the next 24

Nervous. As i'm writing now, i can't help but think what's in store for me the next 24 hours. Armaggedon pending. Exams results will be announced in less than 24 hours. Will i graduate? Or am i gonna fail some module and embarrass myself?

Heaven's been very kind to me all this time, and i really do hope that His/Her/Their kindness don't falter this time round. It will be really devastating if the latter happens. I wonder if i can stand again if the unforeseen happens. I have been striving, perservering throughout my university life. I'm not the brightest kid around. Neither am i the most hardworking kid around. But He/She/They has/have always smiled on me.

I had entered the poytechnic against all wishes. Getting into a polytechnic was looked down upon then. No
school uniforms, no proper timetables...And everyone had the notion that school leavers who'd enrolled in a polytechnic were misfits. I was rebuked by my teachers when they knew i was entering poly. Who'd blame them? I was from the "best" class in school and graduates from the "best" class were supposed to enter junior colleges and later universities. Nobody seemed to understand me then. Not even my parents.

They were apprehensive initially. Until i said it was poly or nothing. Then they relented. My grandparents and relatives were also appalled by my decision then. Both their patrilineal granchildren had entered junior colleges. And i hadn't any precedent who'd enter a polytechnic.

I'm glad i stuck on with my decision. I'm glad i'd put in lots of effort in the polytechnic. And i'm glad i was able to enrol into a local university. I'm glad my Dad provided me with funds for my education in the polytechnic and university. And i'm glad there is CPF, without which i wouldn't have been able to further my education. I don't come from a very well-to-do family. A five-digit amount for university education would have been impossible if it weren't for my Dad's CPF funds.

The notion of breaking all hopes terrifies me. And all hopes will depend on tomorrow's exam results.

Well, on a lighter note now. I said in my previous entry that i was poised with logic questions during my first and second interviews. And as a form of entertainment i had published two questions from my first interview. Today, I will just add the other two from my second interview. Here it goes:

1st Question of Interview 2:

In a room (denote Room 1), there is an incandescent light bulb. Room 1 is isolated from where the switches are. In other words, the switch to this light bulb is in another room (denote Room 2). The problem is that there are three switches in this Room 2 and you need to know which is the correct one that switches on the light bulb in Room 1. However, you can only enter Room 1 ONCE to check the light bulb. How will you find out which is the correct switch? Remember that you can only enter Room 1 once.

2nd Question of Interview 2:

There is a circular pond which lives a magic flower. This magic flower doubles itself everyday. For example, on Day 1, there is one flower. On Day 2, there are 2 flowers. On Day 3, there are 4 flowers. On Day 4, there are 8 flowers....On Day 32 you count the number of flowers in the pond. On what day is the number of flowers half of that of Day 32?

Have fun with the questions!

logic tests

I've only gone for three job interviews so far. First and second interviews for a semiconductor company and a redundant other from one of the ministries. i do want that semiconductor's job. Not that they're offering a lucrative five day week offer or anything. On the contrary, it's probably the most demanding job an engineer could have. 12 hour night shifts. Work on weekends. Challenging and good enough for no-lives like me.

Wierd enough, this semiconductor company loves logic tests. From the very first day of interview, i was given an hour's logic test. It's not abnormal to leave the room midway through the test. I've seen a guy do that. He was beginning to suspect his intelligence, i suppose. Well, i thought i had cleared the "logical" aspect of the interview after that hour long test but it soon proved otherwise. My first interview took 45 minutes. Inclusive of impromptu logic tests put forward by the interviewer. The questions were not that demanding i suppose. It is the silence while your interviewer awaits your answers that frightens.

This was the question posed to me then:

Suppose i give you a closed box filled with 3 pairs of blue socks, 5 pairs of red socks, and 8 pairs of black socks. What is the minimum number of tries you would have to do in order to obtain a pair of socks of the same colour sucessfully? You cannot peep into the box.

My interviewer then awaited my answer. I was like frantically thinking about the answer while the interviewer was fliiping through my resume and logic tests results. Fortunately, i came out with the answer in like 3 minutes. 3 long minutes.

Next he went on to ask:

Now suppose the question is posed this way. Instead of socks, i give you a box filled with boxing gloves. Numbers or quantities remain the same as in the question with socks. What is the minimum number of tries this time then?

I took like 7 minutes this time. Got the correct answer. Seemed like eternity.

All the while, my interviewer would wait patiently for my answers. Just him and me alone in a small room. Silence. Probably not silence. Mumblings. You mumbling to oneself, trying to make sense of the questions. Enough of resume flipping, the interviewer now fixes his eyes on the pathetic you, awaiting your answer.

Probably the most unconventional interview i had ever. Nothing technical asked. Just logic and more logic.

I thought i had gone through the worst. Until today's second interview with that semiconductor company.

Another round of impromptu logic tests by today's interviewer.

Never knew interviews were so challenging.

sighs

I haven't recorded any posts since like two months now. Exams, theses, papers, presentations...All these looming in the past two months. They're finally over. Hopefully. In the meantime, it's job searches and more job searches.

Surreal. I can't quite accept the very fact that i've been studying like all my life and now this phase has ended. A major transition of one's life. A transition that carries with it lots and lots of responsibilities. As much as i would love to have a nine-to-six, five-day week engineering job, circumstances forbid such luxury. Choose a job which you are interested in, most people would say. That's only when one comes from a well-to-do family. Do i have a choice? No.

For all i know, i live in a three-room HDB flat with neither an air-con nor a shower heater. I don't really have my own room and there's always someone who'd meddle with my stuff. While homes are inner sanctums for most people, it is more of an eternal hell for me. I don't find peace nor tranquility at home. So much so that doing anything at home is impossible. Studying, reading, sleeping.....Such pleasure i could never have indulged in at home.

Some gamble their wealth away. Some spend them on clubbing. Some on clothes. I spend my money on bowling. I'm not a very good bowler. Bowling was my form of release. For one, one doesn't need a partner for bowling. Plus, i could temporarily leave that eternal hell. Well, bowling did provide that very comfort for a while. It doesn't now.

You enter a bowling center. You see families. You see couples. And you see yourself alone.

Loneliness is not an entity by itself. Togetherness brings with it loneliness. With a happy family comes a lonely man. The lonely man sees a happy family and he knows that he is lone. If there weren't any happy families and all were lone, could there have been the existence of the lonely man?

Why not find another say some. What they do not realise is that reciprocity does not always accompany one's perseverance. What's the point of trying when one attempt after another always end in failure? And failure brings with it a dented ego? How many cuts can one take before he collapses?