Sunday, May 31, 2009

Memories stored in boxes


Recently i pulled some large cardboard boxes filled with papers/stuff from the storeroom. Hoots, those are sealed boxes which hadn't seen daylight for ages.. Shall take this time to reminisce the old times & throw some stuff out. I'm sure i dun need some of these stuff from sec sch & jc.. Ditching majority of worksheets/files from sec sch..

As for jc stuff, i'll be keeping.. May have some use of it? Hmm.. Actually it's because i dun remember learning those stuff.. Strangely enough, i can remember what's going on as i flipped thru my sec 3 physics at a glance. But flipping thru j2 stuff.. I was wondering, what's those alien concepts about? I dun remember seeing this AT ALL.. My memory's deteriorating with age??!

Darn.. But i think the main reason should be the crammed style of teaching/learning in JC. It's simply a problem of information overload, before u can fully digest (or sometimes read through properly) the material/content/concept, u've to move on to another topic..


Yes, we can learn more if the learning pace is pushed faster to challenge us intellectually.. Stretch us to the max..

No, it doesn't help in long-term information retention.. And effective imparting of knowledge..

The human mind becomes a sieve..
Info goes in quickly, and oh i'll dissipate quickly into nothingness once it passes thru the thin net..
How ironic this education system is!



Before i digress into talking more about the irony, i shall focus on what i've seen..
Taken a peek into what i'd done in primary sch (i packed some worthy--to me only keepsakes together with my sec sch stuff) & secondary school days..
Those were the beautiful times~~
Yeah man, cos i spent that decade in schools that arent stressful AT ALL.. So i love those days~

Homework, tests and exams just seemed so easy then..
If only my intelligence can help me sail thru jc.. Hmm no, it didnt.. My happy-go-lucky-dont-need-to-study-till-days-before-exam ways just dun gel well with the jc system..

Why did i go back to ranting about education system?
This time, the problem should me... the lazy me..

I admit..


How many of u remember 'The Young Scientists Award' badge thingy in upper primary?
Gee.. I counted the files/scrapbooks.. I'd done 7! Went to look for the badges in the display cabinet.. There's actually a dozen or so badges available, but i cant rmb whats the rest now..

Wondering why lil Cloud was so fascinated at the lil badges that she worked hard to do science projects in order to clinch them.. Environmentalist, Astronomer (i rmb those 2 were the easy ones), Zoologist, Botanist, Ecology, Mathematician & Geologist (the young Geologist is the hardest cos i dun understand what's going on.. my bro just told me to copy parts from his lower sec textbook & so i did.. Hehe.. Other than that Geo badge, i completed every other myself.
*lookin back in a proud manner*
I rmb i wanted the 'Orthopologist' badly--forgot whats that long word.. Study on Birds kinda thing. Cos i like the badge with a flamingo on it.. Looked so nice.. But the project was too difficult for a pri sch kid to handle, i eventually settled for Ecologist.. Easier la, but the picture of a worm/caterpillar on the badge wasnt enticing..


Another thing: I saw my D&T's Isometric & Orthographic drawings. Spent sometime figuring out those stuff that gave me a lil headache cos the drawings on special triangle & square graph papers can make my eyes go (@.@) after practising for sometime.

Can still remember Design & Techonology studio's layout.. I like working with the big machines (i know some people are afraid of using machinery cos of the sounds they produce.. but i kinda like the sounds caused by friction between the wood and moving parts of the machine, of course.. i didnt tell the more squeamish girls that then.. I arent trying to mock them or something.. Perhaps i'm just different)

I think i miss those wood drilling/smoothening/cutting machines in D&T studio more than the sewing machines in the Home Economics room =p
Though i'm quite good at sewing using the machine THEN (i've not touched one again since my home econs lesson ended)
But i'm pretty bad at putting the thread through the machine's needle (step 1 to starting to sew using a particular colour) so i'm usually the last to start work. I can hear the 'rumbling' (i forgot the exact sound produced when the sewing machine's at work) noises from all around me... DARN.. And i'm still trying to get the thread into the needle hole.. =x
Strangely though, i'm almost always one of the first to complete what i was required to do that lesson & pack up.. Guess i was fairly quick~ Hmm.. Efficient.. Thats the word~


Tuition stuff i found.. I'd Elementary Maths and Additional Maths tuition.. Taught by this very very nice Ms Ong.. I think she's still teaching at the tuition centre. I met her last year (cos the centre's near my house so i happened to see her alight at the bus stop) & she still recognises me though she hadnt seen me in years!! Hehe, she cant really rmb my name though..

Sec 3 Physics tuition was at the tuition centre so near my house (just next block)...
My residential area's filled with schools (5 pri/sec schs all on a small stretch of road) and tuition centres (5+1 if u include a student care centre)
The first tutor was a RJC graduate, taught me for less than 3 months before she quitted (i think it's cos of Uni admission)... She's not that good at teaching Physics, just copy answers on the board and asked me to copy. But i can still remember her.. Not for her teaching skills ---but for her looks: She LOOKS LIKE JOLIN Tsai! Hehe.. The young, slightly chubby faced Jolin when she first debuted at age 19. Coincidentally, i think my tutor Valerie was also 19 then.
Wahhh.. I wanna see how she look like now.. As pretty as Jolin now? That would be amazing..
The class started with me as the only student, after which one more girl joined..
I was thinking if......................... The first student's a guy.. Perhaps the class will swell in size cos he'll pull all his guy friends in to attend Jolin-lookalike's lesson? Hehe.. Random pondering~

The next Physics tutor taught me for half a year.. Woots, she really rocks.. Armed with a sunny smile & big bright eyes, she brightens my day (and my mum's as she accompanied me to the centre) when she greets us~ Her name's Angela^^
She somehow had that amazing ability to make Physics seem easy to understand..
I've to thank her for improving my sec 3 physics.. Was sad to be told that she's going to leave this branch of the centre to work in another branch (T.T)

The next tutors that came in really shucks.. Really dunno how to teach sia!!!!
I was really pissed off when the new tutor beat about the bush & when she finally reach the part which i dun understand, she said she's not too sure about it. *almost fell off the chair*
Darn.. Made the impatient Cloud sit thru lengthy explanations (which was so simple) and couldnt answer the gist to the question.
So i had fun shooting questions at her & seeing her fumble and try to explain..
Needless to say, i quit that tuition centre. But not before calling up to find the 'boss' (in charge) of the centre, requesting Miss Angela to be transferred back cos the new tutor's incompetent. But he didnt oblige... So i just stopped attending lessons, weirdly though, that centre didnt collect deposit, so students can just disappear if they dun want any more lessons in the following month.

In Sec 4 i roped in a group of gd buddies and joined another tuition centre (same one as my Maths).. The tutor's good at talking.. Teaching-wise was ok.. I'd an enjoyable time learning with my friends.. Heheh..


So much nostalgia~~~~~

The boxes lay on the floor on my house... It's blocking the way...
I have to quicken my pace in rummaging thru for what to keep and what not to..
It didnt help that i'm 100% distracted by DBSK's 3rd Asia Mirotic Tour videos that was recently uploaded on Youtube..
Awesomeness~~~~~~~~
I wished i could be there...
As always..
In my dreams neh..
I want to watch DBSK live in action someday, one day..
It's a MUST cos i dun wanna die with regrets..

yunn. at 11:15 PM