A Night To Remember

Prom night is something that has always been discussed among students since secondary 3. It was an anticipated night for everyone. The concept of hanging out with friends, teachers, and possibly a date for a night at a hotel sounds like fun and interesting to us. 

Well, like everything that we always wait for, the prom night finally commenced last night. 

The prom night was eventful, due to a couple of reasons... 

Firstly, it was possibly the last gathering that we could have with all of our peers and educators who have been accompanying us throughout the secondary school phase of our lives. We could still meet up with a handful of them after graduating, but those chances are usually rare. It officially marked the end of our secondary school lives and what better way to end it than to have the Guangyang ( that's the name of my school ) family come together and enjoy this joyous event. 

Secondly, it was sort of a reward for us. A reward for doing our best for our national exams and preparing very hard for it. It was also held as a form of celebration to mark the end of the stressful period. But no matter how exhausting it was, we got through it. 

                                                       ... 

Guangyang secondary school prom night 2014 was held at Hotel Fort Canning at 7 pm on the 17th of November. It was Disney-themed and honestly, when it was first announced, most people were pretty shocked by it. 

" Out of all themes to choose from, why Disney? Do they think we're kids? How are we supposed to dress up according to that? " were some of the responses that we gave. But, there's nothing we could do so, like what they say, we just have to ' suck thumb ' 

( suck thumb : To accept an undesirable or unwanted situation as it is because it can't be changed) 

The prom started out with some games which required us to identify the names of some Disney characters and movies based on their pictures and theme songs respectively. And it was at this moment, that I found out that I had very limited knowledge of Disney. Man, what was I doing during childhood? .__.

After the games, which I had little involvement in, it was time to fill our stomachs for the night. It was a typical buffet-style dinner. Nothing much to comment about it. 

Then there was a lucky draw where we could win some attractive prizes. Apparently I wasn't very 'lucky' during that session. 

The next segment was probably when I started to get a lot of attention from the crowd. Basically, what happened was ALL of my playful classmates decided to vote for me to be the Prom king. 

And... this was the outcome.. 

It was hard to escape when you had like 20 people voting for you.. 

And you thought that all I had to do was just to collect the crown and shake hands with the principal? Well, you thought wrong. 

Guess what? I had to DANCE.  

Yeah, DANCE! Like this... 




With who you may ask? Since I was the king, there had to be a queen too, right? 

When I was told to dance by the prefects, I was a little apprehensive at first, and a bit awkward too. I had absolutely no prior knowledge in dancing and I was watched closely by the crowd, who expected something from us. 

So, after a few minutes of smiling like an idiot to my ' queen ' and the crowd, I decided to get on with it. 

I just applied what I normally see in the movies, hold the hands and waist of the girl, walk a little bit and spin her around, and that was it. It only lasted like what, 14 seconds? 

The rest of the night was just a bunch of youngsters taking selfies and photos with everyone they see. 

                                                               ...

WOW, what a night. It was defintely a memorable episode and I guess everyone had their share of fun, no matter what it was. What I could certainly take away from that though, is that I need to learn some dancing skills to save myself from future embarrassment. 

They were right...

Here's part of a conversation between me and my senior... 

                                                             ...

8.00am, 

Me: Wah sian... Time to start doing papers again... U good lor got 10 weeks of holiday..

Senior: HAHAH Jia you! It'll be over before you know it. 

                                                             ...


OVER

BEFORE 

YOU 

KNOW 

IT....

And it was not just that particular senior who said it, everyone did. Whenever I talked about how my revision for Os were to any of them, that phrase would be something that all their responses had in common. 

Well, at nine this morning, I finally knew what they meant. 

When the invigilator said " times up! " for one last time, I felt like those months of rigorous preparation seemed to have passed by in a flash, that they felt like days instead. And that feeling of completion, fulfillment and of course, freedom at last, is undescribably satisfying. 

And so, they were right, this is it then, we made it. 

3...2...1.. * KACHA *

I went for the Canon Photography workshop at Catholic High School yesterday to learn about the usage of a DSLR ( Digital Single Lens Reflex ) camera. The workshop was brought by Popular Digital Media Group whereby the trainers are hired by Canon to train students and adults on aspects of Photography. 

