The Year in Retrospect

At the end of each year, we tend to look back and analyse what had happened throughout the year. There would be happy incidents, inspiring moments, hint of sadness and the drop of a tear. Whatever it is, we would have come across a whole lot of challenges and obstacles throughout the year.

The moments that we want to forget and not dwell upon are those that bring pain and sorrow to us, while we would want to cherish every bit of the times that brought us joy and satisfaction.

After reviewing the year in general terms, here, I look back at the worth-to-be-noted events that took place in the hectic, fun-filled year of 2009 in my life. As I post this, there is only about an hour to go to the new year.

School Change

After previously being in Sri Dasmesh school for a good seven years, I decided the time had come for me to move on in life. What better way to do so than to shift to a government school. Many teachers and friends alike asked me, “Why did you shift from a private school?” However, there was no definite answer to that.

At first, it was a little difficult to settle in. Make no mistake that I was the ONLY new student in the school in the whole of Form 4. But slowly, I got to know people, joined the clubs and societies, and before long, I realised that indeed it was a good move.

Squash Tournament

I first picked up a squash racket at the turn of the year only. It had always been my desire to play squash, and my new school offered just that. I joined their Squash Club, and later, I also joined the Kuala Lumpur training academy. In February, I represented my school in the Selangor Open but got nothing.

It was an annual affair for our club to organise the Kepong Open tourney and I was excited. I was not the favourite, but I was hard-pressed on causing an upset. I made my way past the preliminary rounds and almost lost it at the semi-finals stage. In the finals, I came up against a much bigger opponent in physique but thanks to God I won it.

Perfect Score

I loved my Form 4 academically for one reason – that I was able to do Add Maths. I sucked at all my other exams, notably failing in Physics and Biology, but I always found a lease of life doing Add Maths. I was gunning for a perfect score in the Mid-Year exams, but callousness took its toll.

Then I prepared harder and in the following exam I got 100 marks for the first time for any subject in a long long time. However, I couldn’t sustain the momentum for long and hence I missed the 100-mark by a bit in the final exam.

Writing Stint

For some reason or another, I loved writing so much this year. It might have something to do with a different schooling environment, or maybe a sudden jump in my interests. I first started out by writing in the school magazine.

Then, towards the latter half of the year, I joined the Niexter team, a group comprising of young journalists and it is a New Straits Times pullout. I have interviewed some promising talents thus far, and hopefully, next year will pave for a better time writing in Niexter.

A Blogging Newbie

As my school holidays approached, I pondered on whether was it feasible to embark on my own blog. After weighing the pros and cons, I decided to go for it. No doubt I am a still a ‘newcomer’ to this sphere, but in the past two months or so, I have learnt a lot of stuff, and visited many cool blogs.

Deciding that I wanted to give my perspectives on happenings in the world was a bit baffling for many people that I knew, but I hope sooner rather than later, it will catch the public’s eye. I intend to vie for some honours in the blogosphere and gain a name next year.

...and a whole lot of other stuff...