Night time. The time I usually get all nostalgic.

Tonight, I decided to pull out the World History book that I bought from a second-hand bookshop at Bras Basah and do some reading. I was reading about the fall of Greece and got so confused about Macedonia and Sparta and all the Peloponnesian wars that I needed to hunt for a map.

Which led me to riff through my drawers and boxes in which I've stored all my secondary and JC textbooks.

As usual, I got distracted and ended up doing some H2 Math sums. After getting sick of it after an hour, I decided to read Wendy Clark. For those who don't know who she is, she's all O'Level History students' saviour (as is Marian Chong O'Level Geography students' saviour). We swallowed up that book (practically every sentence was important - I remember my dad telling me I might as well highlight the sentences that weren't important instead, so the pages won't be filled with highlighted chunks) and vomitted everything out for the Cambridge examiners.

And reading Wendy Clark made me think of Mrs Haridas, our History teacher. She was always so maternal. Wonder how she is now.

And thinking of Haridas made me think of Mrs Singh, the best Chemistry teacher I ever had. Her explanations are so lucid and she's the no-nonsense kind of woman. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

I unearthed my secondary 1 science notebook, and read through the atoms and molecules notes. I kind of miss studying Chemistry. Too bad I suck at practical. It always pulls my A down to a B. Chemistry class was always so productive.

And then, later, I was just sitting there reading the notes I had scribbled all over my secondary 2 Geography textbook, when Don't Tell Me by Avril Lavigne comes on the radio. It seemed like not so long ago that I was in the same circumstance, reading my Geog notes while Avril wails on in the background. Wonder how Khrish, Yvonne and Stacy are doing now. Haven't met them or caught up with them in ages.

I guess the reason why I enjoyed mugging for O'Levels (yes, I realise how geeky that made me sound, but wtv, geeky is the new chic) is because I had great influence, in the form of my friends, around me, especially Gerlynn. My friends made going to school and attending lessons fun. Thanks, Ger, for staying with me after school in the library everyday to mug. I remember we'd force ourselves to sit at different tables just so we wouldn't get distracted and talk. People would think we had a fight, which was sort of funny.

A'Levels wasn't as fun to study for, because, well, circumstances were different. And it was a hell lot tougher, especially Geography. I was besotted with the subject in secondary school (I think everyone in 4E2 were) - I loved my subject combination - but H2 Geog is so much more demanding, and I ended up finding it a drag sometimes.

Ah, well.

I just miss school and studying so much, all of a sudden. Maybe it's this looooong break that made me yearn to employ my brain once again. I don't ever want to go out into the working world; I want to stay cocooned in school forever, where your worth and performance are only determined by the grades you get. It's simple and clear-cut. Not much depends on chance or luck, like in the real world.

Dammit, I miss school. I miss studying for O's. That was, in fact, the best time of my life. I know it sounds sad, but it was. Studying for A's wasn't as rewarding, because you don't get your A's as easily even though you put in the same amount of effort. In my case, I didn't put in the same amount of effort, because I guess I lost the drive after O's. Which made it more difficult to get the A's.

In short, can't wait for school to start.

By the way, I unearthed ONE diary that I had left out. I'd decided to throw away ALL the diaries I had written in the course of my secondary school years (at least 10) one day, and this is the only one left. It was the sixteenth one (I label my diaries in chronological order) and was written from after secondary 4 Prelim exams to the beginning of J1 in the best junior college in the world (come on, I love SA).

I really regret throwing away my diaries. How could I? Those were my formative years. Sigh.




I told you I get awfully nostalgic at night.