My fond memory in Tampines Junior college ( by Guo Yingjian)

After having finished our two weeks of JC immersion which was full of pain and happiness, we came back to NUS to continue our routine English classes and received the results of checkpoint that made us worried for a long time. I feel so happy that there is no need to get up at that early time every morning, but when sitting in the familiar classroom, doing SSR, and listening to tutors’ feedback, a kind of feeling called “miss” appeared in my mind.
At this time, my buddy must be seated in her classroom struggling to solve science questions or discussing the topics of General Paper. She and her friends will try their best to prepare for their coming “A” Level test, while I have to focus on the following English classes as well as Computing and Science module to get ready for my undergraduate studies. Maybe we would not contact too much with each other after this activity as we all have our own lives, but the cheerful experience would remain in our heart permanently. Although the time is quite short for me to get more detailed information on Singaporean teenagers’ life, I do really enjoyed a lot and harvested precious friendship with them. Compared with others who say that JC immersion is just boring and a waste of time, I actually found this activity interesting as it provided us with the chance to experience a new kind of school life.
I went to Tampines Junior College which is extremely far from our hostel. Each day, we had to spend nearly an hour on the shuttle bus picking us to that place. However, when sitting on it with the light off and looking out from the window, I could see the fresh dawn of Singapore when most people were still in their dreams. There are many things memorable during the two weeks, such as my first short speech before a whole school of Singaporean students, my bitter experience of getting injured when running 40 meters, my sore throat which made me unable to speak aloud and so on. I’ve learnt many academic words in Mathematics and Chemistry, and even how to draw the curves describing produce-demand relationship by attending their tutorial classes and lectures. I feel very proud that I have finished the 2.4 kilometers’ running within 15 minutes. Although it may sound not that fast, I made a breakthrough which shocked myself since I had never expected to run pass the terminal. There was a period during the process when I felt that it was definitely impossible to move another step forward. But having persuaded myself that I can make it, I chose to challenge my limit and see my potential ability. Luckily, it was not as hard as I previously thought. After finishing my last round, I was surprised to find that many of my buddy’s classmates were still keep running desperately on the playground. I have no idea whether I would have the opportunity to run that long distance for another time, but it’s really an enjoyable experience that will always keep fresh in my mind.
Last Sunday, we had a farewell barbecue in Pasir Ris Park. When we sat on the grass singing some old popular songs that express feelings of childhood and school life, I finally realized that we were going to say goodbye to our buddies and Tampines Junior College. I wish that moment when we were under tall coconut trees, enjoying gentle breeze and the smell of roasted chicken wings, and as free as we could ever imagine, could be frozen. However, the reality is that we should continue pursuing our dreams by making much more efforts. We noticed our lack of knowledge in academic English as well as skills in writing essays. We’re here supposed to be talents to make contribution to Singapore, therefore, we should not take the scholarships for granted but try our best to achieve our high ambition and cherish this precious opportunity.