I first stepped into Taylor's University in 2011, wary about the course I picked out and the fresh round of socialization that I'd have to take part in. I just left a waitressing job at the local Taiwanese food restaurant, and I was terrified.
I felt extremely out of place during the orientation. I remembered wearing heavy-duty bleached jeans and the blue Mickey Mouse long-sleeve top that I got from a very old China trip, as well as my old Li-Ning's. That was my first contact with my to-be favorite lecturer - Mr Winston Lim.
What Mr. Winston thought was reminiscent of Avril Lavigne - early days of university.
I think that was either a random dress-up day, or a presentation day.
I sat in the second front row - the only one sitting in that row. I was unprepared, I didn't have anything with me, and I was eager to get it done and over with. A girl called Swing made the first move to talk to me, and in a way, I was relieved - at least I didn't have to make all the first moves.
With the FICM group on 19/10 - Xue Ying's, Karmen's, and my own birthday
Class started a while after orientation day, and I still stuck around with Swing. I still didn't have the confidence to make any first moves, though many of my classmates made to talk to me. We entered another assignment group, and it was there that I briefly entered one of the cliques, before moving on the be a 2-girl-mission thing with Su for quite a long time.
That time I twisted my ankle because I was texting while going down the stairs.
Su and I would plan to reach campus at a particular time, and meet at a particular computer lab practically every morning. It was then that I slowly started to meld into the class as one of them, or at least, that was what I felt.
Our new year count down party.
Our group trip to Penang.
It felt good, because people here didn't discriminate as much as they did in high school. I partially thank group assignments for making me know more people. I don't know how, but a larger group formed which included Su and I.
"Model search" day where we all got made up!
With cosplayers after attending an event.
Our clique planned stuff around each other, had lunch together, even went for a waterpark trip together. It was not until we were divided into our respective major classes in our 2nd year of degree that the clique sort of fell apart.
We each knew more people, and the person that stuck with me through most of my university years was Jasmine. Maybe it was because we had the same personality, or that we didn't live too far from each other. We did a lot of things together, and shared more secrets together than I'd care to admit.
My later partner-in-crime during the last couple years of university.
Toward the end of the degree when people flew to UK and left us here, it was just us three - 3 of the girls from the 4 L's. Assignments became increasingly mundane, except for those that needed actual field work, which were more labor-intense than I would've preferred.
That time I had a super swollen eye but still had to glam up for a presentation about euthanasia for a Performing Arts lecturer.
With Media Gates PR Agency - which I joined last-minute, and spent my first overnight at their "dorm" rushing to complete all the presentation material the day before presentation.
Perhaps the craziest, busiest, most stressful, and most satisfying year was our last two semesters in degree. A combination of overwhelming assignments, drama amongst some of our own, and unreasonable lecturers seemed as if university was supposed to drive you to the point of madness.
One exciting project involved KyaniteTV and their newest children's show Chichi & Chacha, and from there I realized the sometimes inconsistent ideas of creative people - it was like however we tailored the proposal to their requirements, they had something to change elsewhere. We made do with what we had, despite our major disagreements and/or miscommunication with the PR team, and we won Best Project at the Taylor's Star Awards!
One of the prouder moments of my life - CEO of Sensation Lingerie for Brasics: Hook It Right.
Then there was our little lingerie photoshoot at Jeanna's place for our press kit and press conference project. Sensation Lingerie (headed by mock-CEO a.k.a moi) was to raise awareness on the implications of wearing wrong bra sizes and how to correct it. Our press kit won best for its category at the Taylor's Star Awards.
My squad for most of the last 2 years.
Although neither of these were personal awards, I was proud to have a team who clicked so well with each other (not all the time, though) to produce award-winning works.
Right after the last paper - we color-coordinated our clothes, if it wasn't obvious enough.
I've learned enough about friendship to know that most of them don't last long - I used to vouch for my high school friends, saying dumb things like "friendship forever". Well, let's just say we're no longer as close as I thought we were.
Many say high school will be the best days of your life, while some vouch for university days. Both taught me new things - things that have molded me to the person I am today, however twisted. And now especially at work, those skills help me through the sometimes unreasonable crowd of feedback.
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