23 Things I Learned in the 2 Years I've Spent in SMU.

1. The SMU library is equidistant from the Starbucks at City Hall and the Starbucks at The Cathay. Either way, you're taking a 5 minute-walk there, and then a 5-minute-walk back. It sucks. The Coffee Bean is not an option, even if there's a student discount because seriously, Coffee Bean??

2. The worst place to sit in a seminar room is the outermost corners of the last row. The professors barely glance in that direction. 

3. On the topic of seating arrangement in SRs, the person behind you will look at your screen and judge you. It is not intentional nor is it out of ill-intention. The seminars are just really long, and sometimes, the most interesting thing is whoever the person in front of you is stalking on Facebook.

4. You're going to make lots of friends, but after awhile, you're going to lose touch with most of them. It's part and parcel of university life. The fact of the matter is that it's impossible to stay equally close to everyone. At the very least, try to stay friendly with everyone.

5. If you really want to maintain a friendship, you have to make an effort to keep the spark going, or else it'll just fade away. Go for meals together, or go shopping, or study together.

6. The gym will only be crowded in the afternoons and evenings at the beginning of the term and after the exams. After week 6, it becomes cozy again. The gym is never crowded in the mornings.

7. A lot of the things you learn in your seminars aren't very useful, especially in your first two years in SMU. Be discerning and try to identify the knowledge that you need for your examination and the knowledge that you need for your life and then take those in.

8. The waiting time for Tea Party is really really long. Even if the queue is short, there's probably a whole lot of people waiting for their pasta ahead of you. If you want a quick bite lunch or dinner, avoid Tea Party.

9. During fundraising season, avoid the concourse. There'll be stalls selling snacks, tauhuay and other things at higher-than-normal prices. Chances are, you'll know at least one person from these stalls, and it's very hard to say 'no' to them (especially if they're cute girls).

10. Class participation is important. It encourages you to pay closer attention to the class, and to identify who in the class you don't want to be friends with, really. Speak up, think for yourself, and try not to get too worked up.

11. Bring a marker for all group meetings in GSRs. Writing things down on the board is the best way to keep the meeting moving. If nothing is being written down, your meeting should be finished.

12. If you don't prepare for your classes, you're pretty much wasting your time. Before your classes, at the very least, practice the key concepts which were taught in the previous class, if it's a Mathy-Mod, like Finance. If it's one of those...marketing/comms mod, read up so that you can keep up with the discussion.

13. Good friends don't always make for good group mates. It may sound like a good idea to have a friend in your group, but not everyone's working style is compatible. The reverse is also true; good group mates don't have to be your good friends.

14. Don't be a lousy group mate. You know the type...doesn't turn up for meetings, doesn't contribute much to discussions, submits substandard work. Don't be like that. If you're lucky, you're group mates will pick up the slack for you, but don't be surprised if nobody wants you in their group ever again. News spreads fast in SMU, especially when it comes to this.

15. Fluffing is perfectly acceptable, and people who complain about them are just lazy. Fluffing, if relevant to the presentation, can be really great. Also, fluffing happens in the real world all the time.

16. You'll meet plenty of brilliant people along the way. Those mythical scholars, or those with perfect GPAs. You can be one of them too. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

17. You'll learn way more outside the seminar rooms than inside it. Go join an organizing committee or a CCA or even better, look beyond SMU for your opportunity to grow. There's something out there for everyone - if you want to learn about investment, banks, and whatnot, there are clubs just for you. If you want to get a firsthand experience at say...marketing, or HR, go join a org comm doing an event which interests you.

18. You shouldn't join everything though. Learn when to say 'no'.

19. Most of your friends will be from something that you've joined. That's just how things are. Maybe it'll be your campmates, or your CCA mates, or your Organizing Committee. Point is, in this environment, it's sometimes difficult to find a reason to "belong", and we need that pillar to hold on to. (I hope I'm making sense)

20. With a good grasp of time-management,  you can rule the world. Some people in SMU will seem like superheros - they're able to get the A's, and be presidents, and be involved in other stuff too. It's all about setting aside time and making sure you get things done in that given amount of time. Do what you need to do, and after that, do what you want to do.

21. You're going to second-guess yourself in your SMU journey. You're going to ask yourself whether you're in the right place, whether you've made the right decision. You're going to wander what it'd be like to go over to the other side. All the would-haves, could-haves, and should-haves will start running through your head, and it's not going to be pretty. 

But at the end of the day, the hand that's been dealt to you...has already been dealt. You can go with it, and make the most out of your experience. Or if you really think that you can go elsewhere, and that things will be better for you once you're there, then by all means. 

Just don't go through life with a chip on your shoulder, gathering up bags of regrets, complaining the whole damn time about what a shit situation you've somehow found yourself in. We have to make the best out of what we have, and frankly speaking, what we have in SMU is pretty damn great.

22. Stay positive and have fun. Upon rereading this post, I realize that I sounded very...study-focused and serious. Life's supposed to be fun. You can have a lot of fun in SMU, and still do well - it's all about your attitude towards things. Stay positive, be open, and be nice to everyone. Crack jokes, hang out after school, do stupid shit...and maybe even fall in love...?

23. Life doesn't end at SMU. It's easy to get absorbed in the school environment, and to devote everything to your studies and your CCA and your new friends. However, life out there still goes on. Remember your friends from outside SMU, remember your family who's always waiting for you at home and most importantly, remember that school isn't everything.

