Life as we know it…

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It has been two years since I took my A-levels. I remember the euphoria as a fresh survivor of that academic milestone, and also that it dies out soon enough as one gets lost in the befuddling maze we call university applications.

“Who am I?” “What is my purpose?” Questions like these may keep you awake at night during the admissions season. Given that it is that time of the year again, I am going to dedicate this post to help potential REP (Renaissance Engineering Programme) applicants figure out whether REP is the course for them.

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From classroom to Board room

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Last October, I was invited to the NTU Board of Trustees’ work retreat in Bintan. This was the first time student leaders were invited to such a meeting. In the spirit of preparation, I decided to do some research about the Board.

I found out its members are “long-term stewards of the university” and they make up the highest body in the university. Which made me wonder: what do they do? Shouldn’t I then direct all my feedback (and student complaints) to the Board?

Well, it seems the Board sets the broad strategic directions of the university, while the President, Prof Bertil Andersson, and his team deal with the day-to-day running of the university. Their relationship is much like that between a company’s management team and its board of directors made up of eminent individuals from the private and government sector.

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Taiwan withdrawal syndrome

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The second semester has started, but I’m still trying to kick back into gear. Well, this is because I’m experiencing what I call the “Taiwan withdrawal syndrome”.

Taiwan withdrawal syndrome, noun

1. The removal of a being from an overseas environment resulting in a combination of symptoms of uneasiness and pining that are characteristic of the disease.

Note: The disease is usually contracted shortly after removal from the environment, and symptoms will wear off in about a week, depending on the individual’s memories and circumstances.

Credit: The Germaine Tan Dictionary

Jokes aside, I must say the trip to Taiwan with the other University Scholar Programme (USP) students was extremely enlightening. I also managed to use my Polaroid camera to take a few scenic shots, which was really fun. My shots look quite amateur, though!

To be honest, I’ve never been to any museums prior to this trip. In fact, the number of museums I visited in Taiwan exceeds the number I’ve visited my whole life! But I have more appreciation for them now, and I think I’ll be making a trip down to one of Singapore’s museums during my next school break. 😉

We managed to stay in a Minsu (homestay) in Taiwan. It was the most luxurious and comfortable accommodation I’ve ever had on an overseas trip. The two-storey room came with two queen-sized beds and a jacuzzi! I’m not a “wood expert” but I could tell that the furniture and flooring were of good quality. Needless to say, my roomie from NTU and I had a blast, and we had many late nights talking, watching television and munching on the snacks and drinks provided.

G1The Want Want snacks were a pleasant surprise! Made for a great midnight snack, especially with hot green tea.

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To new beginnings…

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The world did not end in 2012 after all, and life went on (the inconvenience is deeply regretted :P).

We are all back in NTU for a new semester that will take us further in our quest for knowledge. A new semester is always exciting – you see old faces sporting new hairstyles, new clothes, new memories, new accents, but with old, familiar smiles. You heave a sigh of relief at tiding over past exams, and you look forward to more adventures and experiences. You inevitably suffer from post-vacation blues, muttering “the holidays are over before I knew it!” But you also cheer yourself up by meeting your awesome course mates, sharing holiday adventures, exchanging souvenirs from exotic destinations and laughing away memories of the arduous semester that just went by.

With such mixed and heightened emotions, my fellow course mates and I started another year in the Renaissance Engineering Programme amid high hopes and expectations. And we aren’t going to be disappointed, for 2013 is set to be a landmark year in our educational journey as REP students.

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Super summer

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I’m the sort of person who warms up to people very slowly. Slower than a slow cooker cooks porridge. So when I signed up for a five-week summer school programme in Tianjin last year, I felt a bit nervous… but as it turns out, I had a blast.

All my peers took the same two modules, so we ended up spending a lot of time together. We got to know each other really quickly – something I wasn’t used to before!

There was no shortage of things to do – we went sightseeing in Beijing and Pingyao, and also found time to explore the streets and corners of Tianjin on our own (my roomie’s sense of direction is as bad as mine… he kept straying from the group). It did not take us very long to find out where the cheap meals, good food and even cute vendors were (they chatted up some girls in our group!).

Goods are much more affordable there, and this meant we went on regular shopping sprees. The guys in our group did not “lose out” to the girls when it came to shopping! Luckily, space constraints in our luggage, together with our “protesting” wallets, kept us in check.

supersummer1Boys’ night out shopping!

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Guten Tag!

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The saying goes: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”

Like most NTU undergraduates, I had never given much thought to the pursuit of a new language. After all, being effectively bilingual was already a delicate balancing act; what more trilingualism? That would seem like a tall order.

Last year, I was introduced to a German film by a friend who felt it was one of the best in German history. That got me excited and piqued my curiosity. Das Leben der Anderen, or The Lives of Others, promptly became my daily staple on YouTube over the next few days.

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The ride of a lifetime

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It seems like only yesterday when I attended the Renaissance Engineering Programme’s freshmen orientation camp.

I remember how, several months ago, after a long day of fun and games, we first-years spread ourselves on the sand at Siloso Beach to form the letters “REP”, the abbreviated name of our programme. As you can see in the picture, standing over our colourful formation were some very imposing seniors… Actually, they were really nice and helpful. 🙂

It’s always good to hear encouraging words of advice from students who have gone through their first years in university.

My REP mates and I during our orientation camp in Sentosa. I was part of the “P”!

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An ode to everyone…

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As much as I love writing, I find it impossible to blog during exams. Nothing exciting ever happens then, just a monotonous chant of sleep-study-sleep-study-sleep-study and it never seems to end.

However, this semester was slightly different. When the worst was over, when I’d joyously handed in that final answer script in exchange for the life I once had, I realised something significant had happened.

Even though this semester was probably the toughest thing in the Renaissance Engineering Programme (REP) so far, it brought out the best in my classmates.

This examination season, the spirit of giving in the REP family was stronger than one might find during Christmas. So, I dedicate this blog post to the students of the REP family, the people who have consciously or unconsciously rescued me and our fellow classmates from the recent carnage.

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My own personalised exam welfare packs

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Once again, it’s that time of the year.

After more than 15 years of being a student you’d think I would have gotten used to exams by now, but not really. Every semestral exam brings about thrills. (Last semester, I actually had a paper where the professor asked us to design our own question and then answer it!)

Anyway, the only good thing about exams is they provide excuses for lots of other unrelated stuff.

“Let’s have dinner together before the exams!”

“Let’s go for a buffet after exams!”

Pre-exam dinners, post-exam celebrations, mid-exam breather lunches – anything can be done in the name of exams, just to ease the stress a little. When it comes to stress relief, nothing else does it better than food.

Which is why I have this practice of giving out little personalised exam welfare packs to some of my friends just before the exam period.

What’s left of the exam pack I gave a friend

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