ginger steps.

hello. it's my convocation ceremony in three days. three years in ntu is hard to be summarised in a single blog post, isn't it.

accounting is something that i definitely have no right to say that i am passionate about. i was no keen learner, i didn't read up voluntarily like what many others did. i didn't even make a conscientious effort to find out things that i ought to be concerned about. i simply did school work assigned to me, not quite understanding what i was doing half of the times, maybe except during the last couple of weeks before exams. i guess this sufficiently justifies my very mediocre results throughout the three years, and my very limited knowledge in the field.

yet i really love accounting. i can't quite imagine myself studying any other course. even doing things that i didn't totally understand was actually enjoyable on hindsight. i really don't mind doing accounting for the rest of my life, and i dare say it's not something that every student can say about his/her course of study. i may not be good at accounting now, but hasn't learning always been a life-long process. there's a lot to buck up on for now, i need to learn to take more initiatives.

studying at nbs exposed me to so many impressive people, each holding their very unique and very amazing perspectives. getting to know each of them was an eye-opening experience that i will not exchange anything else for. they made me realise how lacking i am in so many areas, and they helped me unearth strengths that i never knew i had too.

and how can i forget all those late nights rushing projects. settling word reports, powerpoint slides, excel spreadsheets and citations all at the same time, not forgetting occasionally handling group members' emotions too. but somehow things always worked out in the end, which i really feel very fortunate about.

year 1's hall life was very different from year 2's. the huge plunge in the number of friends left in hall was probably the biggest factor. i really enjoyed being a cgl, and to be honest i really didn't enjoy being a programmer. but i guess it helped me to learn that whether you like it or not, a task is a task and you need to do what you need to do, so why not make the best out of the experience. unfortunately i didn't manage to accomplish that while being a programmer.

learning to love was tough but memorable with all those crazy moments, such as going to the hockey pitch at 3am to look at stars (seriously, there were barely any stars haha). but i guess what was tougher was the process of distinguishing what i should remember from what i should forgive and forget. i believe that every sincere relationship is built upon the foundations of strong friendship, and even after the relationship fails, the friendship should not diminish. it may take time, sometimes plenty of time, but i am certain that true friends will always hope for the best for each other.

we all encounter people who do us wrongs every now and then. but i guess life is always fair in its own way. don't we always do injustice to others around us too. There are people we treat wrong and later we're prepared to treat other people right. Perhaps this sounds mercenary, but I feel grateful for these trial relationships, and I would like to think it all evens out - surely, unknowingly, I have served as practice for other people.

making new friends while keeping old ones was something that we all got to learn. but leaving time for family seems like the real hard lesson as we get older. another thing to learn: to be happy for others for having things that we can't have. one more: be kind, for everyone that you come across is fighting a hard battle. one last one: smile, we have such a bright and beautiful future ahead of us. happy graduation. (: