The rainbow colours in my life

This is probably one of the most interesting courses I have since the day I started primary school. No other lessons beat this module in terms of interactivity, connectivity and most importantly, criticality. Perhaps a couple of interesting lessons passed by me without my notice, but I still feel that this module has in, one a way or another, benefited me in many aspects.

One of the most memorable things about this module is the bond that I had built with the class in general. Even though we were cold towards each other during the first day of the lessons, now we can chit chat with each other as though there’s no tomorrow, spouting nonsense and laughing at each other’s silliness. Other than that, I had also learnt to be a better presenter (I hope) and also a better writer. I used to have a problem of writing with coherency, even for my other writing courses in the past. However, I am glad that I have since passed that stage and become a decent writer.

Sadly, good times fly and I hate to leave this class now. Maybe I am hoping to develop stronger bonds and friendship with the nice people in this class, but all good things will eventually come to an end. And so, I have this very queer idea in mind – what if there is a sequel to this module? Perhaps a level 3000 ES module that will allow students to opt if they want to further this course and let the whole class stay in the same group. Till then, I believe rapport is better among the peers and maybe we are able to each unleash our deepest and greatest potential in some of the activities carried out for this semester – oral presentation, peer-teaching and open discussion sessions.

So, after a year or two, who will still cross my mind – Brad Blackstone or Brad Pitt? I’ll go for the former if I get to see him often in school. =P

Thanks for the great partnerships in the oral presentation, Sarah and Xiang Min. Thanks for the great comments and tolerance shown towards boring old me to Chee Siang, Wan Wei, Abby, Yuan Ru, Aldrich, Wen Jun, Ken Jie, Sheryl, Evonne, and lastly, Brad. You guys are no doubt a rainbow in my life!

Judgment Day....and...TGIF!

Dear diary,

06/11/09, Friday (TGIF): Presentation took place. I went up first and I seemed to roll off rather well. However, I feared for the overall timing for our group, since the previous rehearsals showed that Sarah would take around 8 minutes, Xiang Min would take around 4 minutes and I would take 7 minutes for the first two components and around 2 minutes for the conclusion cum video. I took off at normal pace for my introduction and did rather well, but my pace went off the meter once I embarked on the survey findings. Perhaps because of the new added points from the night before, I had to speed up substantially to compensate for the time my teammates would require and guessed I had killed myself for it. Oh well, better for one to die than all to suffer. Shit, I forgot to smile! Luckily, that VISA advertisement parody still managed to tickle my humor senses even though I’ve watched it for like gazillion times. Just when I thought that everything was over, the worst had yet to come. Questions flooded my team from all over the floor and I could sense that my teammates were a little lost. I tried to answer every question to the best of my ability but I’m not sure if the message really gotten across, since most of the people were nice enough to ask simple questions. However, thankfully with the difficult questions, our team was able to show that we know our stuff well and was well-prepared for the Q&A session! Phew! Hopefully everything would go through smoothly for us and our presentation had successfully persuaded the imaginary NUSEU and OSA personnel into carrying out our painstaking proposal! Thank God It’s Friday! Good job from my teammates and team SAY!

Now, where am I supposed to start revising my final exams for the other modules? Crap, too much CCA information, ARGH, got to start dumping them into the recycle bin.

Signed off, Ivan

Diary entries before presentation

Dear diary,

28/10/09, Wednesday: Today is the first rehearsal for the oral presentation for ES2007S. Everyone came on time and we all gathered in the familiar setting – tutorial room where we usually have our ES2007S lessons. I started first but totally messed up my presentation! I stumbled, went blank and even forgot what I had to say. Darn, I am embarrassing myself in front of my teammates, Xiang Min and Sarah. Looks like I have to buckle up on my understanding of this project.

04/11/09, Wednesday: Once again, we went back to the ES2007S tutorial room. Many people walked past and walked off again after seeing the three of us occupying the whole classroom. This time round, I had improved drastically compared to the previous rehearsal, but my stumbling just kept recurring. Sarah and Xiang Min both had scripts on their hands and they seemed to be presenting way better than me. I really felt bad about it and feared that I would drag the whole team down. Fortunately, they both encouraged me and gave me good pointers, which I can mention during the actual presentation. Love my teammates! (The other teams' presentations were fantastic, made me worried for my own)

05/11/09, Thursday: One day before Judgment Day! Xiang Min could not make it due to his academic dedication, and seemed like there were only Sarah and myself left. We tried to present to each other in her hostel room, but the effect seemed rather crippled. I added more ideas as I presented more and more, till Sarah couldn’t take it anymore and I was left presenting to myself in front of the mirror. Freaky!

Time to go and sleep before a presentation for tomorrow.

Signed off, Ivan