So far, the two exam papers that I have sat for went pretty well, definitely not A grade, but hopefully enough to add as a qualifying module for second upper tabulation. Despite my paper this coming thursday, I still managed to squeeze in two hours of football today, which means I must mug extra hard over the next three days.
I am very grateful that ever since I ORDed, I have been blessed in many ways. First, I managed to get a job within two weeks of completing my NS, and then when I failed my bridging course and needed time off to study, the bank converted me to part time. Now, I have the whole month of May off for my exams, and because I will be going to London in July till mid-August, I tendered my resignation.
My manager rejected it and told me to reconsider. I inform her of my dilemma: I do want to carry on working, but it is seemingly impossible to take one and a half months of work, what with me exhausting all my annual leave for my exams. Obviously no company in their right mind would just let a staff go off for so long unless they just gave birth.
Despite the obvious difficulty, I pushed on and pressed the senior managers on this particular issue. During that time, HR also gave me a new contract to sign, this time as a permanent staff. Because of the trouble on the US side, there is no pay raise this year, but I will get a lot more fringe benefits. So I signed and somehow, miraculously, the director approved my application for unpaid leave for one and a half months.
So, even before I have graduated, I have secured a job, and though it is not my ideal department, I am able to request for a lateral transfer given that I have served two years. I am really, really thankful. And I know this is not just mere coincidence or pure luck, if not I will be buying 4D and striking it rich already.
How do I know that it is due to "divine intervention"? Well, for starters, everyday when I travel to work, I need to work through CitiLink and bypass the HMV store. On two separate occasions, as I walked past the store, it started playing 'Shout to the Lord'. The first time, I brushed it off as pure coincidence, but the second time it happened, it was probably two to three months after the first and the same thing happened.
And recently, as I walked towards the MRT station after work, the HMV store was playing "The Heart of Worship". Well, I could choose to categorise these incidents as nothing more than 'the store just so happen to play such songs', but I do believe that that isn't the case. I know it is pretty ironic for me to be saying such stuff, given that I am not regularly attending church nowadays.
But hey, going to church doesn't make anyone more holy and spiritual than one who doesn't, though the benefits of fellowship and guidance from attending church is obvious. I don't want to be a hypocrite, by encouraging people to keep the faith and continue going to church when I myself don't, and the truth is I stopped attending a while ago because it became a routine and I went for the company of friends more than anything else.
It has been ten and a half years since I first set foot into 64 Tanjong Katong Road, and I know if during those formative teenage years without the guidance and love from the people inside that former maternity clinic, I could have become a really bad person. I heard there is a special performance in the first two weeks of June for Saturday @ 5, but I have not received any invitation!
Okay, I know many people usually set up walls to see if others care enough to break them down. I do not need such patronage nor do I need an invitation. Charis still is my home, and I do try to keep abreast with the developments (thank you Facebook) from time to time and thus I do not need a red carpet to welcome me or people fretting over me as I walk through those hallowed (and seriously in need of repair) gates of 64 Tanjong Katong Rd. I am just, erm, inactive for now, but definitely not a newcomer nor outsider.
Okay now, people shouldn't take themselves too seriously and learn to unwind a little. That is exactly what I am going to do come July, so if you guys/gals want anything from the UK, France or Spain, please just drop me a message. I will be visiting some of football's most famous grounds (think Emirates, Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Anfield!!!) and hopefully catch Liverpool live in action in the season opener of the new EPL.
I have been studying in various public libraries the past few weeks and I am going to write an entry on them, it should be useful information for serious students who want to study and not chit-chat with their equally annoying peers. I realised that studying in Starbucks or McDonald's is just a lame excuse to meet up with friends, in the end nothing goes into the head.
Have a great week ahead, all the best to those taking Module 92 Corporate Finance this thursday! And Ethel, I read you are invigilating for UOL at Expo. Well, if you still are, be nice and say hi. And give me more time to write after 'pens down'. Haha :p
P.S: A rare photo of skinny Tim and skinny Sam! Got chiseled jawline!!! :)
