Redux

University

[Update]: This is for Da, who bet with me that SOMETHING GOOD WILL HAPPEN BECAUSE OF A BRIGHT MOON the night before all this happened. Yes, you right. Yes, I owe you something. Curly hair is apparently an indicator of psychic ability ... so I now think twice before betting against you liaw.

I tried writing a good, proper post but I failed, so I've decided that I'm going to hit the publish button once I've said enough. (There you go Ida, I gave up my imma-perfectionist-writer skills and I'm just gonna blah ... gimme a pat on the back, aye?).

I am going to Singapore. 

I am going to Singapore, and I have absolutely no idea how it happened. Kids like me who bomb a major public exam do not get accepted into the NUS. We are not given second chances, nor are we given the opportunity to attempt our first choices at one of the most prestigious universities in the region. The National University of Singapore is ranked 30th in the world. Their computing program (along with USM's) is one of the oldest here in South East Asia. I am floored and ridiculously happy; but I am also very, very scared.

There are a few things that I must point out in this post, all of them little events that came together in a frankly impossible way:

1. I was feeling depressed and inferior in the aftermath of the STPM results, and I originally didn't want to apply for any of the good Singaporean universities. And then, four days before the closing date, Joash convinced me into doing just that. (The four days really meant two days, because courier services do not work during the weekend.) I stayed up a whole night preparing documents and filling both University's forms, and I remember writing my NUS application essay at 1 in the morning. 

2. Nanyang Technological University, ranked lower than NUS in the world rankings, rejected my application within weeks.

3. The Singaporean education system is known for their focus on academic performance, and academic performance alone. Throughout the application process I had to swallow a lump building up in my throat, because large portions of the application guide stressed how meritocratic (read: academically-oriented) they were. For instance, NUS's co-k section has only two slots for activities. The first is for International Olympiad participation. I had never participated in an Olympiad in all my years of high school, so I could only fill in my involvement in national Judo in the second slot ... directly under an italicized note that national-level activities counted for very little and that they preferred to look at international activities only.

4. I was supposed to go to MMU for Software Engineering on the 7th of June. The night before I found out about my NUS acceptance my parents had an argument on whether or not they should buy tickets to KL ... and they decided not to. One day later I found out I could go to Singapore. Which was all a remarkable coincidence now, wasn't it?

And then the last one, which I still find unbelievable:

5. I had all but given up hope for getting accepted into NUS by the 3rd week of my application. I came home from work two days ago feeling stupid and tired, and by then I was thinking only occasionally about the near-permanent application processing status on the University's website. I had given up. But on that particular Monday I paused outside the front door and I thought back to a conversation my aunt had had with Auntie Wendy just the day before: "You know, she prayed that God would put Aaron in the best place to influence others for Him ... and Aaron was given a JPA ... maybe we've been doing this all wrong, haven't we? We're always asking God give me this, God give me that ... but never do we ask God, give me according to your will ..." 

I stopped fishing for keys and thought about it for a bit. It was weird, wasn't it, asking for things like that? But I didn't care - I was tired and non-functional and so I muttered a quick prayer: Lord, put me in a place where I can best change the world, according to your plan. And 30 minutes later I was screaming at the top of my lungs. 

I realize now that saying those words meant a lot more than just hoping for acceptance by NUS - it meant that whatever happened to me next (say, even MMU) didn't matter because I was in a Higher Being's hands. It meant that I would have to work according to a bigger picture. And I do realize that I now sound like one of those cheesy Christian fanatics who torch gay parades ... but I also know that I mean every word of what I'm saying. I'm beginning to see that things come almost magically together the instant you let God into your decisions. But that it may also be a scary thing to do. I said this, in a post not too long ago:

And finally; most importantly, to God: thank you. Thank you for the great friends you've placed in my life, and thank you (dare I say it?) for these results (yes I do!). It may feel like a cosmic joke at the moment, or a particularly bad horror movie, but one day I'll look back and see how the dots connect, and give heaven a general thumbs up.

Thank you, Lord. I don't know what else to say.

And so now I'm talking about dorms and whatnot with my seniors, and here's a snippet of the conversation Val and I were having last night:

~VaL~ ε(●̮̮̃•̃)з says (10:51 PM):

 hahaha i dun reli have much to tell

 it's those halls that are happening

 residences are rather....

 u know... like our neighbourhood

no1 knows anyone

  Dienasty says (10:51 PM):

 what do you mean happening?

~VaL~ ε(●̮̮̃•̃)з says (10:51 PM):

 LOL

 halls are full of co-curricular activities

 and.... er.... sex

 and idiotic stuff like 9 guys stripping naked

 and running around

Excellent. I now have dreams of naked freshmen running all over Singapore. Where do I sign up?