7 August 2016

Today is the eve of the school term — my very first, in fact, at NTU.

It feels a little odd to be going back to school, especially after 8 months of not actually being in class. I have the usual worries, of course.

• Will I be able to keep up?
• Is English a mistake?
• What if don’t get a module that I want?
• How can I not be a social pariah?
• Suppose I’ve forgotten how to study?

You know. The usual.

Hall life hasn’t really lived up to my expectations — mostly because I expected to get a single room. I didn’t, of course, and while my roommate is a pretty cool person, I would really prefer having my own room, and not having to plan my schedule around someone else’s habits.

There are also things I didn’t realise I would miss, like my fridge, the proximity of shops to my house, my bed, etc.

I don’t want this to be taken as a complaint against my hall though. I actually really like the hall I’ve been assigned. It’s close to my faculty, has it’s own bus stop, has numerous facilities, has cats, and is also pretty picturesque. I’m glad to have been assigned this hall.

I think the only reason that I’m struggling to come up with a reason for this is because I am, against all odds, actually homesick. Its something I didn’t think was actually possible, but seems to really be happening. Given that moving into hall is pretty momentous, I guess I should’ve expected this.

Hopefully, with classes starting, I’ll be too busy to miss anything. I’m quite excited to pick up some extra modules, especially for things I’ve always wanted to learn, but never actually got a formal education in. Which is actually a lot of things, now that I think about it.

My main challenges this semester is doing well, balancing class with hall/school activities, and trying to balance my dad’s expectations of a “useful” minor with the one I actually want to take.

So here’s hoping that I make it out of this semester with spectacular results.