The School Meme

Tagged, this time by Maverick.... actually I'd seen this on his blog and was considering just going ahead and tagging myself.... then I forgot about it... then he figured out the whole tagging thing, and tagged me, LOL!

So here goes: THE SCHOOL MEME

How many schools did I go to?

One kindy in PJ. One primary & secondary school in KL (which has since moved near Batu Caves area). One "language school", part of my scholarship deal, to "gradually get used to being in the U.S. (waste of time!). TWO universities: one semester in the university at the same town as the language school while waiting for "proper" Fall intake; the second being my "actual" uni where I spent 4 years and got my BSc in Chemistry. Oh, and one more: the SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS a.k.a. work, LMAO!

Was I the studious nerd, or the last minute hero?

Now that I'm all grown up, I'm definitely more the "last minute hero" ... when I was younger, I certainly wasn't a studious nerd, but I don't remember doing things all last minute. Oh wait, yes I do. Okay, last minute hero it is! :-)

Was I the class "taiko"’ or the teacher'’s pet?

LMAO! The teachers wanted me for a pet and I refused!! I always thought the teachers were hypocrites, "liking" me mostly because I looked different even tho I was quite the rebel (maybe I was the rebel BECAUSE they "liked" me??). I was always a bit of a rebel, but I didn't go out of my way to aggravate or bully the teachers lah. Neither did I "organise" aresistancenec that would have me considering the "taiko" title.... But here's a perspective: in Form 1, I *so* wanted to be a Junior Prefect (the "honor" going to about 20 Form 2 people every year), actually managed to get chosen,,, then found out that all you were was a glorified teacher's slave. Can you believe some of the "duties" assigned was to wait for the teachers arriving and helping them bring their book sup to their office?? And any little errand that needed to be run, the teachers would call on the prefects. Sorry lah, I wasn't going to stand for that. After that, I never looked enviously at prefects again - I pitied them instead,LOL!! And in Form 4, my Form Teacher insisted on nominating me for prefectship again: me & a few others who also didn't want such a dubious honor made a kind of history by declining the nomination, haaaahahahahaaa! padan muka! The teachers were all puzzled why I would reject it. Better stay silent than voice my reasons, eh?

What was the biggest rule I broke in school?

Hmmmm.... I was a rebel, but more in attitude, not really in "actions" like breaking school rules... I know I regret bringing a cassette to school which got confiscated during one of those friggin spot-checks... and I remember that bitch prefect July Fly who gleefully showed me MY TAPE that she'd confiscated, waving it in front of me: I think she wanted me to beg for it or something, so she be persuaded to bend the rules for me... yea that bitch like her power trips; i refused to cooperate: no satisfaction for her. You want to be a bitch, go ahead. You'll get no reinforcement from me.

Three subjects I enjoyed:

In primary & secondary school - NONE! I did well in Chemistry, and chose to major in that, but I won't say I *enjoyed* it in my schooldays. Enjoyment came during my university days: I've talked about my "unusual" courses taken (Icelandic Sagas, Norse Mythology, Arthurian Literature), I'd say those were those I enjoyed the most. Honorable mention to Quantum Chemistry (I actually liked it so much I took a grad-level course, and did well too!), and Abnormal Psychology (I still regret not knowing one could DOUBLE MAJOR till it was too late to pull it off, else I'd be holding degrees in both Chem *and* Psych)

Three teachers that inspired me

• My 1st Chemistry TA, in that uni of only one semester, wish I could remember his name: he was my first exposure to life within a university, and he was such a breath of fresh air compared to the boring stifling teachers in Malaysia. He had bonus questions for quizzes that included "Suzy Q is sang by what group"? I didn't know CCR then, but I always think of him when I hear a CCR song now.
  
• Dr Ken Suslick: helped show the practical side of (inorganic) chemistry... or at least, translate a lot of what we were learning into "everyday terms". For example, we learned about Cytochrome P450 and how it impacts the "processing" of barbiturates vs alcohol in our system, but it was in the exam that we were asked apply that knowledge to explain why & how Marilyn Monroe died. Abecauseues of this, while I don't remember much else, I remember Cytochrome P450. He'd also told me academia would greatly benefit from me, if I chose to pursue that path. A great vote of confidence, from such a person! :-)
  
• Prof Marianne Kalinke: The person with whom I explored Icelandic Sagas, Norse Mythology and Authurian Literature. She lived and breathed these subjects, and was just so into the topics, you couldn't help but get right into it all too!

And I'm tagging...…

ayoyo.... I prefer to make it an open tag = whoever would like to share their school/education memories, please consider yourselves tagged, okay? Then drop me a line in the comments when you've got your post up.