013 I AM SO HAPPY! Long post ahead!!!
I am so HAPPY! oh so so so happy!
so so so so HAPPY! *repeats ad nauseam*
I will start to explain in just a bit, let me get over the euphoria :D
Okay, let me begin with the Commonwealth Essay Competition results. Stacy informed me the other day that the commended list was out, and that only three people from Negeri Sembilan were in it, namely Ronald from SPI who's in my age group, a form 1 girl from KGV and me! It was a bit hard to understand at first, as I assumed Stacy, Nasha and Varsha would get a commendation as well, but it gradually dawned upon me that for some weird, very strange reason they just weren't there. So yes, my joy this year with the 'highly commended' certificate is tinged with sadness for my friends, because to me they really deserved a spot on that list as well :( so I'll leave that be for now.
Okay.
Now on to something that has REALLY made my day.
I placed second in the Annual Oxford-Cambridge Society of Malaysia Essay Competition! I went up against 80 other students from top secondary schools in West Malaysia and managed to garner 1st runner up!
I cannot even begin to describe my euphoria. It was gorgeous. I did not want to expect anything but I was secretly hoping for at least consolation! Let me take you through the day...
The bus trip was fun as always and when we did reach Sunway University College, the essay competition participants were given a short briefing before being ushered to the competition room. It was highly intimidating seeing so many other participants and the fact that the room was freezing cold didn't help. So under those uncomfortable circumstances, I was given 5 topics to choose from and an hour to write an essay of under a thousand (1000) words.
i chose no 4, which went like this 'in some societies, children engage in paid work. some agree that it provides them with essential experience for life, while others feel that this robs them of their childhood'. the other topics were equally challenging, and i spent about 20 minutes changing my mind and flitting from topic to topic, but finally settled on no 4. i wrote furiously for the next 40 minutes or so, and was quite relieved when it was all over. i was so tense!
after that, we went through the workshop by the oxford cambridge staff, which included the art of writing and public speaking. they were all very good and very engaging, but one guy named anaf (who later won the essay competition) blew us away with his public speaking speech. he was great! nice fellow, too.
we had lunch shortly after, and while it was nice of the college to provide food foc...it wasn't very appetising. so i had an 'extreme buzz frappucino' and a slice of orange cake from san francisco coffee house. the price? Rm 22.57. grrr. Was quite delicious though!
Then we headed to the Multi Purpose Hall and had a short talk on Study Skills which was short, sweet and simple. I think it was presented by Miss Wong Lei Lei of Marketing and Management. And then Mr Small from Cambridge presented a speech on applying for oxford or cambridge and gave quite an in depth talk on what to expect, what to prepare for, what studying there is like, everything! really nicely detailed.
After his speech ended, the VIPs' arrived, namely Mrs Elizabeth Lee (Principal of Sunway) and the essay judging panel and other assorted important people :P
My hands were incredibly cold and clammy and I was rather quiet because I hoped so for at least a consolation prize for my efforts. After a speech by Mrs Elizabeth thanking the judging panel (she's the president of the oxbridge society in Malaysia!) and welcoming members of the media and press, as well as the VIPs', teachers and students, she welcomed another Causcasian woman to read out the results of the Essay Competition.
The lady remarked something along the lines of this, "This year, the level of essays have risen tremendously and we are immensely pleased with the essays churned out by the students. The staff of Sunway (the English panel, I guess) were invited to give their feedback in the choosing of the consolation prize winners, while we of the Oxbridge Society decided on the top three winners. Without further ado..."
And then she began reading out the consolation prize winners. I was crushed when they were given away (only three) because I thought; that's it, you're going home empty handed. When third prize was given away, I became even more desolate :P However, when she said...
'And for the first runner up, a certificate from the Oxbridge Society, a pewter trophy and a cash prize of Rm 200...is from SMK Puteri, Negeri Sembilan...'
Goodness, the Puterians went WILD! Like WILD! Everyone started screaming and cheering and clapping all at once and it was deafening!
'...is Michelle Tam Li Peng!'
I went up to collect my prize in a state of euphoria, a state of absolute giddyness :P The Puterians had started the 'tepuk komando' and the applause was thunderous! I felt so happy and thought "Oh, my goodness. this is happening. this is really happening. oh, my, goodness!"
