bubble tea is extremely yum
Today was much much better. Having entered junior college, I suddenly seem to realise the support you get from a hug. But that still doesn't mean I've cancelled my hug limit a day scheme. :)
I don't know why I suddenly feel so happy today, except that I actually passed the KI(Knowledge and Inquiry) selection test, and it was complicated. Only 2 of us MG girls who took the test, passed - the other one is Tiffany, who is stand-offish. But blah, I'll have to make new friends sooner or later. I'll post the question at the end of everything.
***
So... I'm explaining my subject combination. We're supposed to choose about 3 H2 and 1 H1 subjects, of which one must be of a contrasting discipline. A H2 subject is like the A level subject, and a H1 subject is compared to an AO paper, and a H3 is compared to a special paper, except it's totally about learning a whole new syllabus.
I'm taking:
Knowledge and Inquiry (instead of General Paper)
Project Work
Chinese
Physics
Chemistry
Maths all at H2 level
And Econs at H1 level.
:) It has been approved of by my royal mother.
***
I've decided to take drama and touch rugby. :P Sort of. Subject to changes... We don't have to decide our CCAs until next Wednesday.
I can't describe why it was so much better. Perhaps because everything was more familiar. We played games in our Orientation Groups(OG), and watched the forfeits. I also saw one of my sister's old friends on the bus home. That friend is in NJ too, and she made me feel happier about staying after a talk in which lots of information was passed.
I have lots to look forward to. Next week we get our real classes and clans(there are six, I hope for Terra, Aqua or Aerius), and then the war games begin. It's nice that our orientation is two weeks instead of most JC's one week. PLUS NJ has this special quirk that on Thursdays, we only have to report at 8.30. :) So I get more sleep tomorrow.
I liked the Physics teachers. They were Very cool. The Bio teachers were just blah.
NJ cheers are different from MG cheers. MG cheers have a lot of emphasis on the roaring shriek-cheer at the end, which causes opponents to cover their ears at competitive meets. Whereas in NJ, it's more like a raggled shout of whatever-they're-feeling. You just can't shriek in that sort of environment, unless you want people to shout at you.
We have a bubble tea stall in our canteen! Although RJ has a Subway branch in theirs. *hmm* But bubble tea is very yum.
I started writing to Lynette (whose title is Milkmaid, as mine is aelfequeen and Chun's is Flawless Commander). And I have MALTESERS from Chun to look forward to tomorrow. Lynette is sort of our LynPost, our way of communication, because Lynette stays in the same block as Chun or something. And I shall consume a Dome brownie later. Dome brownies cannot be beaten.
***
Part of it was realising that other people were more alone than I was. Us MG girls clustered together at lunch if we didn't have to sit with our OGs, or at our mock lectures, but there were some people who were completely alone. There was this particular guy in my OG I felt so sorry for, because I kept noticing him turning up for lectures alone and things like that. So tonight it is my wish that all the people starting school in the world will feel hope for the future, and make friends quickly.
***
The Selection Test: Identity and Education
(We had to read this essay, then interpret it. This is NOT my answer, just the essay.)
We all have a sense of history. This sense of history involves an idea, no matter how hazy, of where we come from, both as individual personalities, and as members of a larger group. Our individual histories, our families, our schooling and experiences, are all part of our personalities that make up how we perceive ourselves, and thus how we present ourselves to others. We are also members of social groups, classes, communities, religious groups and political organisations, each with its own experiences of the past histories. The groups which we belong to form part of our identities and distinguish us in our minds and in the minds of others from other social groupings with different backgrounds and histories.
This sense of who and what we are, are personal and are social identities. It is the knowledge that we should learn to use to establish ourselves in the world. But this is difficult. Because knowledge is power, and educational systems, based on a set of assumptions which cannot be question, attempt to counter that knowledge by prescribing information which has to be learnt uncritically.
Yet at the same time, modern educational objectives often value critical self-awareness - the ability to reflect on one's assumptions and beliefs and re-evaluate them if necessary in the light of this reflection. Herein lies the conflict of modern education policies: on the one hand, it recognises the importance of encouraging creativity and enterprise among students, qualities which are apparently essential for innovative economic enterprise and a preoccupation of many modern societies; the identity markers which have to be critically unlearnt in order for power to be maintained, become inconsistent with this.
