Form 6, What a Heavy Load I Have to Carry!

1 more week for me to prepare for my STPM trial, but I still have a lot of things to cover. Sigh...

4 subjects seem only a little to those SPM students, but the number of chapters for each subject is about 2 times more than that of the corresponding SPM subject! For instance, you have a total of 14 chapters for your SPM chemistry syllabus; I have 31 chapters for mine! Even worse, each chapter still has so many concepts that need to be learnt and understood. In organic chemistry, for an organic compound like alcohol, I have to remember a lot of reactions that it can undergo, and also the reagents and conditions that are required to make the alcohol undergo a certain reaction. For example:

Reactions of alcohol with PCl3, PCl5 and SOCl2:

r.t.

3CH3CH2OH + PCl3 -------> 3CH3CH2Cl + H3PO3

r.t.

CH3CH2OH + PCl5 -------> CH3CH2Cl + POCl3 + HCl

r.t.

CH3CH2OH + SOCl2 --------> CH3CH2Cl + SO4 +HCl

This part of reactions is just 1/4 the reactions of alcohols that I need to know and remember. From the reactions shown above, I still have to know that the 2nd and 3rd reactions are the ways to determine the presence of -OH group because of the liberation of the HCl gas.

I am glad that when I was writing this blog, I did not refer to my notes but I still could write out the reactions of alcohols. All these really need extremely hard work to remember and understand. But the STPM chemistry syllabus is really a huge and heavy burden and so the syllabi for the other subjects.

I really wonder how the people out there could get 4 As in STPM? How can they remember all the things in such a thick "telephone book"? Sorry, not one, but 4 "telephone books"!

Help Me!!!

STPM trial is coming! Just after the approaching holidays of August! Stress and pressure are getting extremely intense... My palms are sweating...

Arghhhhhh, help me!

My Predicament

STPM is around the corner. My heart pounds even quicker. Stress and pressure are getting more intense.

I have no way to escape. I could only choose to face the tough challenge that approaches me, but this challenge is too big for me. It only gives me two options - hell or heaven.

I know many people do not prefer to take Form 6 course because it is a really difficult alternative to most SPM graduates. Like many of my friends, most of them would rather choose to go to colleges instead of Form 6. I can understand their rationales for doing that.

STPM is actually the toughest challenge among the other challenges like colleges and matriculations. If you really decide to take this course, you have to really struggle to perform well in the examination. Dilligence is the key to survive in this challenge. Excellent results in STPM might leave your options open and better. You could apply for better universities and best of all, you could apply for foreign scholarships, and you would stand a higher chance to get that scholarship. More importantly, I was told that an STPM certificate would guarantee a higher salary as compared to an SPM certificate. Well, STPM could really lead us to heaven!

However, if you fail in STPM, well, you would not die. You still can go to colleges to study. But, it is a waste of money as well as precious time. After two years of studying in Form 6, failure in STPM gives you nothing, and yet you have to spend another 4 years and a huge amount of money to continue your study in the colleges. You are wasting your parents' time and their hard-earned money!

Therefore, if one really wants to take Form 6, he/she has to struggle and be really hardworking to score well in STPM.

Honestly, I am not really doing that. I am still like usual, a procrastinator, but this time, I think I am much more hardworking than before. I know it is not enough to reap better results, but I am trying. Studying in Nanyang University of Singapore (NUS) is always my dream.

Notwithstanding, can my dream come true? This will depend on my results...

Friendship Forever

I learnt a very valuable lesson during the trip to Genting Highland - we have to cherish and appreciate friendship. The moment that friends gather together would not last forever. All good things must come to an end.

The trip to Genting involved most Form 4 students. All of them were close friends who know each other since primary school. On the way to Genting, they talked, joked and laughed together in the bus. A sense of happiness filled the air.
The scene made me envy, and it also made me reminisce the good old days of the primary school trip. We were a big group of friends, who were close to each other. We talked, laughed, joked, played and sang together in the bus. I can still remember we sang a classic song by Teresa Teng - "tian mi mi" (甜蜜蜜) together in the bus. The atmosphere was filled with joy. Every moment during the trip was sweet and memorable, but all those remain as memory now. I do hope that time could revert to that time, when I could feel the atmosphere that all friends gathered and played together.

Time flies... Everyone has grown up now. Each of them has his or her own new chapter in life. All of us are in different places now. Some are studying in colleges; some are taking matriculation; some are taking Form 6 and some are working. It is hard for us to meet each other again. Sigh...

Well, all these are what we must experience in our life. Although we can rarely meet each other, we could reminisce the sweet moment that we had when we were still in our primary school. Like the song goes,

别管以后将如何结束，

至少我们曾经相聚过，

不必费心地彼此约束，

更不需要言语的承諾，

只要我们曾经拥有过，

对你我来讲已经足够，

人的一生有许多回忆，

只愿你的追忆有个我。

Translating the lyrics into English, the song is likely to go like this:

No matter how the future ends,

what we really care is that we used to be with each other.

We do not need any promises.

As long as we used to be with each other,

for you and me, it is enough.

In one's life, there are a lot of memories,

hope I am always in your memory.

This song is named as "ping ju"(萍聚). It mentions that no matter how the future ends, what we really care is that at least we used to be with each other and we always think of one another.

Though we cannot be with each other forever, friendship stays forever!

Aye, Genting Highland!

After a long and tiring work, last Saturday, that was on 25th of July, my school trip to Genting Highland finally came to reality. Hooray! Although many obstacles kept cropping up when I was handling the trip till the trip was nearly cancelled, I felt the organizing of the trip was worth my efforts because I learnt a lot of valuable experiences on how to have a trip, how to communicate. etc. Most of all, I could go to Genting Highland where I always dreamed to go to.

It has been a long time since I first stepped foot in the vicinity of Genting Highland and tried the exciting games available there, till I could barely remember when did I go to that place. Hence, I was very excited for I could go to Genting Highland again.Thunderstruck, the day before our departure to Genting Highland on Saturday, I received a shocking news from the advisor, Mr. Thamlarason - the principal urged us to cancel the trip if possible due to H1N1, which has spread widely in our country and killed a few lives. I was irritated. All my efforts might have gone to waste.

Luckily, because we had paid the deposit and the money could not be refunded, we had no choice and we had to go to Genting Highland, and this was what I badly wished to happen. Still, we had to take care of our own safety as a result of the dreadful H1N1, all of us had to wear masks during the trip for proctection.

Well, I had a great time in Genting Highland. We went to the Snow House, experiencing the white snow and the extremely cold temperature in the room. I finally experienced to emit steam from my mouth, which I always wanted to try! We also had a scrumptious buffet there. Best of all, I tried various types of exciting games in the Theme Park, where I hadn't gone for a very long time.

Overall, the trip was a success although the time given was too limited. I would particularly wish to thank Miss Nanthini, who had taken great pains to deal with the staffs of Genting Highland to give the best to us, and I have to stress here, RM 30 per student (the exact price was RM 37 but RM 7 was subsidised by the school) for a package that included Snow House, buffet and Theme Park was really cheap. Every student who went for the trip also said so. Thank you very much, Miss Nanthini! Of course, I also want to thank Mr. Thamlarason who gave me the opportunity to handle this trip and I did learn a lot of things from that. I learnt how to organise a trip, how to communicate with the school authorities to ask for their helps and approvals, how to deal with obstacles, and how to control a group of people. Thanks, sir!