool HP sticker paper we were given in the goodie bag when we attended the INTI Idol '08

I'm still addicted to Post-Its.. Heh.

One of my most treasured items - the photo poster I made with the photos we took in Singapore. I see this thing every day and it brings back such good memories. =)

So there. I shall do my work now. 'Night! =)