~

And that's it for me. The list above is not exhaustive, of course, and reflects my personal opinion on life in SMU. Maybe you agree, and maybe you don't. Either way, to each his own. Have a great semester, and I'll see you around.

Timetable for Semester 1.

My Singapore Story

My brothers and I first came to Singapore in the year 1996 to visit my parents who had found work here. While my parents were away, we stayed with our grandparents, in a little corner of the Philippines called Calamba, Laguna, which is near Manila, I think. I remember being really excited back then because it was my first time getting on a plane, and my first time travelling out of the country. When we touched down, I was struck by how clean everything was, and also how different the people were - Chinese people, Malay people, Indian people, and the works.

During my first visit, we stayed at a flat my parents were renting at Bukit Batok. We went to Sentosa, the Jurong Birdpark and of course, the Zoo. It was just a vacation, and I had little idea that I would be moving over here permanently. 

My brother and I, on our first visit to Singapore. I'm on the left.

After that faithful vacation, my brother and I (my youngest brother wasn't born then), went back to the Philippines. We spent another year studying over there, and then my parents broke the news that we would be joining them in Singapore. The 7-year-old me was devastated - I would be leaving behind my friends, my schoolmates, and most importantly, my grandparents, who had been taking care of me all the while. In the airport, I cried a whole lot. I was 7 though; when you're at that age, you just do what your parents tell you to do.

So we shifted over to Singapore. We stayed at Potong Pasir for awhile - me, my two brothers and my parents. It was good to have the family together (even for a little while), but I really really missed the Philippines. It was only a few months later that we started school, my younger brother and I. We went to Stamford Primary School, which is located at Bugis, and I joined when in Primary 2, and my brother, Primary 1. At this time, we moved to Beach Road, which was closer to the school.

From what I know, we were the first Filipinos to join the school. I think my parents tried a few schools before they finally found one which were willing to take us in. Thinking back, we were really blessed. It was already halfway through the school year when we joined, and with the school system here and the Philippines being so different, we had plenty of catching up to do.

I think I made friends quite easily. Maybe it's easier when you're a kid, but I got along with my classmates surprisingly well. Occasionally, people would poke fun at my accent. I pronounced the 'r's differently you see - fouR, chuRch, and all that. It got to me, a little bit, and I made a conscious effort to adapt the way I speak. The rest of Primary School passed by with little problems - I made friends, I fit in, and I did well in terms of grades (with the exception of my mother tongue). 

And the rest is...history. I grew up just like any other Singaporean kid from that point on. After Stamford Primary, I went to Queenstown Secondary, where I met even more wonderful people. My nationality was hardy ever an issue. Sure, people would call me 'pinoy', but that was that. I did typically Singaporean things, like chatting on MSN, and playing soccer, and playing arcade after class. I even had like...a stead of sorts, but that's another story.

One thing that was atypical, I guess, would be that I had more independence than most Singaporean kids. My parents let me go wherever, as long as I reached home by a certain time. This meant that even in my teens, I was venturing out on my own to visit bookstores, and look for comics, and things like that. As a result, to this date, I have an excellent grasp of the Singapore public transport system.

My parents finally applied for the Permanent Resident Status, and I took it in my stride. I'd have to do NS, but so do my classmates, and if they can do it, then so can I. Queenstown Secondary was preceded by two amazing years at ACJC, and then it was followed by two years in National Service, where I served as a Chemical Defense medic. In that space of time, I moved around a couple of times, from Beach Road, to Geylang, and finally, to Tanah Merah, where my father bought a flat.

National Service has this thing against PRs and....you know how it is. I understand where they're coming from I guess, but I'm still kind of bummed. Anyway, NS was followed by studies at SMU, which is where I'm at, at this point in life. It's given me an excellent education thus far, and it promises even better things in the future.

Oh. Sometime after National Service, I finally received my Singapore Citizenship. Having served NS, it was a given that I would get it, as long as I registered for it. Becoming a Singapore Citizen meant that I would have to relinquish my Filipino Citizenship. I thought about it for a little while, and looking back at my life, I'm more Singaporean than anything else. I registered for it, and around April this year, I officially became a Singaporean.

Today is the first National Day I spent as a full-fledged Singaporean. I should have made plans to watch the show or do something memorable, on hindsight, but I didn't have the time to come up with anything. So here I am, being all retrospective and nostalgic and shit. 

Today, I ask myself...what does Singapore mean to me? Singapore's this amazing place where I spent my formative years. It's where I learned, where I grew up, where I loved, where I made glorious memories, where I lost weight, where I found life-long friends, and where I found the person that I am today. It's the place which have the person that I am today, possible. No matter where I go in the future, Singapore would have played a huge part, and for that I am thankful - thankful for the opportunities and thankful for the people. 

My mother tells me about how she had to force my dad to send us here. Apparently, my dad was quite content with us being in the Philippines. My mum nagged at him until he changed his mind. Thanks mum. 

Maybe it's too presumptuous to say that my life would have been worse had I stayed there, but at the end of the day, I like who I am now, and Singapore is part of who I am, and for having blessed us with this wonderful life, let's celebrate this fucking amazing nation, and let's make it even better that what it is today. Majulah Singapura.

Spoiler: It's supposed to be the Merlion.