First Otaku Battalion

… is a tricky business. Most of the time, the so-called “University Life Woes” are not remotely related to university academics, and has more to do with the somewhat timely (or untimely) discovery of one’s inadequacies and perhaps, character.

As with Junior College, it seems as if university is more about the man management (and time too, to an extent), and upon graduating, perhaps there’s a concealed meaning behind the degree saying “Congratulations, you’re graduated with a degree in handling life alone (Advanced theoretical)!” In fact, it’s about the highest level of paper qualification tacitly certifying that. Any certification beyond a basic (with/without Honours) degree is purely a certification of one’s skills, and not anything else.

I can’t remember what I wanted to type. I typed the above paragraphs out last night on a stroke of inspiration, and it seems to have evaporated with the VHS copy of “A Geisha”, which I went to school early to rewatch but got beaten to twice in 30 minutes for the tape. Next available at 3pm, by then I’ll be applauding the arrival of the Right (He uses his right hand I guess) Honourable Tony Blair.

Okay, I just needed to rant about the my extreme lack of luck.

Going back to the topic, if we now take the view that the degree does hold a hidden meaning, then correspondingly we can roughly equate the “woes” experienced to exams. I think that while it’s foolhardy to switch to a “this is an exam” mindset when encountering this problems, adopting that mentality does help one get out of that emotional/mental rut faster from time to time, especially when encountering particularly pesky people or project mates whom you’re forced to work/tolerate with for that short period of time.

And what about grading? Well, for one you have your university results, your CCA grades, and there are also other indicators, such as friends, girlfriends (or spouse(s)), reputation, and most of all, self-confidence. I don’t mean to say that having all of these indicators means you’ve mastered the art of man management, but it does make the possibility higher. More specifically, while friends and acquaintances do matter (especially in this increasingly inter-connected world), the key to this indicator is how to separate them from your close friends and buddies. Close friends and buddies, as one grows older, sort of become your foster brothers and sisters; they are there through thick and thin with you. My dad always tells me that “its better to have few good friends rather than numerous acquaintances”, and I really agree. Given the choice between forsaking my buddies for the masses, or vice versa, I’d choose my good friends and buddies who have proven themselves worthy many times over without hesitation. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to always be a lookout for new close friends, and what better than a crisis or woe to test how strong those bonds are. The usual word of advice when encountering problems with friends: talk it out as much as possible. Works most of the time.

Girlfriends can either be a boon or bane, especially in university life. Sometimes, life just gets too stressful, and even your good friends and buddies are not around to lend a listening ear/ease your burden, which is understandable, but very frustrating at times. I get around this most of the time by talking to my bolster, but the problem is, my bolster doesn’t reply, and it doesn’t have a shoulder to lean my head on. In a sense, sex aside, the presence of a girlfriend provides some sort of physical closeness, warmth and comfort, sort of like the 24 hour counselling helpline but millions better with physical on-site support. That being said, your girlfriend is also human, and not a robot, so she has idiosyncracies, and sometimes she might get a bit unbearable. The possibility of break-up are always there, and having one right smack before the exams might prove to be rather fatal sometimes. As such, it helps to always remind oneself about the possibility of a breakup, even if you think you’re well on the way to marital bliss.

Speaking of break-ups, there’s another crucial aspect to such relationships: confessions. I think it is really something taken too lightly at times, and not reviewed in the proper mindset. I won’t go into details, but firstly, when making the decision to confess, one must realise that to different people, a confession, and the subsequent relationship means different things. As such, telling someone “I like you” really isn’t going to cut it. Neither am I suggesting that you show her the proposed roadmap to marriage and sex, but at least, substantiate it. I’m not the expert here, others could advise you better, but I guess have a clear view of why you want this relationship helps a lot. Next, be mature. We guys are normally 2 years older than the girls when entering the university, so if she can’t be mature about it, you take the initiative and be mature about it. Talk things out as much as possible; there’s a limit to how much one can do, and how much immaturity one can take, but I believe that talking things out works at least 80% of the time. Lastly, (and most importantly), realise that no matter how favourable the signals/condition, remember that when confessing, what you are essentially doing is asking a yes/no question, and there’s always the possibility of a “no”.

To summarize, the two most important skills needed to get one through university life are:

1. Talking things out.

2. Viewing things maturely/objectively as much as possible.

I wonder why I’m typing all these, I had intended to comment on how “dead” our blog was, but it ended up as this. Oh well, I’m still in year 1, maybe my views will change as I continue to trudge on towards graduation.

Good luck to all for the exams!