This new semester means MUCH to me. First and foremost would be the fact that this is the 11th semesters for me in UiTM. Talk about being in UiTM for FIVE(5) and a half years already! I feel OLD. Literally.

I started joining UiTM when I was 18 like the rest of the crew. Yet I shall leave the premise when I am 25, in the year of 2010. You are wondering, "Why THAT long?". And "ARE you taking medicine?" Allow me to deliberate.

I started off my varsity life taking a Diploma in Business Studies - and you got it WRONG when you say such a business-minded person I was. I WASN'T. To the question of "By chance, or by choice?", it would definitely be the former to the poor me.

So WHY Tesl now? GOOD question. I surely didn't think of it OVERNIGHT. It took me a bloody 3 years in anticipation, weighing the highs and the lows, and remain steadfast in my decision - which I believe to be a difficult thing to do considering the fact that people CHANGE all the time. I guess I didn't.

STOP now. This has drifted off from the TITLE. Please consider the above 'excerpts' as the history.

Coming back to the topic of new semester, I am not sure HOW new is it, or it will be. When you're in some field for too long, you tend to regard every new semester as the SAME. Same duty, same load, and perhaps...same old new DRAMA. Tada! Presenting the never-ending telenovela! NOT.

This NEW semester means a whole new thing especially for me given the fact that MY batch - the June 2003 ones had graduated from their bachelor's degrees already, both the business and tesl lot - and yet to be convocated. Erk, is there such word? Beats me. Ahhh...gone were the days when we were YOUNG and FOOLISH. Where we were TOO occupied with ourselves in somewhat egotistical ways that life never felt any better without any nonsensical weight on our shoulders.

I shall MISS them profoundly. Holla me of your convocation, will you!

New semester also means new EXPECTATIONS. You know, the 4 flat, drama-free sort of stuffs. But hey, you know what they say, "Pray for the BEST, PREPARE for the worst!" So I am gonna go fetch my umbrella now before it is going to rain. Kidding. Sure everyone ASPIRES to achieve the PERFECT TEN score - the everyone-dreamt-of-yet-few-actually-get-to-taste-it. I know ONE of them here at the faculty - it's a SHE, NOT from the mainstream (which is TOO bad since main shall always have high regards upon themselves and tend to look down upon others for whatever reason they fancy) and she looks ALL-ORDINARY most importantly. Pretty lass, I shall say. So now you believe that LOOKS could be deceiving eyh? Too late.

Anyway, I am pathetic to announce that I TOO am aspired to grab and grasp the peak of the Himalaya after so many semesters and even MORE failed attempts along the way. Looking back, the highest I have ever scored (and all thanks to the Almighty) was 3.96 in part 2 of my diploma years - and that was in 2004! Imagine how ANCIENT the record is! Wonder not of the missing 0.04 - gone with an A- in my co-curriculum. Shoot!

So the BIG question mark is..NOT whether I can get it or not, but HOW?

Can I get it by dilly-dallying over my studies as I have always done and will always be PRONED to?

Can I get it by DREAMING HARDER with a little less conversation and even LESSER action?

Can I get it by skipping classes a la jumping over the ropes?

Nay nay nay! Seriously Mr. Irwan, did you NOT learn from your past? Wake up and smell the coffee! *caffeinated*. Whoa that was a STRONG of a dose. Okay I'm waking up already. Stop the nag.

This NEW semester promises nothing but SIX things - or rather, subjects. No matter how you try to be IN-DENIAL, relentlessly it will come. So why wait and dread? Enjoy the advancement! Introduction to research methodology, Contemporary Literature, Methodology in Teaching Reading, Curriculum and Instruction, Sociolinguistics, Nihongo and most importantly....*drumroll* CREATIVE WRITING!

Uuu....how to pronounce the first word again?

THIS is what you'll get if you take literature as your minor. Juniors be aware! But be not intimidated - Mr. Jaferi shall enlighten you! (:

No I'm NOT mentioning this out of the intention of attention or credits or whatnot.

Truth be told, I WASN'T even in his class from the start. I was BARELY able to be under his tutelage if it wasn't for the COURAGE (the cowardly dog - just kidding) to take over me and initiated myself to roll the mouse and click to change to his class during the very last week of registration. Of course, I had to EXPERIENCE what it's like in other class(es), had I not? Only then could I make FAIR judgment from a pretty much SOUND mind. Sound mind = sound decision!

They say first impression LASTS. I sure hope it would be my last IMPRESSION as well. Having had the encounter with the younger kind of lecturer, I have to say I am thrilled and awed over the fact that he or she is YOUNG, and yet is INTELLIGENT! Of course, a bit of whimsicality is also craved for. What more he is a LITERATURE lecturer! Can it get ANY cooler than that? Bring it to me.

During the last class Mr. Jaferi commented on my "I wish I had said.." piece as being 'wishy-washy' kind of stuff. I guess I'm a WISHER after all! I admit I wish for everything more than anything in this world. Worse is that I am so GREEN with envy! Maybe that explains of my residency in Greenwood. Hmm??

Having said all these, I MUST say I quit wishing and resoluting long time ago when I realize my performance scale had been topsy-turvy and is descalading over time. I am simply contented for the GIFT from Allah the Almighty of my continuing Dean's List results from the beginning of my journey till now. I must WISH here to stay thay way till the END of my journey. Albeit the RESTLESSNESS, HOPES and EXPECTATIONS from my own self and from people around me who are either cheering for me sincerely or waiting for doom to befall me.

I AM MY WORST ENEMY. Enough said.

So how new is new again? It's all in the mind.