What a great start to a new semester...

Hey, hey, hey! You know what? It's kind of rare for me to say this but I had quite a splendid time at school last Monday and today, Wednesday. Tuesday was a public holiday: Hari Raya Puasa, the end of the fasting month for Muslims. Why was it splendid? Here goes my rambles...

On Monday, the first day of the new semester, I was quite surprised to find my bus trips pretty empty. But that was because I left early, I guess. So moving on, my first lesson was a lab lesson. And my lecturer is one funny woman! She seems pretty friendly, too - sending us an e-mail to ask us to verify our addresses. You could see the healthy teacher-student relationship in her words...

Our next lesson was a Networking Fundamentals lecture. Firstly, I'm glad to say that the lecturer is a nice one as well - soft-spoken but I could see that she was a potentially good lecturer. Secondly, the subject itself looks quite interesting. Honestly, I thought I would never come across a subject I'd like in my course. It's about all those connections to a Local Area Network (LAN) and stuff. You get a "break it down" version of it, something I always thought I'd never learn.

Then it was a subject I wasn't looking forward to: Object-oriented Programming. Translation: Java. Let me give you a tip: Whenever you see the word "programming", you should know that it has something to do with Java or whatever programming softwares available. But guess what? Our lecturer is one hell of a joker! My God, he could joke with every sentence that comes out of his mouth. What a blessing for such a dry subject...

Our last lesson for the day was Web Applications and once again, our jolly ol' lecturer lifted our spirits. Wow, this guy has been known for his huge sense of humour and when I saw that he was teaching us this semester, I thought, "How good are things going to get?"

And the good things didn't stop there. Today, Wednesday, was another sweet, sweet day. Our first lesson was something which is not part of the course's subjects, but part of the school's requirements. Heard of problem solving skills? Yup, it's a new way of learning compared to the traditional way of absorbing information. You see, learning through problem solving is a more proactive approach instead of the passive approach in the traditional "I speak, you listen" teaching method. It gets the students involved in sharing their ideas to solve problems. The lesson is pretty interesting, too. We got to play ice-breakers and it was also very introspective - a strong attribute in me.

Then it was a Maths tutorial and yes, I'll admit that I wasn't looking forward to this one because firstly, I hate Maths and secondly, I'm lousy at it, too. The peculiar thing was that our last Maths lecturer became our tutorial lecturer for this semester - and nobody knew it in the first place. I sort of regretted it because I was looking forward to a new lecturer with a new way of teaching for a change.

But wait! Then came the compensation. We had a Maths lecture straight after our tutorial and thank God, a great lecturer! Soft-spoken again, but I could tell he was a patient and excellent Maths lecturer. I was so happy, I tell you. Maths is one killer for me, really...

Next came what we call APEL, which stands for Applied Principles For Effective Living. Pastoral care, if it sounds easier for you. The good thing is we only need to attend it on alternate weeks. Saved us a lot of time, really.

Finally, for my last lesson today, was my Cross-disciplinary Subject (CDS): Arts Appreciation. This was the best of the best, the creme de la creme of lessons this semester, I dare say. We had a blast and I enjoyed every bit of it. Our teacher, who was called Cleo (yeah, I know, what a fitting name), was not only fun but approachable as well. A great Arts teacher, really. For the first term, we're focusing on drama and this is a great supplement to my on-going drama CCA. I was thinking of opening myself up fully so that I could give my all in acting and I think I'm on my way.

What a great start to a new semester! Thank the heavens, haha! Ah, la dolce vita!