Looking back, it has been two years of many trials and triumphs.
Looking at my ITE for the last time after my Costing paper, the memories flowed back as I reminisced them. I remembered how excited and nervous I was when I first entered ITE two years back. Shy as usual, I tried my best to get myself out of the comfort zone and mingled around. I tried to be a bit more extrovert. I tried to lip-read more, so as not to trouble them by writing down what they said.
As 10 weeks preparatory started, it was a fulfilling and memorable one. I met a few good lecturers, especially Mr Loke. He was the one who introduced me to Jun Wen, who later became my first buddy. JW is very comfortable to be with. Through her, I learnt a bit more about Kpop and Kdramas. HAHA! She is also the person who always puts others before her. She really looked after me so well during 10 weeks. Those weeks helped our new friendship bond more.
Later on, I met Charis, who also helped me a lot. She was my partner during camps, projects and even performance. (: I will never forget how patient she was during our camp performance. It was associated with music which I couldn't hear. My group had to make our own music using the musical instruments such as pails, etc. We played using the same instruments. Following Charis' beats was really tough. But she led me along well.
JW and Charis eventually learnt sign language, mostly ABCs only. (: Now JW finger-spelt ABCs fluently. I communicated with her through ABCs and rarely used my phone as another form of communication. (:
Soon, we combined with other former O Level students. There, I met Shu Ting, who shared the same passion in photography as me. She is from China. Her lips is the easiest to lip-read among the friends who talked to me. We went to the same CCA - Photography Club. One of the most memorable moments was when she lent me her camera during World Water Day last year. It was initially her duty but she allowed me to take her place as the main photographer. I was just a noob when it comes to taking photos at important events where there are many important guests. But I really thanked her for believing that I could make good shots. At the end of the day, I was praised by various photographers. Shu Ting spoke good words about my love for photography to them. Thanks to her, it was an eye-opening experience of what it was like to work as a photographer, carrying a heavy DSLR camera. (:
Through Shu Ting, I met Grace, one of the funniest girls I befriended. I'm really indebted to her for coaching, tolerating and torturing me for more than a year. She added sparks to my boring life. Without her, I would have been such a loner. :D She then became my official buddy and the only closest friend I had in ITE. Together we laughed, studied, ate and went from classes to classes. We helped each other in our studies too. We joked, poked, hit and punched each other like crazy! As our friendship grew, I decided to teach her ABCs in sign language. She mastered it. (: Soon, we started to nickname each other various names such as panda, pig, turtle-pig, etc. I eventually named her Panda, according to her keychain and her love for sleeping during lectures. (: She nicknamed me Pig. Miss Choo even said that I'm Grace's role model. (': She's also the one who got along with my interpreter so well that they would chat during lessons.
Through Grace, I befriended Juliana. She is one of the smarties and with sweet dimples in my class. I feel sorry for bothering her when it came to texting her for help in my Accounting work. I even texted her when it was wee hours because she was a nocturnal person. But in the end, I thanked her for coaching.
As my class started a new module, Project in my graduating year, I was put in a group full with classmates I never really got a chance to mingle with for the past year. I deeply thank this module for allowing me expand my social circle as I slowly got to know the girls better. I also thank Yi Ling, one of my group leaders for not making me feel out of place during project work. When the group members were discussing, she would write down briefly what they were talking about. What they learnt during project, she would write down on foolscap in such a detailed way that I understood clearly. She would test my understanding after she taught me something. When we were bored during project or when we had nothing to do since we had finished our assignments, we would chat together with other two lovely girls. We had fun!
As for teachers, I would like to thank Miss Choo, Mrs Sim, Mr Liang and Mr Loke for making my ITE life manageable. They would look out for me or asked me if I was coping fine. If not for Mr Loke introducing me to JW, I might have difficulties adapting to ITE life. For the rest of the lecturers, I thank them for being so patient with me, especially when I was chasing after them to clear my work doubts.
Not forgetting Mr Soh, Mrs Phua and other head departments for accepting me in their school in the first place, paying for the interpretation service and for believing in my God-given ability to do well academically.
Thanks to them all, I'm able to graduate with a smile. I will surely miss the people I thank when I move on to the next chapter of my life. )):
Next are the last sights of my school as I exited after my first and last Costing paper.
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| The sight that always greeted me every morning |
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| The Business Block I studied in |
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| Exiting the school on my last day the same way I entered on my first day of ITE (: |
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| Last look at my school. Goodbye, ITE College East! Cya during my graduation, 16 May! |
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| Hello leaves, don't miss me... |
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| Bus 38 always bought me home safe and sound |
