Friday...

I just returned from Genting last night after a 3days trip with my NUS friends...on the way home, something came to my mind about a phrase I knew and recently heard from a friend I met...

Choosing the right battles...

Yah, I knew it all along but had forgotten about it...perhaps it's because I'm young...I feel that I can fight every single battle that comes along and win all of them...

Well, I was wrong...I can't fight every single battle and win...
I could win many of those battles i choose to fight, but will I win the war?
Maybe not...and likely not...
Winning the battles but losing the war...dat's a huge consequence that is both unwise and foolish...
Yet I committed this mistake...this miscalculation...this over-confident yet foolish error...

It is an important lesson to learn...
I managed to do quite well from my NOC experience...and should be one of the higher achievers in my batch...I have been strong academically too; always a candidate for first class honors...
Even though most of my NOC seniors and peers return to Singapore apparently weaker academically, I nevertheless wanted and felt I could get my first class honors...
And on top of that, I pursued many other commitments in the first 6 months I returned to Singapore, with mostly career boosting commitments and also a heavier academic workload than typical electrically engineering students...

Well, not everyone can have the cake and eat it too...
I surely learnt the lesson the hard way...I had the cake...but wasn't able to finish it...

Today, I have graduated only with a second upper honors degree...
Sure, I fell sick for a couple of months earlier this year which compromised my ability to pursue the first class honors...but was that really the cause?
I should think not...

Ultimately, I have only myself to blame...
I was too greedy...I chose to fight every battle and expected to win the war too...
Even Zhuge Liang might not have tried that...cos he knew it would likely result in defeats all around...

That's why I say that this is an important lesson to learn, not just for myself but for anyone who reads this...

Nevertheless, like my gf told me just now, my mum would still be very proud of me...
I ought to be proud of myself and adjust my expectations...
cos if I don't, the perfectionist nature will kill me sooner or later...

it's time to move on...

more later...

Goodbye NUS, thanks for everything...
I appreciate it... =)