Page 182 - My FlipBook

Ngew Ze An (Straight 8A’s student
N g e w Z e A n (S t ra ig h t 8A ’ s s t uden t
from Sr3ScA)
f r o m S r3S cA)
Similar to the previous top scorers, Ze An
was astounded to receive his results. He did
not think he would be seeing straight A’s
due to the difficulties he encountered whilst
completing the exams. He was relieved that
the stress he put himself under was worth
it.
In Ze An’s eyes, study schedules are
unnecessary, but he does manage to file
in 4 hours of revision per day. The main
disadvantage he saw in online classes
was the lack of physical communication
between friends. In other words, he didn’t
find any real challenges while studying,
just a few minor problems when drilling
through past year questions, most of which
he overcame with the help of friends.
“The anxiety that comes with stress doesn’t
aid me in my studies at all.” Therefore,
Ze An shrugged off his stress with ease,
usually after playing relaxing games
or reading intriguing research papers.
“SUEC does not just encompass the efforts
given within a week of studying itself, but
accumulates from the beginning of the
school year. It is the hard work you’ve put
in since the start of the school year that
affects your knowledge, not the insufferable
last-ditch efforts made just weeks before
the exam.” Even before his SUEC results
came out, Ze An was accepted by National
Taiwan University for pharmaceutical
studies. Thus, his excellence was applied
in scholarships instead of university
applications.
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Ngew Ze An, Sr3ScA: Straight 8A’s
Ng Choon Hau (8A’s student from
N g C h o o n H a u (8A ’ s s t uden t f r o m
Sr3A)
S r3A)
Choon Hau’s grades left him in shock with
8A’s instead of the 1 to 2A’s he had forecasted.
His motivation came from wanting to
expose himself to the knowledge found
around our world, recalling some advice
from his geography teacher who reminded
him to always have “an eye for geography”
and be observant of his surroundings. The
encouragement given by his teachers was a
leading factor in his success too.
It is quite impressive that even without
having any study methods or spending
hours upon hours of time to revise, Choon
Hau still managed to score excellent
results in his SUEC. He just made
sure to concentrate in class, complete
assignments and familiarize himself with All students take the opportunity to express
the examination formats. their particular thanks to the teachers for
their support and guidance.
However, paying attention in class proved Reported by:
to be harder than it seemed with the effects Khoo Xin Yi Sr1ScA
of online classes coming into play. He faced
a major lack of motivation whilst trying
to get through the rest of his school years
and often placed the expectations of others
above his own.
Choon Hau claimed that he participated
in too many events and placed too many
expectations upon himself. Along with the
distress from losing friends, he was on the
verge of giving up right before SUEC started,
only barely managing to pull through
in the end. His grades were often seen as
the leading trait of his personality, which
pressured him to always do better even
though he felt empty inside. Fortunately,
he eventually dropped his emphasis on
grades and turned his attention to building
his own unique personality instead.
“A person who gets lots of A’s, participates
in lots of co-curricular activities and earns
a lot of awards, is definitely admirable, but
if that isn’t what you want, then who cares?
Everyone has their own dreams to chase, Ng Choon Hau, Sr3A: 8A's
so the most important aspect of life is to
find a comfortable lifestyle that is worthy
and suitable for your own virtues. Never
belittle your efforts, and don’t bury yourself
under mountains of stress just to achieve
brilliance, because the realization that
you’ve traded bitter work for emptiness
will be excruciatingly painful.”
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