i'm nearly halfway through my prelims. yea, you read right, nearly! 5 papers down. econs 0/1/2, higher chinese 1/2 and geography 2 outstanding.

it's really mentally gruelling - the constant need to remind yourself that c'mon, c'mon, it's the last lap, however consecutive hours and brain cells you must invest, you have to, there's really no other way out. it's so uncannily similar to a 2.4m run. it's the last lap, your calves threaten to disintegrate soon or something, but you know that if you throw in the white flag this very moment, all the efforts put in for the last 5 laps are gone..in a flash.

i really don't wanna see my sleepless nights yielding only marginal returns. i want my returns hugely disproportional (in the right direction of course), cos right now, at this very juncture, it's just about the only thing i have left to prove my self-worth. equating academics to self-worth may be myopic and really geeky, but like i said it, at this very juncture. no one is going to give you a standing ovation for breaking your NAPFA record or clocking 9000 CIP hours at this point of the rat race.

so good luck everyone! even though things may always find a way to screw themselves up... don't blank out just yet! (even if it means having to recite ancient chinese 8 million times over!)