Enough of those morbid thoughts. Away with hopelessness and despair. Out of the ashes comes the Phoenix. Take heart!

My prediction came true. By the time I rode the car my hands were cold and clammy- a sure sign of nervousness. All the way from SMSS to BVPS to PJC I was mentally rehearsing my lines. I was clarifying my doubts with father. My mind was all a blur. How can a very sleepy person force herself to conjure up new ideas and thoughts that would help link all the debate points very nicely? So it wasn't gonna happen. The annotations I added to the printed out points were all over the place. There wasn't time to really sort through everything.

During Chem tutorial my mind wasn't focussing. My brain kept on switching back and forth between Chem mode and Debate mode. And at times it started switching off. Both Chem and debate were of equal importance, what with the debate and the Chem test rolled into one day. But I tried my best to concentrate on the task at hand and asked questions regarding the test and clarified other points.

Then we had recess; but Mikhail, Michelle and I gathered to discuss and rehearse the points of the debate. That time was short-lived and GP lesson came around. The first thirty minutes were spent to distribute hand-outs while the three of us conferred in one corner. Then we switched classrooms to the one adjacent to where the debate was to be held and continued going through our lines. My stomach was in a knot and I was feeling all jittery. My classmates were kind enough to offer support, but all that encouragement was inadequate and it was unable to make my butterfly-infested stomach it's normal jolly-old-self again. Then we were called in.

Michelle was first speaker, I was second speaker and Mikhail was the third speaker. Everything was okay at first. I believe we had the upper hand even until after I spoke. The debate seemed to be going in our favour. But then things started to fall apart after Ezekiel, the chairperson, announced that next up after me (2nd Opp) was the 3rd Opp, meaning Mikhail. We were caught off-guard. The flow of the debate went with both sides trading off. Meaning, after the 1st Prop was the 1st Opp then the 2nd Prop then the 2nd Opp. Naturally we thought that the 3rd Prop would come next, but boy were we mistaken. Apparently this is the natural sequence of speakers in debates. But, having no debate background whatsoever, Mikhail and I just gaped, shocked. So he scrambled for the points of the rebuttals he was supposed to make. It wasn't his fault, though.

Then the 3rd Prop person stood up and blew us all away. She was obviously a seasoned debater and she just went about attacking our points, brutally massacreing and preying upon our feeble attempts at a rebuttal. Finding flaws with some of her points, we desperately wanted to rebut her, but we couldn't. We were through speaking. No more allowances. But that wouldn't be fair, now would it? It's like giving the 3rd Prop free reign to say anything without the fear of a rebuttal coming her way. So, need I delve more into the subject of which side was declared the winning side?

After the debate we shook hands with the Proposition Team in a show of good sportsmanship. The 2nd Prop asked me how long we've known the topic/motion. And I answered "Yesterday." She was shocked since we had our points nicely typed out. What I didn't tell her was that the three of us had chatted on MSN, brainstorming and documenting all the points, very late into the night. There came a point when I was too sleepy to think. So I left the comp and dozed on the couch, leaving my sis to answer Michelle and Mikhail. Muhahaha.

That done, I felt much more at ease. But at the same time dissapointed. All that hard work of slaving late into the night last night, only to end up on the losing side. But hey, look on the bright side: I wouldn't have to go through this harrowing ordeal again (since we've been eliminated). That's one less thing to worry about. Yay.

Then was Physics lecture. I tell you, lectures with Mr. Loo as lecturer tend to make you drift off into subconsciousness. They make you feel light as air but your eyelids as heavy as iron manacles. I thus found myself nodding off a few times here and there. I seriously couldn't control myself from shutting my eyes for just a teensy moment. Fortunately there weren't any teachers lurking about under the shadows, ready to pounce the moment our eyes closed for more than the few seconds necessary to blink. Oh and it was announced that there would be a Physics test next Tuesday on the first three topics. An extra pound to add to my load.

During my free period I hung with Hikari and studied Chemistry. And I bought a Snickers bar! And I finished it all. Muhaha. I did more of hanging than studying, though. And I also accompanied Jie ying, who skipped her Chinese just to study Chem. I went through the question that did me proud during PAE. The question that took me days and almost weeks to do. It constantly haunted my brain, until that fateful morning. I was standing at "the pillar" with Shi min, thinking of the question, when I had a sudden brainwave. From there, I managed to find the answer. I was so happy and feeling so high after that. Haha. Just reminiscing old times.

Then we had Physics tutorial. Quite boring, as usual. But I got my Measurement Quiz back. The one I did during PAE under Mr. Tan. And I got an A! Woot!

Classes officially ended at 4, but since the Chem test was at 6, Kai yih and I studied during the two hours in between. Then it was test time. Fifty minutes for six questions. At the end of the allocated time, I was quite pleased with myself for having completed all the questions, or so I thought. I then later realised that I had skipped out the last question entirely, and it was worth 6 marks! Big mistake on my part. But there was nothing I could've done anyway. I barely had time to finish 5 questions, let alone 6. How can they expect so much of us in so short a time? But I think that that's one thing I have to practise on: speed. Doing tutorials and worksheets and understanding them isn't enough. One must also be able to come up with the correct answer quickly. And that, sadly, isn't something I got used to. In doing all the questions in the tutorials and worksheets given out, I never really thought of testing myself within a specific timeframe. So I guess it's partly my fault. But I heard lots of complaints and groans from everyone in general, saying how difficult the test was and how the time allocated wasn't reasonable. All I can do now is hope and pray that I got all the other questions correct, so I can at least get 24/30. Then it wouldn't be so bad.

So now I feel free of much work. And I'm feeling quite happy. Tomorrow I'm gonna be performing at the Outdoor Stage. Come and support me, yeah?