New

I start my internship next week – coincidentally on the same day as when the rest of the younger population will start school. Last year, this would be me dreading school (as how some of my friends 1 year my junior have complained to me), but this year I await with eager anticipation and slight anxiety at a brand new prospect of my life that will completely change me. Instead of going to school which is a convenient 10 minute walk from home, I will head all the way east into Changi every single weekday. Instead of going to a safe and protected environment, I wander into the residence of convicts and criminals in the hopes of learning more about Singapore’s crime scene, in the hopes of learning the truth behind Singapore’s low crime rate.

I mostly get 2 main responses from people when I tell them that I’m going to intern at the prison. From my family, surprise and a lecture to be cautious; and from my friends, cool. Perhaps, it is due to my personality that I will never be able to work as a waitress or a salesperson at a retail outlet because I tend to feel extremely claustrophobic and insignificant when stuck in a sea of people, and also because I think I will go mad if I must answer the same questions again and again to customers. I welcome nature’s seclusion and the seclusion of a closely-knitted community, but not the bombardment of everyday hustle and bustle.

I am also finally taking up driving lessons, an aspect I’ve been looking forward to since forever. To me, driving means freedom and driving opens up so many part-time job opportunities. It’s one of the very few classes that I would eagerly sign myself up for.

All in all, the end of my high school chapter opens up an entire world of new opportunities for me. I will forget the unpleasant and remember the memorable; the important life lessons from school that will guide me wherever I go.

The best things in life come as a surprise; and I am so blessed to be where I am right here, right now.