Holiday

Today marks the start of my term break for September, and I cannot tell you how happy I am to be home. As a boarding school student, I look forward to holidays because it's the only time I get to kick back, relax and spend time with family. Because I'm so accustomed to treating home as my playground, I try to minimize time spent relaxing at home, and maximize time spent studying in school. It's an extremely crucial year for Malaysian 17 year olds because of our final high school exam, also known as the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). This exam determines which scholarships you get, where you go for college and so on. As my History teacher always says:

"If you want to get Straight A+, you must make some sacrifices."

Despite that, I'm making it a point to keep in touch with family members when I'm in school. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but it's also very important to keep in contact.

What I usually do during the holidays is have a nice meal with my family, (lots and lots of) sleep, and window shopping. But as for this holiday, my ultimate plan is to do revision and get pampered along the way! I'm finally going to meet my dentist this week to get my braces fixed after nearly 2 months of having to cancel appointments. Time is of the essence in boarding school. If you miss classes and (unfortunately for you) the teacher decides to teach a new chapter, there's no such thing as reteaching that topic. You would have to catch up yourself, and that's extremely risky because what usually happens is you misunderstand the topic. The moral of the story is: don't skip classes.

As I've just finished my trial exams, it's the best opportunity for me to revise the topics that I didn't really do well in. I may not have performed up to my expectations, but I believe that there is always room for improvement. It just means I have to work harder.

For those of you taking your SPM examinations this year: don't forget to spend time with loved ones during this holiday. Familial support is the best form of support: exams may be important, but it is just as important that we don't lose touch of our emotional needs.


How are you spending your holidays? Leave your answers in the comments below!