GRADUATION!! July 07, 2009

It has been a long walk through these 4 years. Time really flies when you're at the end of it but when you look back and think of it, it is all worth it. Slogging over papers, intensive studies before the exams, having lunches with good friends, staying up late in school over projects and camping in the library or the GIS lab...

And at first, everything was so foreign. NUS was so foreign to me when i first stepped in. People I don't know, systems and rules that are so unfamiliar... and now i feel like I know much more. And i start missing it. The familiar green grass and covered canopy of my faculty, how i've been rushing through those slabs because as usual, i'm 10-15 minutes late for class. My familiar spot in the new Arts canteen where I'll sit there with my ice lemon tea and laptop or lecture notes trying to figure out how best to approach the latest assignment.

And I'll see some familiar faces around. There is this guy from Economics, year 4. We took a class together since the first year first semester of school - SE Asian Studies and since then, i've always been seeing him around on and off. Like me, he'll be typing away on the laptop. Although we don't really talk to each other, we are going through similar things together through the end. And I saw him at the graduation too, we're graduating in the same ceremony.

Some pictures before the ceremony

That's me!! :)

Why am I holding the invitation card instead of my degree scroll?

And pictures with all my dearest classmates.
I didn't take much because my camera wasn't with me. There's more on fb :)

And my parents who came :D

The steps from graduation is uncertain. I really don't know where I will end up. I've been accepted into MOE for a permanent teaching appointment - some months teaching in school before i enter the next NIE intake, and from then on, it's a 3 years bond. That sounds like I am going to be 'bonded' for 5 years if pre-NIE teaching lasts for a year! :( :( :( NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Can I scream? And I need to decide all these by 14 July next Tuesday because the offer lasts till then.

The only good thing about it is that I know I CAN do it. Teaching is not a piece of cake, but it has always been something i am very familiar with, and with lots of experience. Classroom management is the trickier part if I get Secondary school kids but if i go into teaching, my experience and familiarity w the profession (Dad's a teacher for EONS) + my passion for the subject Geography will help a lot. The pay is not too bad too, I'll get a starting of $2750-$2900 and with my degree class, i'm thinking it's about $2800. MOE is also offering S$6k cash directly. Pay will go up when I complete NIE.

With the money it's definitely easier for me. I can learn driving, return my parents the money I owe them (US + Aussie Trip) and start the braces/ or wisdom tooth removal stuff. BUT, as with life, i prefer to choose the hard way out - going into a new field at work.

I don't like to take the easy way out, why am I like that? Teaching is not easy too, the hours are killer and there is a lot of crap work. Maybe I just hate commitment.

xoxo, principessa