Future SPM Candidates!! Listen up!

After the results I obtained on Thursday,I've had quite a few calls and smses from people all over the place,asking me for tips. It's quite hard to explain it in detail through SMS,so here are some of my recipes for success :)

First of all,lets look at urself,or ur attitude to be more specific. Sure,hard work and stuff makes a difference,but I believe the biggest factor is ur attitude. I'll explain more later. Do u have any friends that still have no idea what they want to do or what course to take,even months after finishing their SPM? Well I do,and I feel bad for these people,simply because it's much easier if u know what u want to do beforehand. So before u even think of scoring in SPM,take some time to consider what you'd like to do in the future. Talk to ur family,read on the internet,discuss with friends,anything! Just make sure once u've figured out what you field u want to take up,STICK WITH IT! this is very important,I see lots of people who have a new ambition every few months. So it's important to take ur time in this part,and be sure of what u want to do. Don't change it unless u really have to,for whatever reason. My reason for asking u to determine ur future plans is it makes it so much easier to work for it and make sure u achieve that goal. Once u've figured out what field ur interested in,the begin searching around for where u'd want to study it. Then ask for the minimum requirement to enable urself to qualify for that particular course. The last step isn't really important since u should be aiming to score as high as possible anyway,but above all it gives u a good target to aim at. For example,ever since I was little I knew I want to do something related to cars,and a few years down the road I settled on Automotive Engineering. Then the next part is finding out the best place to study AE,which is how I settled on Germany. Then my parents helped me out and looked for an institute that will allow me to study in Germany. After some searching,we found out about GMI (German-Malaysian Institute) and it's GAPP (German A-levels Preparatory Program) and that was my target for the last 2 years. And then come the task of finding out the minimum requirement to enrol in that program,which was 8A2s. See? Isn't that hard,is it? Once U know ur target and where u want to enrol,it makes it so much easier and automatically induce drive and motivation in urself :)

Next is setting standards for urself. People who know me well knows for a fact that I don't lose well. I'm a horrible,horrible loser. I can't stand coming in 2nd,nevermind in what aspect,studies,sports,even PlayStation games! (Ihsan knows that better than anyone haha). People who are succesful are those who expects so much from themselves,sometimes up to a level that other people think they're crazy! Alot of times in exams I curse myself for not scoring as high as I wanted,and my friends always say I should be thankful,and not moan for my already good result. Make no mistake,I AM thankful,but such is the standard I set for myself,I know I can do better. Most people don't have this,which I think is one of the reason why many people fall short. It's not hard,it doesn't take hard work at all! U just have to set a standard for urself,and aim to fulfill that standard. Don't set a standard that U know u will never achieve,instead set a target just above what u think is ur capability. Once u've set ur target,don't settle for anything else. People that don't set a high standard are the ones who just don't care what their results are,since they don't have a standard to live up to. So set ur standard,and aim to achieve that target and not settle for anything less.

The next steps are the more common ones. Well,for one u'll have to work hard. There's no way around it,if u want to succeed,u'll have to work hard to deserve it. Praying for success is one thing,working for it is another. God will not listen to ur prayers if u don't deserve it,so working hard is a neccesity,its a must! As for how to work hard,it's different for everyone. A lot of people say u need to have sort of a study schedule,so u'll have a specific time to study. Many people have this,I don't. I used to have it,but I found that I'm less effective when its time to study. So I ditched the timetable and made my study time alot more flexible. My way is to study as much as I can when I'm in great mood and have alot of energy in me and don't study at all when I'm stressed or exhausted. It's not rare to have me relax for a few days when I don't study at all,but I feel that I make the most of my study times so I feel it is more effective than just studying everyday,regardless of my mood or energy levels. Again,this is different from person to person,so anything is okay. As long as U work hard and know u have to do so,it's alright.

Next, take some time to assess what are ur weak points and what are ur good points. So sit down,open ur books,and find out what ur struggling with. Find those topics or sub-topics and mark them down. Then counsult ur teachers for help until ur comfortable with them. Then it's just a matter of putting it into practice and doing lots and lots of exercise. But bear in mind,u will also need to practice topics u feel ur already good with,but put more focus on the topics ur struggling with until u feel ur proficient in them. This way u won't have a weak point in any of ur subjects.

