i finally managed to take a 2 hour nap just now. and it felt like the long awaited rain after the drought. i feel so much better.

i think i've been running on adrenaline for the past 3 weeks chasing one deadline after another; everything seemed to tail the end of its former. Just trying to keep up with all the tests, citi case challenge, presentations, twf, big 4 applications, seminars, readings, etc all seemed like a whirlwind. But i'm glad to say for this weekend (at least), things seem to be back to routine, and i really hope i can adjust my biological clock back to normal.

as most pple would have known, my team came in second for the citi case challenge. hmm it was really a big surprise for us because we were only aiming for semi-finals and hoping we could add something to our resume haha. and after being allocated to the division with extremely keen competition, we just decided to do our due diligence not to get shot during the QnA haha. i think working without such winning pressue probably did us good because we were more focused on the thought process rather than the results, and in the midst, enjoyed ourselves a lot =)

i must say, i don't regret joining the citi case challenge at all even though it screwed up my bio clock and made me lag behind schoolwork. i think i learnt a lot. as ap said, she never knew that she could survive for 30+ hours without sleep and still function properly. neither did i. so maybe we are cut out for audit after all lol. and of course, there are the usual takeaways like getting to know more zai pple, more savvy citibankers, more industry insight etc. but more importantly, on a personal level, i think this competition exposed me to learn things from ap ww and jason. yup it might not seem like it, but i really think i learnt things from them, or rather, got to know them better. and i appear to pale in comparison, so i guess i can't be too slack on myself anymore.

i think i hit my tiredness threshold yesterday. i was all set to come home and sleep till dinner because i was plain exhausted. but my mum came home and told me that j8 couldn't develop my photo, and i had to settle it myself. and i snapped coz i was hungry and tired, and i couldn't take my long-anticipated nap. and of course, she scolded me back for being difficult. sigh. yup so i had to settle the photo developing myself. it was a complete moodspoiler and i was feeling extremely sian beyond sian. but i guess i don't regret making the trip down myself to develop the photo because i felt much better after drinking my starfruit juice and having a nice chat with my friend (hmm i don't think my friend wants to be identified since my friend prefers an extremely low profile haha).

so anyway, i went down to develop the photo and my friend decided to meet me for a while and get some starbucks. apparently my friend was feeling rather gloomy too even though it's hard to tell haha.

my friend mentioned an article about one's natural happiness level. i can't seem to identify if my happiness level is low, moderate or high. according to the article, if ur happiness level is low, then you'd get excited easily, but it will soon fall back to your usual low level. hmm. do i get excited easily? hardly right.. but i don't really agree that my happiness level is high. i don't exactly feel ecstatic everyday.. maybe my happiness level is moderate? hmm how boring.

anyway it's nice to have someone who has an embarrassing studying habit like me. haha. i vividly rmb tina neo (some eng teacher in sec school) once sarcastically said to this girl 'oh my, you're using a ruler to read? that is so primary school! i'm sure scgs girls are better readers than that!'. hmm. so from jc onwards, i made it a point to read in my mind without a ruler. what a bad mistake; i ended up taking twice the amount of time and putting in twice the amount of effort. and it took me 4 years to realise that i should have just stuck to my embarrasing (but efficient) studying method i used in sec school. just like me, my friend walks around the room like an 'energiser bunny' and regurgitates the facts OUT LOUD. lol! seriously, it's much better for pple like us. i tried that with my one of my audit chapters this week, and i only took half the usual time i took to finish it. yup ok so my conclusion is efficiency over embarrassment. but maybe i'd just need to drink more water and use more muscle gel.

hmm come to think of it, i'm actually quite thankful i manage to make new friends (not including acquantainces) every sem; friends that you actually have similar backgrounds with and common conversational topics. yesterday, we talked about our previous education history. i have no idea how we got to this topic, but i guess revisiting this topic made me reflect quite a bit about my attitude towards achieving results. well, my grades have gone downhill since sec school, while my friend's has gone up. i guess i kinda lost my motivation along the way, and now it's kinda too late to up my gpa anyway. but i will try not to lose this motivation anymore. i think this friend of mine is quite a good benchmark. haha.

oh and i went for the twf dinner on monday. and i've successfully learnt how to deshell a prawn with a fork and knife! well but what really left a mark was what the instructor said at the conclusion - the twists and turns of life always takes its course. i somehow find it very true, it's like everything happens for a reason; everything always falls in place somehow. and when you look back, you will understand why some things happened the way it did. it eventually all makes sense =)
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