College Recollections: I

So I have decided, in view of my epically transforming journey in Methodist College (July 2015-December 2016), to document some of the amazing experiences and opportunities I've gained during my 1.5 years there.

I hope you enjoy these little recollections, as I recount and share the little and big things that have established for MCKL a dear place in my heart. Wew, thank God for giving me this wonderful experience. ♥

Okay let's start with some very dear friends of mine - for it is the brothers & sisters that make a place a second home, right? 

Nobody's Birthday [Est. January 2016]

Our friendship/sisterhood definitely goes back to 2015, but 'formally' as 'Nobody's Birthday' we were established in January... following a plan to surprise Shin Li (one of us) for her birthday! And to avoid blowing the surprise, we named the planning WhatsApp group 'Nobody's Birthday'. Occupationally, our little team exists to surprise each other when any of our birthdays come along. But personally, our team exists as a sister support system that testify to God's greatness in orchestrating for His daughters to cross paths in beautiful ways ♥

Surprises completed to date:

(i) Yeong Shin Li; Devi's & Hanbing 

(ii) Emily Ho; Shiok Cafe

(iii) Kimberly Voon; Italiannies & Hui Lau Shan

(iv) Eunice Yap; Doifee

Kim, Shinz, Eun, you are very beautiful people and I am so thankful for our friendship ♥

Housemates (a.k.a. patience testers. jk!)

I was seriously kidding about patience testing. If they ever tested my patience, that's like a Level A1 Kumon Test. So easy. My housemates didn't stay for the same 1.5 year period, because girls from different cohorts stay together in the same accoms unit. I appreciate each and every one of these housemates, no matter how involved or uninvolved in the activities of the house each one was :') There's something very different about encountering a person every single schooling day in every single class, and actually living with the person through 1am sleepy-but-hyper moments, 9pm exhausted-social-quota slumps and pre-exam stay-at-home I-have-no-time-for-anything-but-I-can't-do-anything struggles. 

When I first moved in to my unit, my housemates heard me approaching the door and came to surprise me very nicely with squeals and giggles and... I don't even remember. But it was lovely :') And when I struggled with unlocking the padlock, did they help me? No. Because they insisted I had to open the padlock to my first ever home-away-from-home independently and on my own. :') 

There were pizza nights (home delivery and eating out), smelling each other's burnt food, encountering the glorious fragrance of GOOD HOMECOOKED FOOD (in a student house??) and inquiring eagerly for the secret recipe.

There were nights when I could come home, sit on the floor, dump my bag & books aside and talk for hours, get good snuggly hugs (thank you Riks) and be refreshed to face the night ahead looming with work and...more work. (And also the anxiety that I wouldn't wake up in time for chapel the next day... Thanks for waking me up so many times Shannon & Riks).

Being an accoms student was definitely a huge part of my college life. I thank God that amidst the grime and dirt and dustiness and strange smells from kitchen cupboards and expired stuff littering the fridge in a student house, I was gifted with gems of friends - the saving grace that for certain always redeemed me from the terror of rubbish that hasn't been thrown for 2 weeks (yes I'm a culprit too). So, to my lovely housemates, it doesn't matter that you don't throw the rubbish (I don't either) or remove your clothes from the washing machine. It matters that you were wonderful sisters to live with. ♥

*Note: Couldn't find any other housemate photos because they were all on my old phone :'c

Christian Fellowship

We have all sorts of 'official' jargon in CF like NDH, DH, Pre/Post-Reports, Week-to-week, Non-week-to-week... But put simply, everyone in CF was a gift of encouragement and support to me. 

The weeks when there was no Friday CF gathering (very rare) were definitely bad weeks hahah - especially if I would then spend my weekend in KL away from family. Coming together to makan before CF, praise & worship together, silently judge (jokes!) the lameness of the emcees, quietly whisper 'which seminar you going to today?' to each other and then dispersing to learn God's Word in 3 separate venues... and once a month spending those 2 hours altogether in the usually-freezing auditorium... This community of believers was so so important to me in college. 

Apart from Friday gatherings, we had 7.30am chapel (biggest source of guilt for not being more of an early riser), life groups, Monday meetings, unplanned meals, WhatsApp group pun wars, deep conversations with CF lecturers... Being a part of the CF infused every day of my college life! And it wasn't just a reminder of lovely friends surrounding me, but a reminder of God's faithfulness and love shown through the people around me every single day. :') It made me so acutely aware of God's presence with me every day of my life. It was here in MCKL through the CF that I really learnt for myself the meaning of Hebrews 10:25. Spurring each other on to do good works as a community of believers... It truly means so much. 

Accoms LG

Attendance for Accoms LG might have been up & down and up & down like a trade cycle throughout the months, but that's okay. We still had meet-ups, Bible study, pot-bless, a posting-Bible-verses-to-accoms-units session, meals and more. Accoms LG was where my life in accoms grew beyond the walls of my own condo unit. Connecting with other people suffering from homesickness (different parts of the not-homesick-at-all to extremely-homesick spectrum) was really nice indeed and I thank you guys for that! :)

Hmm someone special too...

And... there is a wonderful boy I am so glad to have met during my time in college. Wong Yi Khen! He's has been here for me and supporting me for the past year (and more). He sharpens me, challenges me, consoles me and spends all sorts of funny, sorrowful and joyful moments with me. He was my default dinner company on college nights, my sounding board for my musings about the future, my vent for frustration, my tear-dryer, my partner-in-crime, my very beloved companion. Couldn't have asked for a better person to be by my side, comforting me in times of sadness, humbling me in times of anger (seldom, I think), rejoicing with me in times of happiness. Thank you for being here always, even if not physically (whether the barrier is the North-South Highway, the South China Sea or even continents and oceans). I seriously thank God for putting you in my life. [see you in a few months :D]

Others

This post about my MCKL friends is obviously incomplete. How can I ever name and include all the people who have made an impact on my life? Lecturers, classmates, non-academic staff, stress-inducing debate teammates... All of you have collectively been a wonderful blessing to me. 

There will be some people I unfortunately won't be able to keep in touch with, and others I will definitely keep in touch with (and grow closer to) for the rest of my life. Nonetheless, I am grateful for each and every person I've met in MCKL. Y'all are a wonderful bunch ♥

*PS: I apologise for the layout and alignment of pictures with text. I respect all you OCD readers but Blogger is a bit less user-friendly and aesthetically satisfying than Word :c I'll try to get the hang of it.