Check-In Time #7- trying to find the missing piece this year

1:59am, Singapore. Just finished keying in timetable preferences. I tried to tell myself that I will post something here either in the morning or afternoon, so to make it seem as if there’s some variety. But who am I kidding, I am a night owl (as can be deduced from my last post) and gets everything done at night, so!

How’s 2021 been for everyone? With the world being the mess that it is, I hope that you are safe and happy wherever you are. For those taking summer subjects/Feb intensive subjects, wishing you all the best! As mentioned in a previous post, I would be taking a Feb intensive breadth subject, and as the days loom by, I get a little more apprehensive each day on whether I am making the right decision. I should actually start preparing for it a little by reading up more about the topic, though I wonder how much of it I would understand… hahaha.

The year has been off to a slow, and then suddenly busy start for me. This week, I found myself caught up in a flurry of meetings, ranging from Academic Skills Partner ones, Orientation Challenge organizing committee meetings, as well as for Farrago Magazine (excited to be a reporter, yay!!), and things I have to do for the club I am in. Outside university, I have various meetings for my volunteer and paid job. I don’t mind though– I signed up for all these commitments, and I enjoy them. Besides these meetings, there were sufficient breaks in between for me as well. I managed to catch up with friends, and I’m especially looking forward to calling one of them tomorrow. I had an enjoyable family dinner today, and experimented with a curling iron (I vastly underestimated the time needed to use one effectively… whoops 🙁 ). Tomorrow, I would be having a work meeting and going out with my family.

On the outside, this year seems to be going well– and I am very grateful to the family and friends around me especially that allow me to be so, and I must learn not to take it for granted.  But there were many times I caught myself wondering: what’s next?

Many times I find myself recalling about a question that was asked to me during a job interview: what are your interests? Simple question, but I found myself stumped by it. Yes, I am interested about causes like mental health and education. I am passionate about the course I am studying for sure.

But I have never had any interests or hobbies I was really invested in. Some friends I know like drawing immensely and post their works online. Others have an entrepreneurial mindset and start their own business. Some others like extreme sports, and I have friends that have interests that are seemingly out of the mainstream but enjoy it nonetheless, like clocks.

Hopefully, this year, I would be able to find my interest, and pursue a project that I am keen about. Not for the sake of academics or portfolio, but just to find out more about myself and others around me. When reading all the news and as we get deeper and deeper into this pandemic, cliche as it sounds, it made me realize that life is fragile and I should make the most of it when I can.

I thought hard about blogging this as I was worried that it had nothing to do with the first year experience, plus I feel this post seems a little more solemn as compared to some others. But then again, being a first year is a journey of personal growth anyway– and since this has been a thought I have been thinking about since the year started, I felt it would be good to share.

Okay I really should go and sleep now– bye for now, and best of luck for 2021!