One Week before Taking Off (Part 2: Fifth and Final Time 第五次，也是最后一次)

Previous Post 上篇帖子

It was the prize-giving ceremony again, minus the rigmarole of having to attend rehearsals during extra-curricular hours, this time!

I was more than just being proud that that was my fifth prize-giving ceremony in SMK(P) Treacher Methodist, Taiping, my high school which stayed steadfast after travelling through 123 years! My position as a cooperative shop assistant, my not-at-all-ladylike gait (I used to RUN around the school!), the joy of chit-chatting non-stop with my friends, the mischief of running around the class and taking the back seats to avoid getting spotted for not completing homework, the comfortable cooperative shop in which I could even enjoy free ice-cold drinks after a day of hard work! (Say, Co-Curriculum Day. The shop will be broke if we were treated daily!)...

(Hey, go back to the title!)

Donned in a navy-blue baju kurung, I tiptoed my way up the staircase after registration, while chatting with my friends I had not met for days since I left Form Six. Days were like YEARS to me without friends to talk non-stop and fool around. Sigh...

Fortunately the VIPs were quite punctual. Not punctual. Not really punctual they were but at least we need not wait for hours as usual-just a mere fifteen minutes. Thank goodness! Profesor Datin Dr. Zuriati Zakaria was the VIP of the year. For goodness sake, her speech was more towards her bombastic life which circulates around Chemistry, from her career beginnings to her jaw-dropping awards. I bet her script was a novel-it took almost thirty minutes!



Traditional dances were dished out as usual. Somehow I felt that the Nyonya dance was more to a dance teaching students how to fold hankies. They swayed their bodies to and fro while folding hankies into triangles-WHAT WAS THAT SERIOUSLY???!!!

At least the corporate video was different this year with music played in circuses and recent achievements. No more irksome scenes on our school toilets and the scrunched-up face of a student during the 2007 Drama Competition seen! Best of all, it was much shorter! The "Bicara Berirama" (Malay version of Choral Speaking) was really hilarious to the maximum as the students from the lower form mimicked voices by engines and animals and spoke silly dialogues.

#Alright, wish you girls top the finale in the National Level then!

As usual, we the achievers for SPM were the last to achieve the awards.

My heart thumped faster and faster as the recipients for excellence in SPM 2011 were announced and as we marched closer towards the center of the stage.

"Pelajar Cemerlang SPM 2011, Sharon Ng Huey Yuek."

There was a loud, thunderous applause. My face beamed in glee. I inched my way to the center of the stage to receive my prizes from the Professor, taking care not to trip over my kain kurung. (First timer, okay??!!)

A sudden pause.

"Beliau juga merupakan pelajar cemerlang dalam subjek Bahasa Cina dan Biologi."

I was bewildered. Best student in Biology? Man, I thought of severing relationships with that jargon-rich, bacteria-infested subject right after I left the examination hall for SPM last year! Never did I ever thought of furthering ANYTHING related to Biology, I mean, medicine did not arouse my interest for even a little bit as I hate them a lot, and to make matters worse, I faint at the sight of even one pint of blood! I would even flee from a slaughterhouse and cry when even a chicken's neck got severed. (Perhaps I'll turn vegan when I finally turned into an adult? Maybe?)

What worried me even more was myself being pictured getting fired onto me, each playing the same, monotonous, sickening tune:

"Sharon, are you furthering medicine?"

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU GUYS THAT I AM NOT FURTHERING MEDICINE??!!

True enough, that actually happened. I gave them nothing but a blank stare.

I have found my niche in languages and education, especially the English Language.





#Okay, the post was freaking long, so I will separate the Chinese version.