Thursday, January 1, 2015

Throwback 2014

If I could condense 2014 into one word, it would be spontaneity. This year pushed me out of my comfort zone far more than any other year so far. I am thankful for the people who shared this journey with me. Some of us have met a fork on the road and are now waving goodbye, and yet, I know somewhere along the road, those paths will meet again. I would not be lying when I say that 2014 was my biggest year by far and so let us head straight to the highlights of the year. I am going to pick one major happening per month.

January - #Tutorship
It is the month of beginnings and this was no different. January kicked off with my first full time position as a tutor for the HELP Psychology department.


I am tremendously grateful for good colleagues of many whom I call friends. We never did remain just colleagues. We ended up hiking, jogging, catching movies, going out, eating meals, going on holidays together. Though balancing between our professional relationship and friendship was sometimes a hassle, we pulled through and there was very little drama all things considered.

My colleagues were not the only fun part of my work - after all, you become a tutor to tutor people. I am tremendously thankful for great kids students. Most of them were sporting and did not mind my messing up. Though I often forgot all their names, it did not mean they did not leave an impression (it just means I have terrible memory). I know you kids students will do well with the remainder of your psychology degree and if you don't, I will hunt you down.

February - Broga Hill
The status quo of driving to work in the wee hours of the mornings become mundane and the colleagues decide to take it a step further and wake up even earlier on a Saturday morning to conquer Broga.
Credits to Jeremy Lim
We should try this again soon. 

March - Legal Runs
Because March is a special month for me, it gets two entries. First of all, I turned 21. Though I have already been enjoying all the benefits of being legal (the only thing left I want to do as a legal adult is vote). I am thankful for the people who went out of the way to plan a surprise for me especially my family who masterminded the whole thing.


Neon run was another big thing in 2014. It was definitely an interesting experience running with so many people and the company was great. Guess, I'm going to start looking for more runs this year.

Credits to Lum Wai Lun
April - Graduation
Even though I graduated about four months before, it was finally time to collect my scroll. It was time for my 5 seconds of fame. It was great to meet the people I haven't seen in months coming over to support. I'm sure making the effort to see you guys when it's your turn in a few months.



Let's not forget our get together that night. Maybe we should have another one soon?

May - Chilling
A birthday here, an outing there, and the highlight I would have to pick would be hiking Sungai Chilling. It wasn't the hardest hike I've done and the waterfall at the end wasn't really worth the hike, but the company made it worth it.


June - Anyong!
Outings were numerous in the month of June, but one that definitely stuck permanently was meeting these group of Korean missionary kids.


They were a fun bunch of people to have to privilege of meeting and I'm hoping that we will manage to cross paths again in the near future.

July - Youtube debut
With the "jam-packedness" of the traveling month about to begin, I rushed myself to finally start something that I have been putting off for a long time: entering the Youtube scene. Though the video wasn't published until much later in the year, we technically wrapped up majority of the filming in June.


I'm thankful for sporting people who were willing to work with me and film this crazy video. Though I haven't uploaded anything in a while, I haven't given up on the Youtube thing yet.



August - Traveling
Though the highlight of August was the traveling you can read more about it here, it was also filled up with meetups with people who mean a lot to me. I got closer to a ton of people and managed to reunite with others. Also started something that turned out to be quite a highlight of my 2014.

September - Downtime
No. September wasn't "unhappening". But there was a certain low in September that could be attributed to the high in August. Guess, good things were not meant to last. Closed a door in September and felt generally down the entire month.

Oktober Fest
October meant the celebration of Oktober fest and this year was my first time partaking in the tradition. Managed to meet up with uni mates for a bottle and honest conversations.


November - Shooting people
Though I am thankful for the opportunities of increasing my camera skills via the various events I was invited to shoot this year, I am most thankful for the opportunity of shooting for the EO24 event because I had the privilege of hearing Marina Mahathir speak in person. Also met Uma from BFM there! I guess the event could be considered my first real paid gig and I would like to thank Eugene Khoo for trusting me with such a big job.
Credits to Eugene Khoo
Credits to Eugene Khoo

The event really taught me a lot more about the pressures of a photographer and I enjoy the process tremendously.

December - Korea-HK
Though I didn't contribute much to the planning of the trip, I'm glad that my family decided to spend one and a half weeks traveling. I now know that winter should only be experienced ONCE.


And here it is, my highlights of 2014. I want to wish very special people who contributed to making my 2014 unforgettable.

My Family
Thank you for understanding that I wanted freedom. I want you to know that family is a priority in life and though I may not be taking an active part in the family business, it is still dear to my heart.

My Colleagues Frolleagues
Thank you for making the office more home than office. I leave my tutorship with a troubled heart because I am not sure whether I could ever find a replacement for you.

Malaysian bound 93s 
We're still here. Thank you for keeping me in the loop. I get closer to you guys every year.

Fellow Psychos
It's been a year and we're still in touch! Well, at least most of us are. Justin gets a special mention for being the bro that he is for helping me with "life issues". Millie gets a mention too because she too has helped me with "life issues".

Pica Pica
Thank you for including me in your circle and for not making me being a tutor awkward. I'm looking forward to the day when it's my turn to bring my plus one to one of our outings.

Makan Buddies
Guess our presemester lunches will not need to be presemester lunches anymore.

Special mentions
Because you guys don't really fall into a group of people, your individuality is worth mentioning. My year will not have been the same without you. Suets, Lav, Ming, Nicole, Rachel, Gloria, the other Reuben (hey look, it's a guy's name!), Vania (technically you belong to Fellow Pyschos but I've known you longer), and John (another guy's name!). You guys contributed a ton load to my 2014 and I hope that you will continue to contribute to my 2015.

Now with this recap done. I think I can say goodbye to 2014 with this: I loved the ups and downs, and you are one year that is going to be tough to beat. 2015, I'm ready for you!


1 comment:

  1. Happy New Year kor! (I see my name hahaha)
    Wah you very rajin, write long long for every month. And then there's me, write long long about how I think calendars are overrated hahahaaa.
    May your 2015 be filled with learning opportunities :) Because wishing you a happy new year filled with joy and peace and prosperity is mainstream and because I'm a teacher.

    PS: Typo in the last line. Tough, not touch!

    ReplyDelete

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If right-handers use their left brain, doesn't it mean that left-handers are always in the right mind??