Graduated!

Before my graduation ceremony, I was filled with excitement and anxiety. I was glad that I had finally completed my studies, and yet I was wondering if I'd end up doing something stupid, like falling on stage.

As my dad drove towards the auditorium so he could drop me off (with my mom and grandparents), my mom was telling my grandparents this was the first place I'd been to 3 years ago (during the open house). It wasn't. I distinctly remember the day I was dropped off at the Nanyang Auditorium to attend a ceremony for the Innovation Programme when I was fourteen. It was the very day I told myself that I would one day become a student in NTU.

I made myself a promise, and I did it. Yesterday was finally the day I graduated from NTU.

Throughout the past 3 years, I've learned and experienced so much that I could not pen down everything I wanted to say in the caption of a photo on Instagram.

I've gotten to know so many people, many of whom are now people I care about and want in my life very much. I learned that sometimes people leave you, that friendship is a two way street, and that there will always be people who will stand by you no matter what. I may not have been the valedictorian, but I've discovered that sometimes, you just have to open your eyes a little bit more to find that these people who will stick with you through thick and thin could be the very people who are standing right in front of you.

I've probably neglected my family and longtime friends such as TTC at various times in the past 3 years, but they have been the very people who have been there for me at every step of the way. The sheer amount of graduation gifts from them should tell you something.

Then, there are the other valuable people. Without them, my time in school over the past 3 years would have been drastically different.

There's Sally, who is probably the first friend I made in NBS.
Simin, whom I may not have become so close to if we didn't bond over TVXQ (who is also my food hopping buddy).
Kay, Siping, Shilei and Merri, the four girls I bonded with over cute caucasian guys (and also the four girls who gave me a birthday surprise and Gardens by the Bay).
Yap Heng, someone I can talk about almost anything with (especially fashion), who refuses to get a Facebook account.
Gwen, Nahgnef (fenghan), Aaron, James, Kang Hui, Mak and Weicong, who I have spent so much time with over the past year, and the people who made me laugh more than I would have without them.

There's so many other people, but if I wrote everyone's name down, this post would never end.

Thank you all so much for being in my life. I feel truly blessed that I have made so many amazing friends and gotten to know so many amazing people over the past 3 years. On days when I question myself if I chose to pursue the right degree/major, I'd think of all of you, and I'd agree that I've made the right choice, because if I pursued something else, I would never have gotten to know some/all of you.

So thank you mom and dad for putting me through school so that I could learn, get smarter and meet all these wonderful people who are now invaluable to me.

I've had 3 amazing years in NTU, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world.

My university life may not be perfect, but it has been made better because of everyone who has been in it.


xoxo pamela