Throwback 2021
Time flies and boom we're at the end of 2021 already!? It's really been a year of ups and downs again, and COVID really didn't help slow it down. With all the opening and closing, restrictions on travel and eating-out, I realised I've kinda lost track of the things that happened. It feels like almost everyday it's just looking at the calendar and checking when will the government allow us to dine in groups of 2/5/8 again. With all these said, let's start our recap of this year...
*This post was meant to be a recap of 2021 to be completed by 31/12 yet I am writing it now as Q3 begins for 2022. It's been a busy year and work + school really ain't treating me ell. So for now let's try to finish this before the year ends.
And so 2021 begins...
As we all know back then, no one knew if Class of 2020 will ever get our commencement, well no one even know how long this COVID thing will last. We lasted a whole 6 months with 3 months in isolation and once the government allowed us to gather in groups of 8, we jumped at it. Just so happen the BME gang is a group of 8 and we figured, it they don't give us a commencement, the least we could do was to give ourselves a nice photo shoot, especially since Jerome was flying to the US for who knows how long. Gotta keep these memories. So here goes the grad shoot spam. Being a bunch of just graduated humans, we figured a phone and tripod would work and who knew this would be what we got.
Many months later, managed to grab a grad shoot with the boy as well. This was after we finally got our virtual + in-person commencement ceremony and since we both started working already, we could actually afford a proper photographer.
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| Do Re Mi |
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| Look so 乖 then, you see, all slippers |
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| Outside BME office, the place we go bang table for mods |
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| At the new EA |
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| 2 Bboys and us |
CNY2021
CNY was rather quite compared to last year. Back in 2020 there were no restrictions and everyone could be there, this year, we had to forgo a lot of people. Couldn't meet the cousins and I'd say it was a pretty quiet new year with all the restrictions.
With all the new restrictions and stuff, we had to forgo our yearly CNY hotpot with the BME gang and instead decided to dine out at a random Jap place that Amin found was halal. Little did we know, that was the last time we could gather as a group of 8. A few days/weeks later, they announced that due to the new variant we would be returning to the 'Heightened alert' phase which meant that only 50% of the work force could go back to the office, gatherings were limited to groups of 5 and the most painful part was we couldn't send Jerome off at the airport legally. It's these kind of days where you realize how you never know what is going to happen in the future and that last dinner you had might be the last time you'd ever meet (sad)
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| With the fam bam |
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| No giant family reunion dinner since it's limited to groups of 8 only |
Commencement for Class of 2020
As you may have all known, due to the COVID restrictions, our commencement was put on hold and to be very honest, a lot of us were pretty upset. Think about it, you suffered though 4 years of uni education, paid $32k for this piece of paper and the opportunity to stand on that stage, and they decide that it will be 'postponed indefinitely', not to forget, NUS wasn't the best at conveying such news to us at the start. Eventually, they did finally arrange for a virtual commencement which was literally them showing our faces on a YouTube video. Pretty sure it was pre-recorded and not 'live', but it's better than nothing, at least we could have something unique to call for our batch.
Sometime in September, as COVID restrictions were lifted, NUS finally decided it was time. Time to give us what we yearned for (a little dramatic here, but you get it). Together with Class of 2021, we finally got our in-person ceremony. It was very different from the previous years, no long speeches, everyone was masked up (even for the photo taking), no free buffet, and most importantly, we were not allowed to linger around for photos which was really sad. Fortunately, BME is a rather small cohort and we were able to fit everyone that signed up in 1 session. Our friends in larger courses weren't so lucky, they were split up into different sessions, and some didn't even get to meet with friends. There were also a bunch of people who decided that this happened too late or couldn't get their leaves approved for the session and didn't make it. It was sad that we never got our prom night or a batch photo but I guess this whole COVID situation made it unique for our batch and the junior batch. Class of 2020, the batch with no commencement until a year later.
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| I like how the photographer tailed us all the way there to get this shot |
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| Woop woop we did it (Missing Zac, Jerome & Chrys) |
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| Awww yeahh we are totally normal |
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| With the most important people who funded this stupid $32k toilet paper |
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| And of course, I made it to my bestie's commencement too |
Bridging Buddies Gatherings
Our group of 8 hadn't been all that lucky with all the lockdown and gathering rules so when they finally allowed us to gather in groups of 8, we jumped right at it and I have to say it was pretty good timing. Don't quite remember the dates, we finally managed to get a good dinner meet up at JE and had a good catch up session. And of course, this was just in time before Jerome flew off to the US. It was nice to finally meet up legally and despite the COVID fears, it was nice to see everyone again. Just nice after our meet up, we went into semi-lockdown again 'heightened alert' so they claim and that was pretty much the end of our short-lived freedom. Our group was more or less illegal for the rest of 2021.
