By Shilpa Ramesh Vaswani, Indian, Intake Class of 2012

As I walked alongside the lush foliage across campus and felt the soothing evening breeze of Singapore refreshing me with its gentle blow, I thought to myself, “Where did the first trimester go!” I was headed to the gym, after an intense two week span of mid-terms, to debit my much deserved leisure and credit my study time liability for later (let’s blame that random analogy to the mid-terms)!

A dig in the soccer pit with the women’s varsity football team as amazing as it was intense. It brought back so many memories (I love football!) and I loved the fact that the team is open to integrate with passionate football lovers and not just ‘professionals’! With all due love for the affiliation to the team, I couldn’t wait to hit the treadmill and make use of the amazing gymnasium equipment. The Sports and Recreation Center (SRC) offers a football arena, a synthetic track field, tennis courts, indoor as well as outdoor basketball and badminton courts, a refreshing pool and two remarkable gymnasiums. The walk towards the place is refreshing in itself; watching individuals play their hearts out, and realizing how an effortless drag to the SRC and a little bit of sports,  can be such a radiantly enhancing experience on campus! I stopped by to grab a Gatorade at the much revered 24 hour convenience store in the area (how cool is our campus)!

I got digressed from my walk towards the gym, and got pulled towards the basketball court. I had the opportunity to watch and somehow experience the NTU women’s basketball team in full action, who stood victorious as they literally thrashed the opposing team with their consistent rain of shots made. I almost felt like I bled NTU and was so proud of the series of 3-pointers that shot up OUR score!

After much digression, I finally hit the treadmill – upbeat, with an electrifying bhangra, (a popular lively fusion of traditional North Indian Punjabi and Western pop, hip-hop, house and reggae music), playlist on my shuffle, de-stressed, rejuvenated, fulfilled, content, and liberated… Bhangra is always great for an energetic exercise regimen. The sports streak in me was alive again and I don’t think the NTU SRC amenities will let it fade. As I ran at a speed of 10.2, I watched my neighbor running at least 15 and thought to myself, ‘This is risky but will definitely yield a high return in terms of calories burnt and less guilt while munching on French fries’ – I’m telling you, it’s the mid-terms!