I signed up for the FacetsOfSg photography competition not too long ago and along with the competition, there is also a workshop for me to sign up for. 

What made me interested in this workshop? Well, first of all, I did not have much knowledge about the camera. I have only used it once during a school event where I, being a member of the Audio-Visual Arts club in school, had to snap some shots of the event. Even then, I didn't know the concrete details of the camera's functions. Secondly, I thought that it would be a great opportunity to interact with new people and make new friends :) And yes, I did make 2 new friends but they both live in the west, which reduces the probability of us bumping into one another ._. 

Anyway, back to the workshop.... 

For the first hour or two, we learnt about the theories of the mechanics of the camera. There are three pillars of photography- ISO( International Organisation for Standardisation ), Aperture and Shutter speed. When you combine these three together, you are one step away from taking an amazing photograph! 

Let's briefly discuss what these three pillars are all about.. 

What is ISO? Well, ISO is basically the camera's sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO level, the more sensitive the camera is to light which makes the picture brighter and vice versa. 



Before we talk about Aperture, let's think about the human eye. The pupil of the eye allows light to enter the eye, while the Iris controls the amount of light entering the eye. Depending on the intensity of light, the Iris can either make the pupil smaller, or bigger and that's exactly what the concept of Aperture is. Aperture is expressed by " f-stops " which controls the size of the lens. The higher the f-stop number, the smaller the lens and vice versa. 



Having said all that, so what is Aperture really? Well, simply put, Aperture is about focusing on the important object while isolating ( or blurring ) the less important ones. This is according to the concept of Depth Of Field. With a small f-stop number, the subject will be sharpened, while the background blurs. With a bigger f-stop number, the background would start to be clearer and clearer. 



Lastly, we talked about the Shutter Speed. Shutter speed is basically about the length of time the camera is exposed to light. This length of time will then control the motion of the moving object and creates a dramatic blurring or freezing effect. 

  


After being taught about the necessary skills to take good photographs, we were then given half an hour to roam around the school and take pictures of the given theme- Food and Architecture. Before the day ends, we gathered back at the computer lab to submit one photograph for each person and get the trainer to critic on our photographs and what we can improve on. 

Here's the picture that I took and submitted ^^

Overall, the day was one of fun. I got to learn more about the aspects of photography and I think it would be a useful skill to be used in the future. 

I'd like to share something that one of the trainers said which I think is really inspiring. I couldn't remember what he exactly said but it goes something like this, " Photography is about expressing yourself and your own individuality. Every picture is different, and that's because every person has a different outlook to the things around us. " 

Me armed with a DSLR camera at Catholic High School ^.^ 

VOTE FOR ME MAYBE?

I've decided to take part in the FacetsOfSg photography essay competition. It is a competition where I had to submit three photographs of Singapore's heritage, write captions in both English and my mother tongue ( Chinese ) and write an excerpt of less than 100 words to explain the story that my pictures want to tell. 

I chose the theme on Architecture and wrote about the infrastructural development of Singapore due to our economic progress. 

So please vote and support me in this competition ^_^ I would really appreciate it. 

Link to my work: http://www.facetsof.sg/photo-submission/5df4320e572e0c465145933065d64afc/  

If you're interested in taking part in this competition and wanna show off your great photography skills, visit www.facetsof.sg , create your facetsofsg account and get started! :) Hurry, voting ends at 25 July 2014

" Y U STUDY??? "

" Sec 1 is the year when you can play and fool around, Y U STUDY?? " 

This is a question that I've been asked countless times. 

For those of you who know me well enough ( Well now you know haha ^^ ), you would have known that I studied very hard and took my studies very seriously when I was in sec 1. To many, that might seem stupid. 

I mean, it's only sec 1! There's no need to take your studies so seriously, right? 

So why did I study so hard then? 

Well, honestly, I don't know. I can't provide you with a definite answer. 

I guess it's just a habit of mine that I've developed since young. I just feel that it didn't make sense for me NOT to study when there's a test or exam coming up, or NOT to do my homework when there is one to be done. I have a habit of 'getting things done'. 

Am I a nerd? I guess I am... ^^  

SLOW DOWN, WILL YA?

" Time waits for no man. " is a common phrase that I hear as a student who is constantly expected to get my work done or prepare for exams as quickly as possible because there is " not much time ". 

