U-Insight

Written by: Shermaine Lim

We have reached the most anticipated midpoint – recess week! In case you ever feel bored, these are ways for you to utilize your spare time.

Acquire a new hobby

Contrary to popular belief, a hobby isn’t very hard to find. A friend of mine once spent an entire month learning how to stack rocks into triangles. If the curious art of the rockpile isn’t for you, there are always other avenues you can explore.

A good way to find one would be to look at all the checklists you’ve never acted upon. Look back at all your old to do lists and start holding yourself at metaphorical gunpoint. Wanted to do yoga after your A level exams? Bam. Yoga class. Friday.

Travel

If you have the resources for it, one of the best things you can do is to get on a plane. Go out and celebrate a whole other environment where seasons are not exclusive to humid and “oven”.

Celebrate a view that doesn’t have at least one skyscraper in and those tearful reunions with your friends and family overseas.

However, there is nothing to lose if you don’t have the time and resources for an overseas trip. You can still take one here in Singapore! A successful vacation is not determined by the place, but rather by the experience.

If you’re feeling really adventurous, take a trip around our own little island: NTU. I guarantee you’ll find something new. I’ve been in this school for about a year and I still get lost walking to the same class.

Have a me day

A little me-time is always good. Go to a spa. Netflix the entire day away. Eat nothing but bacon and chocolate. Lie in bed and gulp down potato chips like you’re drinking water. Sit in the bathtub for 4 hours and wrinkle up like the fantastic prune you are. You deserve it! There is nobody in the world but you. Oh, and your dad, who probably also wants to use that bathtub now.

Organise your room

As the famous Marie Kondo once said: “Keep only the things that spark joy”. Now, while this may spark a temptation to introduce your entire room to a nearby incinerator, just remember that this holiday has given you an opportunity to change that scene.

Recycle your old notes. Donate those clothes you can no longer wear. Get rid of that small ecosystem accumulating on your desk. There is no benefit in hoarding. The objects we keep are extensions of the self, and we want ourselves to be the best we can be. You don’t have to vigorously reorganise everything. Not every rearrangement is a renovation, and you have a week – take your time.

Ultimately, these are just suggestions, there are so much more avenues you can explore. You are your own person, and it is by your own will that you find the activities that suit you best. What matters is that you enjoy yourself and a well-deserved break to prepare yourself for the second half of the semester.