From the first day I sat down in room I-can't-remember-what in the then new wing of KLASS for Biz and Econ GCSE class, I think it's been a definitely roller-coaster ride, love-hate relationship (erring on the side of hate for the most part).

Biz & Econs turned from memorising definitions to becoming a defining point in the newspapers, discussed by everyone on the street, even if all the econs they ever really did was an introductory class. I actually thought I was going to fail GCSE biz&econ seeing how I kept getting C's for all of the two years. And ended up with an A*. I put that more to memorising answers than anything else though...and having a great bunch of friends who sat with me in Starbucks BV thinking up acronyms for things =S. Yup, revision KLASS style.

A level econ can't be said to be much better. Unit 5 was summarised in 10 page double sided print that was memorised at DD's house while attempting to bake choco-chip cookies. Actually, that was my worse unit...and the final unit with the dreaded essays on Globalization got me 108/120, so I don't know what was going on there...I think markers of a level/gcse papers are seriously slack =S. Then again, it is only a-levels, in hindsight, not too hard really? Still required work though.

I got temporary respite from Econs freshmen yr in uni where I basically did wtv I actually felt like doing. Was entertaining for sure. Then came 401 this school year that made my life miserable for the first 3 months with its two hmwks a week that were impossible. 2nd midterm came close to making me cry and Final wasn't any better. Hot GSI didn't really help after a bit in alleviating the pain of 401, but ok I pulled off a B+ which was tremendous seeing that I was hovering on a B- the whole sem.

402 macro was a time where I actually thought, hey, I understand this! Kudos to Bachmann for being meticulous in his teaching and painting a portrait layer by layer while I stoned quite a bit. Also owe the grade to Clairine's GSI for being damn nice about helping everyone swarming his room an hr b4 hmwk was due =S. Poor Gabe!

Doing hmwk as a group actually did make me understand more stuff so that was great.

So here's to what next sem brings! I think I'm in an Econ class alone, SOB, so it'll be up to me to see what I can make of it! The other one doesnt count as I have 9 ppl I know in the same class =S. Which is good coz that means I can ask if I get stuck, but its damn bad coz we're gna be competing for the grade and I know how smart some of these people are....haha

As kids, we played tennis for one reason: it felt good. It felt good to move our bodies, to sweat as we chased and hit ball after ball. We did our best and our best was good enough. Unfortunately, as we grow up, life drops two bombs into our minds that poison our thinking. The first is our obsession with comparing ourselves to others in order to determine our place in the world. Be it in the classroom, the office or on the tennis court, we compare.

Once we begin to compare ourselves to others, it no longer is enough to do our "best." If our best isn't as good as the next guys "best" we feel inadequate. We think about how good we "should" be rather than how good we are or how much progress we've already made. When we constantly compare ourselves to others we don't allow ourselves to move at our own pace. We feel pressure to improve quickly, to "keep up." This pressure, in many cases, robs us of our enjoyment of the game.

Second, life tells us that we need to grow up and cast aside the games of our youth, our "play." We're supposed to fill our time with more important, grown-up activities. We must constantly strive for more. We must multi-task and if we're not totally exhausted and stressed out at the end of the day (like everyone else because we must compare) we're doing something wrong.

I had an enjoyable time at Futsal yesterday, regardless of the fact I think I'm pretty useless with anything to do with a ball/board at my feet! (seen at failed attempts at skiing, snowboarding and rollarblading). Any miraculous passes or goals would probably be attributed to flukes on my part, or carelessness on the other. But anyhow, its not about winning, it's about enjoying the game right?

I paid for that two hours with sore toes, coz I keep jamming them into my shoes when trying to change directions, bruises on my knees from blocking balls hurtling at me at painful speeds, an almost rolled ankle trying to keep up with a ball juggling guy. Doesn't sound much like a recipe for fun does it? But it was amazing. I forget the thrill and fun that comes with playing team sports. Then again, I also forget the stress and being screamed at when you're playing a sport to win ala Mr Wyre and Basketball.

Speaking of sports, Wimbledon was epic! 16-14? woah, that set could have gone on for the next 3 hours if Roddick hadn't finally bungled a few shots. But man, this just shows the psychology behind sports, especially one like tennis where you're realying on yourself and reading your opponents reactions. It really is such a mental game and one that holds so many memories for me. I really need to start playing it again. It's easy to lose your passion for a game especially if you hit the same shots and make the same mistakes, which is why it's almost inhuman that Federer has scaled to the top and the only person he has to beat now is himself. That is what distinguishes a champion from any other player.

Reading the article made me think about stuff beyond tennis though. It's so true that as we get older we kinda slip into the mould of adulthood, but who ever said that growing up was easy? The adults I used to look up to when I was younger, kinda helped being the youngest of the bunch in every way. They always seemed to know where they were going and what they wanted to do. But now that I'm at the beginnings of that stage, I find that it was probably all a sham. Yes true, some people know what they want to do in life and where they want to go, and how they want to get there. But in all honesty, maybe sometimes it's more exciting to drift rather than to have a chartered course for you.