Sick!

I'd been down with a bad virus.
Being sick is horrible.
I've not been sick for so long that the experience this time seems almost overwhelmingly tiring.
My throat feels like an unwashed drain in the dry weather with brown dead leaves scraping and scratching on my larynx.
My head bangs louder than a deafening rock band.
I look like a pathetic Panda Bear from China with dark rings around my sagging eyes, already lined with crow's feet.

I fear that my back will start aching soon! Aih…
Nothing is just nice - everything is too hard, too soft, too lumpy, too cold or something.
Thankfully my B and T cells are beating the hell out of whatever is causing me this pain.

Hell Week

For someone who needs more than 24 hours every day, recess week is an oasis to catch up on readings and deadlines.

The first seven weeks left most of us with no time to even breathe, what with professors gleefully handing out assignments and presentations.

As weeks passed by in such a flash and recess week was virtually over. I found myself wondering how I was going to complete the remaining assignments and projects due the coming weeks.

My workload for the week seemed insurmountable. Among other things, I had to prepare for four CAs (Continuous Assessments), a graded assignment and a research paper. It may seem manageable on any other given week, but the key point here is that it was recess week.

Ideally, recess week is a brief respite from the stress of school. It is a week in which I can escape from the crowds I have to endure in my daily commute.

And recess week means I can escape from the rigours of edveNTUre and draining tutorials.

I have always thought of recess as a week where students can rest and take a break from the tiresome cycle that comes with school, shopping sprees and carefree hours in the city, leaving them rejuvenated by the week is up.

But what does recess week of NTU mean for NTU students.

Recess week at NTU seems to be just another week of ‘lax’ studying in anticipation for the upcoming second half of the semester.

There seems to be consensus among students that the break week is a good time to catch up studies.

I completely disagree.

In fact it would be quite an achievement if I completed all of my assignments amidst all of the project meetings. Time for revision is scarce as I dedicate my time to completing assignments due the next week. The impending examinations are an additional cause for concern.

On hindsight, it was foolish of me to think of recess week as a genuine period of rest. I had long anticipated the recess week, promising myself that I would catch up on watching movies, playing games and socialising.

I am still wondering how I’m going to complete my piled up assignments. Can we have a week’s extension for recess?