To end of the year and mainly to clear off our AirBnB credits (which they refunded us for our Japan reservations), our group went on a sunset cruise. I like to call it 'tai tai life for 4 hours'. Went our on the yacht for a nice cruise into the sunset. We were lucky it nice weather that day since it was raining almost everyday before. Didn't grab dinner so we had some cider and snacks and chilled in our legal groups of 5 till the end of the trip. Had a short gift exchange for Xmas and all headed home cuz we are a bunch of working adults with responsibilities.
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| Our first time on the yacht was forced by AirBNB |
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| Our fave couple |
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| Beautiful people with the wonderful sunset |
Final Year AGAIN...
It was supposed to be another 1.5years before I graduated from my MSc program but after much contemplation and discussions with Dr. Tony, we decided that it was best if I could finish my MSc soon since he was running out of funds for me (keyword is ME). So while I cruised through the first half of 2021 only taking 2 mods, the second half was more or less a disaster, dealing with 3 modules and co-mentoring 4 FYP students. Didn't do as well as I wanted to for the 3 mods and I guess that's gonna be my downfall for my Masters.
The second half was also less than easy mentoring students. There was a lot of pressure to get work done and well, luck wasn't on our side. So we tried day after day without getting much progress. Pretty disappointing. That was more or less the thing that got me thinking if I want to continue working on the CRIPSR stuff (if you're wondering, the answer is still yes, thank goodness I'm not that devastated YET)
New Job (?)
One fine day, an email popped into my mail box. Arrange for interview, with an A*STAR prof, but it was fishy, the email wasn't from A*STAR. Quite an amusing experience. Somehow someone found my resume in the A*STAR portal which I just randomly dumped my CV into and contacted me. Lo and behold, a new PI's coming to Singapore to start up his lab and we're having our interview on New Year's Eve (?)
It was an odd experience having a zoom call with someone in the US on PH eve but it went well. We set our date for the next interview and who knows...
Recapping on my 2021 Goals...
2021 went by in a flash, just as fast as 2020 with the whole COVID thing still ongoing. No travels for this year, but at least we were not cooped up in our houses for too long.
Now let's see
1) Music
with increased school and workload, I didn't find as much time to make more music this year. But at least got 1 cover out on SoundCloud.
2) Health
2021 was not the best year to deal with my mental health issues. All the pent up frustration and stress was putting me on the edge for quite a bit. Fitness wise, managed to squeeze in some exercise towards the end of the year but that's about it. I guess this is something to work on again.
3) Friendship
With the whole pandemic going on, people met up less and at least at the end of this year, I can go into 2022 knowing who are the people I will make the effort to connect and re-connect with.
2022...
Well for 2022, what can we expect?
*This is odd to write since we are already half way into the year, but more or less my goals never changed much and at least I can say that I have been working on them*
1) Health
Physical health is something that I really need to work on this year. I can see myself getting fatter and more unhealthy in 2021 due to all the work and study stress. On the mental health side, not much to say, lots to do. At the end of the day, I just want to reach a point where I can say I am fine with life. So for 2022, at least I hope to become happier and fitter.
2) Personal Growth
Besides being a studying monster, I think it's time to relook at the things I used to love. Be it DOTA or making music, may 2022 be the time where I can set aside time to do the things I love. Especially when I graduate and have lesser responsibilities outside working hours. Let's get that cover out or at least climb a rank in DOTA this year.
3) Family and Friends
In 2021, I'm always working OT, always too busy studying for tests and exams. Hopefully with me finishing school soon and potentially switching to a new job, we can work on setting aside some time for the people I love and the people who matter most to me.
2021 had been a journey with not much scenery. Just zoom zoom and it's over. With 2022, I hope to slow down in general and maybe find more time for myself too.
With that I wish everyone a Happy New Year (or whatever it is by the time I'm finally done with this post)
Cheers,
Sam
Labels: 2021, 2022, COVID, graduation, My Life, New Year, New Year Resolutions, Throwback
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