Then,it's just small steps from now on. For one,U need to be consistent with ur hard work. U can't study like mad for one month and then shut down completely the other and expect to succeed,it doesn't happen. Next,u'll have to have berkat from ur teachers. Without them,it doesn't matter how much u work,U won't succeed in that particular subject no matter what. So give ur teachers the respect they deserve,and don't let them lose their respect for u. Lastly,having worked ur butt off and tried ur best,it's time to turn to higher powers. It's time to pray and hope God listens to them. After that,just accept whatever the outcome is,knowing u'll have no regrets for u have given ur all :)

So,good luck to the future candidates! I wish u all the best :)



Disclaimer : I hold no responsibility for whatever result u obtain. Thank you :)

The Mother of ALL Mornings.

12th of March was the fateful day,the day the whole nation has been waiting for. For those who don't know what I'm talking about,it was results day for the 2008 SPM takers. It was a day full of emotion,so read on :)

The morning started with Manchester United's Champions League 2nd leg match against Inter Milan. Hey,football if very important to me so just bear with me xD. Anyway,win the game,and we're through to the Quarter-finals. The game started around 3.45 a.m which didn't bother me much coz I couldn't really sleep the night before anyways,I'm sure the other SPM takers had the exact same problem. Those who didn't,Man! How did u get to sleep so easily? haha so,after the 1st leg,the game was perfectly poised with a scoreline of 0-0. It was a shame we couldn't score in the 1st leg,as we absolutely outplayed Inter. We made the Italian Champions look like amateurs. Thankfully enough,Nemanja Vidic scored in the 4th minute,and settled the nerves of everyone associated with Man Utd. At the half-hour mark,Inter finally settled in and begin to threaten us. Then the killer blow came when Cristiano Ronaldo scored early in the 2nd half. That was game over,and we comfortably saw the game out. The result made it 4 English teams in the Quarter-finals,again proving the superiority of the Barclays Premier League. So that was a succesful 1st part of my day. Still a long way to go though :)

It was around 6 when the game ended. So I tried to sleep while waiting for the inevitable. Again,I had trouble sleeping but managed to get some rest until around 9a.m. Then I took a shower and made a tuna sandwich for myself. After mama had served breakfast for the cats,we took off to school at around 10.45. The adrenaline rush was unbelievable! Ur mind starts thinking of the worst,ur body starts to shiver and sweat,it was nerve-wrecking! So then we arrived at school. Seeing my younger friends who are still in school and seeing my teachers made me all the more nervous. So I kept praying from the front gate until the school hall. It took a lot of effort to step into the hall haha seeing all the people inside,wondering how did I do. Then Reena greeted me first and she congratulated me. Funnily enough,that didn't ease my nervousness at all! haha next,Azhar and Imran also congratulated me. Still being nervous as before,I came up to the table where Pn. Jasmine n Meagan was sitting. Their expression-less face freaked the hell out of me! Then Pn. Jasmine calmly handed me my result slip. Then she asked me to fill my name in a list that said 'Straight As Students' at the top right hand site. Then it occured to me I did it! But too bad by the end of the day the list was only filled by my name. So then I went and hugged Mama,I think she knew the result even before I did! haha then I was greeted by congratulations from everyone,from my closest friends to people I only know by their name. Then I took a few moments alone to digest the emotions I've felt during the 5 minutes of madness. I must have looked pretty awful coz my friends said I looked like I scored straight Es! haha I was shocked to be honest. Of course I had hoped to score straight As,but I had never really thought what it would feel like to really achieve the feat. But the part I hate on days like these are the mixed emotions u feel. One moment ur delighted with ur result,the next moment u feel bad seeing ur friends in tears. I never really know what to say in these situations,but I'd like to say well done guys,especially to my classmates. We had the most wonderful of times together,and all of u deserved to score well,so well done! And for those that are still down from their results,don't worry. SPM is just a ticket to tertiary education. This is only the beginning,there's still a long way to go and alot of work still to be done. So cheer up! It's not all bad :)

So there u go,the eventful day of 12th March 2009. From the football in the early morning right through the rush of results handout,it was an amazing day full of emotions. Until next time,take care everyone! :)