As I shook hands with the warm and smilling Mrs Elizabeth, the Puterian crowd had started to scream 'GO MICHY!/I love you Michelle/other assorted shouts of endearment' and I stood there with the other winners on stage in a state of absolute happiness. I cannot stress this enough; I was perfectly happy. There were cameras going off everywhere in front of us, members of the press presumably as well as most of the judging panel. As the winner was announced, I was glad to see it was Anaf and we spent a short while excitedly chatting on stage. Then, one particularly cute incident, was Rasyiqah screaming 'Michy, I love you!' joined by Fiffy and the rest, and one of the Causcasian guys/oxbridge member from the judging panel who was snapping away grinned and said 'I love you too Michelle, now smile for my camera! '. Haha!
Ahem. Then we, the top three posed together for more photographers from god knows where, presumably the college photographers or the media, I have no idea. Jessie was such a dear and took so many photos for me with the other winners. Thanks so much love! send them over to michy88@gmail.com kie? Jessie's such a talented photographer, she manages to make anything/anyone look damn good, I swear. But I digress :P
So the photo session went on for quite a bit more and when I finally got back to the Puterian side, everyone went wild again and it was so nice to hug everyone and thank them for being such a jolly supportive audience :D took another load of photos there, and joined my best friends Ruby, Jessie and Lisa there as we talked about the day etc. It was gorgeous! Sigh...just so happy.
We stayed there for another half an hour or so in the hall and left at about 2.45 pm. It was just a terrific time to be had by all and I was so happy (and still am) about how everything turned out. The teachers were estatic as well and I was glad that I had managed to do something for the school and Negeri Sembilan, in a way. :) Jessie and the choir girls and all my friends were all so nice about everything and god I wished the day would never end :P
Spent the trip home talking for a while with Sapna and Ruby and Sook Yee and everyone. promised to belanja everyone at one point and i guess there goes my money :P
I hope this entry hasn't bored you, bear with me...I'm just so happy :)
and when i got home mom and dad were so happy. *feels loved* :) they had been happy with the commonwealth thing, but they were even happier with this one.
will post pictures if/when i can! :D
so so so so HAPPY! *repeats ad nauseam*
I will start to explain in just a bit, let me get over the euphoria :D
Okay, let me begin with the Commonwealth Essay Competition results. Stacy informed me the other day that the commended list was out, and that only three people from Negeri Sembilan were in it, namely Ronald from SPI who's in my age group, a form 1 girl from KGV and me! It was a bit hard to understand at first, as I assumed Stacy, Nasha and Varsha would get a commendation as well, but it gradually dawned upon me that for some weird, very strange reason they just weren't there. So yes, my joy this year with the 'highly commended' certificate is tinged with sadness for my friends, because to me they really deserved a spot on that list as well :( so I'll leave that be for now.
Okay.
Now on to something that has REALLY made my day.
I placed second in the Annual Oxford-Cambridge Society of Malaysia Essay Competition! I went up against 80 other students from top secondary schools in West Malaysia and managed to garner 1st runner up!
I cannot even begin to describe my euphoria. It was gorgeous. I did not want to expect anything but I was secretly hoping for at least consolation! Let me take you through the day...
The bus trip was fun as always and when we did reach Sunway University College, the essay competition participants were given a short briefing before being ushered to the competition room. It was highly intimidating seeing so many other participants and the fact that the room was freezing cold didn't help. So under those uncomfortable circumstances, I was given 5 topics to choose from and an hour to write an essay of under a thousand (1000) words.
i chose no 4, which went like this 'in some societies, children engage in paid work. some agree that it provides them with essential experience for life, while others feel that this robs them of their childhood'. the other topics were equally challenging, and i spent about 20 minutes changing my mind and flitting from topic to topic, but finally settled on no 4. i wrote furiously for the next 40 minutes or so, and was quite relieved when it was all over. i was so tense!
after that, we went through the workshop by the oxford cambridge staff, which included the art of writing and public speaking. they were all very good and very engaging, but one guy named anaf (who later won the essay competition) blew us away with his public speaking speech. he was great! nice fellow, too.
we had lunch shortly after, and while it was nice of the college to provide food foc...it wasn't very appetising. so i had an 'extreme buzz frappucino' and a slice of orange cake from san francisco coffee house. the price? Rm 22.57. grrr. Was quite delicious though!
