My first semester (again)

Chaotic, sometimes frustrating, yet rewarding.

It's been two weeks since the semester ended. I've finally got my sleep schedule back on track, and I passed all my subjects. 

I didn't get the grades I wanted, especially towards the end of the semester. Physics finished me off, and I barely passed with a 6.05. Well, more specifically, the lab exam finished me off. I got a grade that made me feel pathetic. 

Do you want to take a guess? Keep in mind that my goal was to get 80 out of 100.

I was really anxious about calculus at first, but in the end it was the subject I did better than chemistry and physics.

I know I have to step up my game, so I'm goint to give myself another chance when I take the improvement exams in chemistry and physics. Right now, my average is 7.40, and that puts me in the last enrollment bracket for next semester, which is not ideal. Honestly, I expected to be in the third one. I think I could still make it, though. Let's see.

On a more positive note, this Thursday, I took the English placement test which was similar to a Cambridge exam. My sister baptised it as the Hunger Games test because of the way it was structured.

There were actually five tests: if you scored above 60, you could move on to the next one. If not, you had to pack your things and go home. The email said that it would last from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

I got there just in time since now the bus route 76 pass every 40 minutes at the stop. I was there, standing in the sun for 40 minutes. I was fuming!!

Long story short, there were 19 people in the room.  The first test started at 9:30 and had around 30 questions. Some tests had 27 questions and others had 42, but they all had to be completed in 35 minutes. 

Sadly, almost half of the people left after failing the first test. In the end, only three guys and I were left, and I was the only one who managed to pass all five tests. Therefore, I tested out of all my English modules at ESPOL.

Yesterday, I also took the communication exam. This was a funny one. I got to the stop at 11:45; the bus arrived at 12:20. The test was at 1:00 pm in the library building, which is quite far from the admissions building where the English test had taken place.

I had three options to make it to the library in 10 minutes, since the main bus doesn't go all the way there, and the campus shuttle only passes every 40 minutes.

On foot? Impossible, it was way too far.

By bicycle? I wasn't sure if I had to fill out any paperwork before borrowing one. Besides, they are large bikes with gears, not like normal ones. I was about to ask for one, but I thought: "No, I will end up getting hurt and I won't make it on time."

By hitchhiking and asking a driver for a lift? Yes.

Fortunately, the first driver I signaled agreed to take me. Thank you, sir!

Along the road, I saw a student who had crashed; he was scraped up, bleeding from his face, and his friend was calling for help. That definitely would have been me.

I ended up arriving just in time as the line to the lab was moving, phew!I got 80/100, which is not bad for someone who only checked the topics the day before.

Later on, I had to ask someone to give me a lift to the bus stop again. Thank you, sir! I didn't know it was graduation season until I noticed the co-pilot was dressed like a recent graduate. The driver also let another two girls get in, which was very nice of him.

Aside from being tense all the way, hoping not to be robbed, it was nice to get off the bus and go into a bakery I had wanted to buy from. I bought lots of different pastries and breads. My favourite was the croissant with manjar and the coconut bun. I think my sister liked the coconut one best.  

I waited for another bus, got to the Metrovia station and then took a tricimoto. About an hour and a half later, I arrived home safely. Please highlight 'safe'. 

I hope carpools are available next week because my blood pressure goes nuts every time I get on a bus. It's not because I'm fancy; it's simply because my city is bloody dangerous.

P.S.: Do you think the fact that I tested out of an entire subject overshadows/cancels out the fact that I got 7/100 on the physics lab exam?

I almost forgot, the complementary elective I'm going to choose is Cinematography Appreciation!

Lastly, the first gift I gave myself was ordering the pair of earrings I wanted. I promised myself that I would order them once I had passed all my exams. They are indeed a work of art.

See you in the improvement week and next semester!