There Goes....My Year 2...

Ohhhh!!!!!
I know, it's been quite a while since the semester has ended,
but had been busy with moving out of hostel and rushing back to Malaysia
Had my wisdom teeth removed, and continued doing my project at home with my wound aching...
And yes the results were released yesterday and now I finally get to settle down and write some reflections for my past academic year (or just this past semester)

Overall the journey for my Year 2 was fruitful (I think, if not regarded as wasted)
At least pulling up my academic performance (although not a lot)
Experienced working in ExCo of an orchestra (many sweet memories with a touch of bitterness)
Long term part-time with fixed schedule (secured but rigid)
And....staying in hostel, technically living alone, settle everything alone
And fanatically going for musical events from which I learnt a lot (which might, a bit, explain for my academic results not increasing a lot? haha but I know but I should not blame it, all cuz of my time management)

New record! A pile of program notes hahaha!!!

Life in Year 2 was really different than in Year 1
when I used to be carefree and fearless (even when I got a D+)
but since Year 2 started my mindset suddenly (don't think it's gradual) changed
when O' Week started I felt like I turned older by 10 years!
(I know it's a bit exaggerating but that's how I felt)
started thinking a lot about my aimed graduation class, how much I can pull up from the low CAP I created in Year 1, how to build up my network and find helpful connections before graduation, which career path to go, how to further study my violin and piano techniques with limited time and resources.....
all these I hadn't been thinking in Year 1

And this past year, many friends of mine kinda came and went, not around as much as they used to be like last time
especially friends in the orchestra and my coursemate
maybe it's just that I'm not used to the high turnover rate of friends in university
where everybody's schedule is different and all have different plans along their uni journey.
Luckily there are still quite a few people that I always see, and almost always by my side when I need them :)
but this might not be the case when Year 3 comes...
my Life Science course mates mostly go to Biomedical specialization which has no common module with my Environmental Biology
on the other hand my orchestra friends, some are graduating, some might not stay during their Year3&4 as they want to focus on academics...
oh wells....got to make new friends again...

Saying of academics...
My CAP is really all along fluctuating like waves on a lake surface since Year 1 haha
3.38 > 3.22 > 3.36 > 3.42
(hope to reach 4.0 before graduate)

So far getting near (and nearer) to CAP 3.5

The modules I've taken during this semester:
LSM2101 Metabolism & Regulation: A module which I initially didn't like, a lot of memorization to do, and biochemistry, with webcasts so I skipped a lot lectures and watched the recordings back in my room instead. However along the semester I realized how related to us the contents of the module are, I ended up liking the module (and actually the exam of it was not as hard as I expected).

LSM2102 Molecular Biology: Another module about genetics......A level-up version of LSM1102....Classes of the first lecturer Assoc Prof Low were interesting, and basically he just emphasized on basic concepts and encouraged us to apply them into scenarios instead of just memorizing and regurgitating, however the next two parts were not so fun, all needs memorization which I just did them like 2 weeks before exam, so a grade B kinda justified my "not so much" effort.

LSM2191 Lab Techniques in Life Sciences: Another "forced to do" module...Was thinking what it has to do with my Environmental Biology Specialization, which I expected to focus on ecological and behavioral studies...It turned out that I was wrong, as environmental biologist also need the molecular biology lab techniques while studying phylogeny of the organisms....But oh wells I'm still not very good in this kinda micro-scale things, so I made sure that I understand the basic concepts. And for the lab reports, I kept asking for help from friends, yeah without them I would not survive haha!!!

PL3235 Social Psychology: One of my favorite modules done so far....For the social phenomena are all so interesting, and now although I can't read minds but can analyze certain behaviors of people hahaha!!! But OMG why!!! I (technically) spent 2 semesters (cuz dropped it last sem as I couldn't handle overloading) doing it but still only got a B, now I know how steep the bell curve in Psychology Major can be. Although I did quite well in tutorial assignments but guess it couldn't cover my mistakes done in the final exams, which I didn't really write well in the Short Answer Qns...

LSM3288 Advanced UROPS in Life Sciences: It's titled "advanced" but I think my project is no more than a child's play, with the experimental design not working well and hence not really getting any data. Initially should be a 1-semester project but insufficient data and delayed progress due to bad time management made us extend the project to next semester, which means I will have less time to take other modules that I'm interested in. Oh wells, will (and must) sort it out during the next few weeks of summer so that it won't be that bad when the semester starts...

Now I have completed half of my university studies, although not flying high but not a lot of remorse, which I'm happy (although not fully satisfied) with my current state.
Hope for the best, regardless in my academic journey or my walk with friends.
Would like to thank God for all I have and all that I have lost, for all those have made who I am today and what I will be in the coming days...