Then we headed to the Multi Purpose Hall and had a short talk on Study Skills which was short, sweet and simple. I think it was presented by Miss Wong Lei Lei of Marketing and Management. And then Mr Small from Cambridge presented a speech on applying for oxford or cambridge and gave quite an in depth talk on what to expect, what to prepare for, what studying there is like, everything! really nicely detailed.
After his speech ended, the VIPs' arrived, namely Mrs Elizabeth Lee (Principal of Sunway) and the essay judging panel and other assorted important people :P
My hands were incredibly cold and clammy and I was rather quiet because I hoped so for at least a consolation prize for my efforts. After a speech by Mrs Elizabeth thanking the judging panel (she's the president of the oxbridge society in Malaysia!) and welcoming members of the media and press, as well as the VIPs', teachers and students, she welcomed another Causcasian woman to read out the results of the Essay Competition.
The lady remarked something along the lines of this, "This year, the level of essays have risen tremendously and we are immensely pleased with the essays churned out by the students. The staff of Sunway (the English panel, I guess) were invited to give their feedback in the choosing of the consolation prize winners, while we of the Oxbridge Society decided on the top three winners. Without further ado..."
And then she began reading out the consolation prize winners. I was crushed when they were given away (only three) because I thought; that's it, you're going home empty handed. When third prize was given away, I became even more desolate :P However, when she said...
'And for the first runner up, a certificate from the Oxbridge Society, a pewter trophy and a cash prize of Rm 200...is from SMK Puteri, Negeri Sembilan...'
Goodness, the Puterians went WILD! Like WILD! Everyone started screaming and cheering and clapping all at once and it was deafening!
'...is Michelle Tam Li Peng!'
I went up to collect my prize in a state of euphoria, a state of absolute giddyness :P The Puterians had started the 'tepuk komando' and the applause was thunderous! I felt so happy and thought "Oh, my goodness. this is happening. this is really happening. oh, my, goodness!"
As I shook hands with the warm and smilling Mrs Elizabeth, the Puterian crowd had started to scream 'GO MICHY!/I love you Michelle/other assorted shouts of endearment' and I stood there with the other winners on stage in a state of absolute happiness. I cannot stress this enough; I was perfectly happy. There were cameras going off everywhere in front of us, members of the press presumably as well as most of the judging panel. As the winner was announced, I was glad to see it was Anaf and we spent a short while excitedly chatting on stage. Then, one particularly cute incident, was Rasyiqah screaming 'Michy, I love you!' joined by Fiffy and the rest, and one of the Causcasian guys/oxbridge member from the judging panel who was snapping away grinned and said 'I love you too Michelle, now smile for my camera! '. Haha!
Ahem. Then we, the top three posed together for more photographers from god knows where, presumably the college photographers or the media, I have no idea. Jessie was such a dear and took so many photos for me with the other winners. Thanks so much love! send them over to michy88@gmail.com kie? Jessie's such a talented photographer, she manages to make anything/anyone look damn good, I swear. But I digress :P
So the photo session went on for quite a bit more and when I finally got back to the Puterian side, everyone went wild again and it was so nice to hug everyone and thank them for being such a jolly supportive audience :D took another load of photos there, and joined my best friends Ruby, Jessie and Lisa there as we talked about the day etc. It was gorgeous! Sigh...just so happy.
We stayed there for another half an hour or so in the hall and left at about 2.45 pm. It was just a terrific time to be had by all and I was so happy (and still am) about how everything turned out. The teachers were estatic as well and I was glad that I had managed to do something for the school and Negeri Sembilan, in a way. :) Jessie and the choir girls and all my friends were all so nice about everything and god I wished the day would never end :P
Spent the trip home talking for a while with Sapna and Ruby and Sook Yee and everyone. promised to belanja everyone at one point and i guess there goes my money :P
I hope this entry hasn't bored you, bear with me...I'm just so happy :)
and when i got home mom and dad were so happy. *feels loved* :) they had been happy with the commonwealth thing, but they were even happier with this one.
will post pictures if/when i can! :D