That's a sure way to bring back memories.
Staying alone
Stayovers at CH's place with the 5
Preparations for David's wedding (and I remember the 5 celebrated my bday in church after we finished the deco for david's wedding)
Calling the washing machine repairman to repair my washing machine
Group meetings for the different modules i was taking then
- SC2101 Methods of Social Research
- SC2208 Population & Society
- SC2214 Mass Media & Culture
- GE2224 Society & Space
- PL1101E Intro to Psychology
Mission trip training in church and climbing Bukit Timah Hill
Going on my first mission exposure trip (6 Dec - 15 Dec)
Here's a quote i copied under the "Notes" section when i was doing research for my papers back then.
"To be inside a place is to belong to it and to identify with it, and the more profoundly inside you are, the stronger is the identity with the place ... from the outside you look upon a place as a traveller might look upon a town from a distance; from the inside you experience a place, are surrounded by it and part of it. The inside-outside division thus present itself as a simple but basic dualism, one that is fundamental in our experiences of lived space and one that provides the essence of place." (Relph, "Place and Placelessness" 1976:49)
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I missed my uni days, for different reasons that people miss theirs. I never stayed in hostel, and the dynamic structure of the system for FASS causes me to move from one class to the next every semester, making it rather difficult to develop friendships that go beyond "hi-bye".
I miss my uni days for reasons such as these:
- Sitting in the canteen/forum reading a book/Bible/writing my journal/observing people during those in-between lectures/tutorials time slots.
- Spending extensive time in the library doing research. What I do when i need to write an essay is this. Find out ALL the resources pertaining to the topic, be it journals, books, articles...print them out, locate the books, photostat the relevant chapters. After doing all these research, i'd bring them all to one location (i.e. the library or home) and lay them all out and start pouring over them to get inspiration and quotes from these resources. Then I'd type them out into my laptop, and edit and restructure them, over and over again until i develop my 2000 or 5000 word essay. I've always enjoyed the process of writing an academic paper, especially once the inspiration comes. Seeing a thought/theory being intellectually articulated gives me great satisfaction.
- Frantically writing down whatever the lecturer says...and then finding a quiet place AFTER the lecture to re-write them. That's how i studied. re-writing notes. :)
- being mentally and intellectually challenged through lectures and discussions that never fail to leave me in wonder of the wealth of knowledge out there and the many different ways to perceive a situation. University opened my eyes to see things that i've never seen before.
-Meeting CH, DJ and Marc for dinner at school before hitching a ride from Jem for wednesday prayer meetings.
- Having someone wait for me when lessons end during those late school days to have dinner and ride the bus home together.
- being a student means being able to not go to school on certain days, and having lots of time to hang out with friends. I remember having lots of hanging-out sessions with the 5 til way past mid-night.
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I really miss those days when there isn't worry about finances, isn't worry about marriage or lack thereof, isn't worry about "tomorrow got work leh. need to go home early". No one ever says "i'd be late, coz working OT"...where we aren't confined by our responsibilities as an employee, where we didnt have to worry about things.
I own a book called "Real Small-groups don't just happen" by McBride.
Authentic relationships don't just happen either. It takes commitment and time. willingness of both parties to work at it, to put in effort and to want to build a real relationship. Authentic relationships stand the test of time, the test of distance, the test of differences, the test of conflicts, the test of availability. It's more intrinsic than just being there for someone, it's the connection of the souls, knowing and willing that no matter how things around them may change, the invisible cord that links them all together will not be broken. There may be times this cord may be taunt, sometimes loosen, but it ought never to be cut and broken.
Everyone has have experiences of how friends come and go. How once an intimate relationship can somehow unknowingly, unsuspectingly fall away from my hand like sand in the wind. I've since learnt to slowly, gradually let go.... but i always believe, always hope that real authentic relationships can, and will be able to stand the test of all these changes.
To my 5 friends... this is my constant prayer.
3 comments:
Hello!
Nice long reflective post. (But then again, most of your posts are reflective anyway.)
Has it been almost 5 years already? Gosh.
What made your post all the more meaningful to me is the fact that I was kinda involved in a number of the activities which you listed down.
Totally agree...back in those days we didn't have to worry about personal finances, getting a job, preparing for marriage, waking up early for work the next day, being late cos of OT, etc.
As you said, authentic relationships require commitment and a willingness from all parties to work at it.
May our relationships continue to stand the test of time.
Jeremy
(One of the 5)
yap, it has been a long while, and of course, one will never appreciate those student days til one's out of it! i'd always lurve and cherish uni days, those days of freedom as an adult and yet without (much) earthly concerns.
it has been a sweet and memorable journey through the years together, and definitely, many to come.
cheers!
**
(also one of the 5)
Many a times, as we reflect upon our lives, we realized how blessed we were then.
It created a visual inside me, of a person scaling a mountain. Through the journey, there are constant struggles and requires great motivation to proceed. However, whenever he looked down, he realized how far he'd scaled.
He recalled the scene where he complained how tough it were, which in fact upon reflecting, considered chicken feet with the difficulty he has, currently, as the altitude went higher.
Life is a series of ups and downs. How would one appreciate the goodness when he had never been through the rough times in life?
I miss the days when I can play soccer all day long after school, being part of a huge clique, having the sweet bgr problems, playing erasers, catching moths/insects etc.
As what Paul had written, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." - 1 Corinthians 13:11
Having somebody who reflects upon their life speaks volume of their character.
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