Mondays in my calendar are an extension of Sunday, but if you were to conclude based on that fact that my life is ‘O so slack’, then you couldn’t have been further from the truth.

So my school week begins on Tuesdays, which contain one of my more enjoyable lessons known as Business, Government and Society (BGS). An entertaining & capable Indian professor leads us into educational discussions on why we as future business people need to be concerned not just about the money but also the society where it comes from. Oh finally, what a joy to attend school when you are learning from someone who speaks clearly and actually knows what he is talking about. However here is where Class Participation, one of SMU’s infamous 4Ps of grading (Projects, Presentations, Papers, and Participation), come into emphasis. And in order to participate meaningfully and not foolishly, would require me to read large chunks of the BGS textbook every week. And to give you an appreciation on how colossally big that text is, I no longer need to do a shoulder workout in the gym so long as I carry that rock in my bag.

Wednesday is the day of the week where I wake up and wish it was another day. I start off early in the morning learning about why it is so important to know how much things cost and how to display that useful bit of info in such detail that no one wishes to read it. Ok that’s not really true but I’m describing Management Accounting from my point of view. Then in the afternoon, a rather round & loud American tells me that it is important that I learn about arguing in all its forms. Actually its quite a fun class and I learnt something rather interesting this week. My American prof was explaining to us why the argument “There is no absolute truth” cannot possible be true. Simply put, if it is a true statement, then it would be contradictory to itself, as the statement asserts that there is no absolute truth, thus it has to be false. Anyway that’s my Analytical Skills class. The lessons are interesting, and the prof has a sense of humor, but when he gives out the insane amount of homework, his jokes don’t seem so funny anymore.

So TGI.Thursday. Cause Thursdays technically mean I can wake up at night and not miss any lessons.

Ah then comes Friday, entering into my life is this Korean prof who has made his debut in Singapore not more than 2 weeks ago. This is where my perfect image of “Wow SMU professors are pretty damn good” gets pretty damn shattered. Loud clear voice, good spoken English, helping me to understand Intro to Statistics B so I would not need to read up on my own would not be adjectives used to describe him. I shall leave it as that.

Now seriously, something has happened to me.

Who has ever heard of an ex-ACS(barker) boy complaining that school is TOO SLACK and that he wants MORE WORK? That’s almost a blasphemy to the good name of ACS.

Well sorry, I’m guilty of it, because something has happened to me. I think I’ve gone mad, and I don’t think it has anything to do with all the unnecessary cheering during orientation camp or all the SMU propaganda which has been spilling out of my ears.

I’ve been pre-assigned quite simply the slackest schedule I’ve ever seen, basically its like 3 days of school a week with 1 class per day – and if you had ever known me in the good o’l barker road days, you would be thinking that I would be dancing for joy. But I am not, I am actually very very irritated.

This is because an even greater insanity is upon me. Obstacles and hardships are being placed in my way PREVENTING me from going to more classes and making my slack schedule less slack. A school that makes it hard not to slack? Outrageous…

In SMU, you have to bid for extra classes using imaginary money; it’s supposed to imbue business sense into us. I don’t disagree and I have learnt a lot through the hours of foraging through the school’s maze of an intranet system, but so far the only imbuement I’ve been saturated with is an angry face. I have to bid and compete against my fellow freshmen & seniors just to get into a class! What abomination…

So why am I doing this to myself? Why am I morphing from my true slack nature and fighting for more work? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe I truly have gone mad. After 20years of slacking, from a New Zealand kindergarten where we played with saws & hammers instead of learning to read & write, to an ACS education where fun & failure went together in perfect harmony, to finally 2 unbelievably cool years in MDC which I shan’t elaborate any further on how slack it was. Yes… I’ve been slacking all my life. No more.

To all who came down and supported our gig, thank you.

http://www.flybartheband.com/

SMU’s pre-uni activities kicked off with the sports & faculty camps and they previewed the fun and laughter that can be expected at this premier university. However after all the dust had settled and the last drop of alcohol consumed, came the more serious stuff, the part where we attended the pre uni briefings and got ourselves introduced to what uni life’s going to be like.

Some say uni is where you have to make a choice, either to strive for the maximum, or to enjoy. However SMU, being different, wants and challenges us to choose both. To achieve summa cum laude*, to do an exchange at an ivy league, to be the president of a CCA, to be active in sports, to be…to do… to obtain… to achieve.

How exciting and yet how psychotic.

I especially love it when those 4.0 GPA seniors who are also involved in all sorts of sh*t come up and give their advice. “Don’t worry la, actually GPA not that important la, must enjoy life k, GPA is only 1 line in your portfolio” Yeap…

But the fact does remain, such psychos do exist, and I want to join that club. As they say, not just a student, but an SMU citizen. Cool.

However another facet arises for me. In the race for the cum laudes, a thin balance between the building of the Portfolio and the building of the Temple of God exists. Excellence is a common material needed in both buildings, but at what cost. As a Christian, people matter above all cum laudes, therefore a greater challenge to live unconsumed by the wave of competition beckons. This really does get interesting.

Another part of the uni briefings which I particularly enjoyed was the part when we took the SMU pledge and the SMU 6 Core Values (Commitment. Integrity. Responsibility. Collegiality. Leadership. Excellence) …Platoon 3 drink up!

Yea, those “tough” days seem so long ago. 27 days of leave would mean I haven’t seen camp in over a month, but what the heck, why am I gloating, I am like the only idiot left in my batch without a pink IC. The 2 most wonderful years of holiday are finally coming to an end, but somehow I can just feel it, even better years are just around the corner.

*summa cum laude means highest distinction