Question: The writer claims that knowledge of identity is influenced by education. Briefly explain and evaluate his claims.
***
Alaris Lisette Rover
I don't know why I suddenly feel so happy today, except that I actually passed the KI(Knowledge and Inquiry) selection test, and it was complicated. Only 2 of us MG girls who took the test, passed - the other one is Tiffany, who is stand-offish. But blah, I'll have to make new friends sooner or later. I'll post the question at the end of everything.
***
So... I'm explaining my subject combination. We're supposed to choose about 3 H2 and 1 H1 subjects, of which one must be of a contrasting discipline. A H2 subject is like the A level subject, and a H1 subject is compared to an AO paper, and a H3 is compared to a special paper, except it's totally about learning a whole new syllabus.
I'm taking:
Knowledge and Inquiry (instead of General Paper)
Project Work
Chinese
Physics
Chemistry
Maths all at H2 level
And Econs at H1 level.
:) It has been approved of by my royal mother.
***
I've decided to take drama and touch rugby. :P Sort of. Subject to changes... We don't have to decide our CCAs until next Wednesday.
I can't describe why it was so much better. Perhaps because everything was more familiar. We played games in our Orientation Groups(OG), and watched the forfeits. I also saw one of my sister's old friends on the bus home. That friend is in NJ too, and she made me feel happier about staying after a talk in which lots of information was passed.
I have lots to look forward to. Next week we get our real classes and clans(there are six, I hope for Terra, Aqua or Aerius), and then the war games begin. It's nice that our orientation is two weeks instead of most JC's one week. PLUS NJ has this special quirk that on Thursdays, we only have to report at 8.30. :) So I get more sleep tomorrow.
I liked the Physics teachers. They were Very cool. The Bio teachers were just blah.
NJ cheers are different from MG cheers. MG cheers have a lot of emphasis on the roaring shriek-cheer at the end, which causes opponents to cover their ears at competitive meets. Whereas in NJ, it's more like a raggled shout of whatever-they're-feeling. You just can't shriek in that sort of environment, unless you want people to shout at you.
We have a bubble tea stall in our canteen! Although RJ has a Subway branch in theirs. *hmm* But bubble tea is very yum.
I started writing to Lynette (whose title is Milkmaid, as mine is aelfequeen and Chun's is Flawless Commander). And I have MALTESERS from Chun to look forward to tomorrow. Lynette is sort of our LynPost, our way of communication, because Lynette stays in the same block as Chun or something. And I shall consume a Dome brownie later. Dome brownies cannot be beaten.
***
Part of it was realising that other people were more alone than I was. Us MG girls clustered together at lunch if we didn't have to sit with our OGs, or at our mock lectures, but there were some people who were completely alone. There was this particular guy in my OG I felt so sorry for, because I kept noticing him turning up for lectures alone and things like that. So tonight it is my wish that all the people starting school in the world will feel hope for the future, and make friends quickly.
***
The Selection Test: Identity and Education
(We had to read this essay, then interpret it. This is NOT my answer, just the essay.)
We all have a sense of history. This sense of history involves an idea, no matter how hazy, of where we come from, both as individual personalities, and as members of a larger group. Our individual histories, our families, our schooling and experiences, are all part of our personalities that make up how we perceive ourselves, and thus how we present ourselves to others. We are also members of social groups, classes, communities, religious groups and political organisations, each with its own experiences of the past histories. The groups which we belong to form part of our identities and distinguish us in our minds and in the minds of others from other social groupings with different backgrounds and histories.
This sense of who and what we are, are personal and are social identities. It is the knowledge that we should learn to use to establish ourselves in the world. But this is difficult. Because knowledge is power, and educational systems, based on a set of assumptions which cannot be question, attempt to counter that knowledge by prescribing information which has to be learnt uncritically.
Yet at the same time, modern educational objectives often value critical self-awareness - the ability to reflect on one's assumptions and beliefs and re-evaluate them if necessary in the light of this reflection. Herein lies the conflict of modern education policies: on the one hand, it recognises the importance of encouraging creativity and enterprise among students, qualities which are apparently essential for innovative economic enterprise and a preoccupation of many modern societies; the identity markers which have to be critically unlearnt in order for power to be maintained, become inconsistent with this.
Question: The writer claims that knowledge of identity is influenced by education. Briefly explain and evaluate his claims.
***
Alaris Lisette Rover