Social life in university
(Monday, August 4, 2008/8:30 PM)
I wonder why so many people are so desperate to improve their social lives during their university years. Attending several orientation camps, enrolling themselves in CCAs, fighting hard for a place to live in hostels. Of cos', I'm not saying that we should be social recluses, burying our heads in books and burning the midnight oil each and every day. But if it reaches a point that u're neglecting ur studies, u'll need to know when and where to draw the line.
One particular popular orientation camp would be the Union Camp, where the best looking peeps all over NUS would converge. Many freshies fight with tremendous might to secure a place in this wildly popular camp, probably on the context of meeting good-looking people from the opposite sex. And living together in close proximity for 2-3 nights? Pure gravy!
But one wonders if the relationships forged would be last long enough to make it worth the time and effort? One of my friends, who joined the Union Camp 2 years consecutively, lamented recently that the number of OG gatherings are dwindling as time goes by, till the point where she isn't in close contact with most of her previous OG mates anymore.
Of cos' maybe u're thinking u're just living for the moment, having fun while it lasts. Here's where my philosophy differs. If I know long-lasting relationships can't be forged, I wouldn't even want to waste a single second of my time. I was persuaded to join the NUS camp for my church peeps last year, and yeah it was fun and enjoyable, but in the end, nothing came out of it. Some OG acquaintances even avoided me when I wanted to approach them! This was a major reason why I didn't go for the second time this year, besides deciding to rest my body at home to prepare for my hospital procedure.
Some acquaintances of mine also remarked that as a university student, we should experience the hall life at least once, or else our university experience will not be 'complete'. In my opinion, that's utter bullshit. Listening to stories of friends living in hall, they have to stay up late at night for hall gatherings (3-4 AM on a regular basis *gasp*!), and engage themselves in hall CCAs in order to earn enough credits to stay on for future semesters.
In the previous semester, I had a project mate who was bounded by hall activities. Project deadlines were often pushed back cos' her schedule was simply packed to the brim, to the extent that she had no time for her own personal revision. While u're busy with ur own social life, for a moment in time, stay still and understand the severity of the repercussions. It might not only affect ur own studies, but also friends around u.
Even if university education takes on the form of private tuition with a grumpy old professor, I would gladly go through it. It seems as if the youths nowadays lose focus on the important things in life. Peeps go around searching for their next love mate and party clique, instead of concentrating on their studies. After all, we're all in university with the goal of receiving the coveted degree certificate. Isn't it so?
To all my peers and juniors who would be entering university in the near future, go ahead and develop a healthy social life, but do not lose sight of ur ultimate purpose and goal! =)
posted by MightyFlameboy.
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