I just came to a sudden realisation not too long ago that nowadays, people, including myself, seem to be overly-obsessive with speed, getting things done fast and are always in a rush to get from one place to another. 



Why is this so? Well, it is due to the fact that in this modern and technologically-driven society, things are happening so fast that people feel the need to keep up with the pace to not get left behind. Mass-production is occurring at almost every industry and hundreds and thousands instant messages are being sent every second in lightning speed. 


Though I do agree in saving time and using your time wisely, but trying to do things too fast isn't really wise either. 

First of all, rushing to get your work done is never a good idea. This is because as you are working at whatever you're doing, you are so concerned with finishing it that the quality of your work suffers. Due to the trend of mass-production, people tend to care more about how much and how fast rather than how good. 

Secondly, when you're in a rush, you focus too much on reaching your destination that you tend to overlook what is going on around you, the buildings you saw, the people you met, etc. Because of this, many people are becoming more obsessed with the " end-point " but not the process or the journey. 

" Go to school. Get a degree. Get a job. Get married. " 






We are frequently reminded of the aims that we SHOULD BE AIMING for in life that we sometimes ignore other aspects of our lives. Our physical, mental and spiritual development, the friendships that we foster, relationship with our loved ones, the conquest towards becoming a better person.






Though I enjoy listening to songs that are fast-paced and getting that adrenaline rush from them, but I also like to listen to slow songs as well. 


It is often said that music has the ability to change someone's thinking, perception and even his/her behavior. I think it is absolutely right. 

I noticed that when I'm listening to slow songs, my mind would be drifted away from the present situation for a while and I would start to ponder and reflect on life. Where am I heading to in life? Who are the people that are important to me? Or even something as simple as, what am I gonna have for dinner later on? 

As my mind starts pondering, it is gradually and naturally inspired and that's how the inspirations for my blog posts come about. It is really by " slowing down " and stop trying to keep up with our high-paced society for a brief moment, to take a look at all the other wonders in this vast and beautiful world. 

So, to anyone who is rushing to finish reading this post, SLOW DOWN, WILL YA? 

Memorisation ( A pain in the neck? )

Memorisation. It is something that all students have to do, be it to memorise certain mathematical formulas or some scientific facts. Most would agree that having to remember a set of knowledge and retain it for an extended period of time is not an easy task at all. I mean, we all have a limited memory space, right? 

' Cramming ', as many would call it, is what most people would do to try to memorise for a test or exam. 

What is cramming you may ask? Well, Cramming is defined by the dictionary as squeezing or forcing things into an insufficient space. Basically, in this case, trying to take in as much information as possible into your head within the shortest period of time. 




Personally, I'm not a very big fan of cramming. I used to Cram when I was in Sec 1 but in upper secondary I found that cramming is not a good way to retain long-term materials, especially when I'm currently studying a 2-year course for my 'O' levels. 

What I've found to be a more effective technique is something called, ' Internalisation ', which means that instead of just filling my brain with tons of facts and 'downloading' them onto the exam paper, I actually internalise those facts and make it become a PART OF ME. 

So, what do I mean by making them a 'part of me'? What do I do to achieve this? 

Well, let me give you an example. 

Let's say, on a particular school day, I learn about the fertilisation process in flowering plants. When I'm at home that day, I would revisit what I've just learnt in class and read up the notes one more time ( Of course, although I'm not actually 'Cramming', I would make an effort to remember certain key points ). Before a test on that topic I would revise on it again. When I'm preparing for my major exam I would study it again (Obviously!).... 

note: try to study from the SAME set of notes as your brain would register them quicker every time

Very soon, that specific wealth of information would have already been ingrained in me that whenever I encounter questions related it, my mind would just instantly recall them. It's like having them stored somewhere in your brain and making them available for your usage at any time. 





You often hear people say that in order to be good in maths, you just got to keep on practicing on it. And, from personal experience, I can tell you that it's true. 

Why is practice so important in scoring for Mathematics? 

The answer is simple - It is a form of INTERNALISATION. 

After doing lots of different types of questions, you will soon become so familiar with them that somehow, you could do them with ease and without much thought each and every time. 





This is a way which has worked for me, so, give it a try. It may work for you too! :)