Well to start off with something, I had my first midterms on Monday. I totally flung my stats paper :( It was unexpected because I did arguably more practices than others and also did ample revision. I thought I might even do well, but I ended up finding the paper hard, not knowing how to do questions, and also being careless at some. Well, it is already a thing of the past. I only hope to know why I did unexpectedly badly, and be able to do well for the remaining assignments and the finals.
The journey in SMU hasn’t been easy thus far. I do not regret choosing Biz and taking it at SMU. However, I’ve been struggling to cope with studies and the many commitments I have. I had to drop some of them, but yet I still find studies tough and I’ve not been getting enough rest. There are other troubles as well, and I’ve been getting headaches(Everyday for weeks), a worsening sore throat that’s around for a week(I’m starting to lose my voice and cough), and a really horrible tooth & gum pain after my recent braces tightening. However, I thank God for how he is molding me and pouring His grace in my life in this tough season.
In my Biz Law mod, me and brother Pei Da are in the same class. I was also in the same OG in orientation with him. I’m glad to be journeying in SMU with this brother that I knew since I came to Hope.
For Stats mod, I knew some friends from there. And I’m so glad to have been able to form study sessions and groups with some friends in the class. I also happened to meet Alicia, when I was on the way home from an orientation camp, and we are classmates now. We studied together, and I also invited her for the Ravi Zacharias sharing. I’m glad for this friendship and I’m also glad to know that she is open to know God more.
For Econs mod, I didn’t know anyone and was randomly grouped into a 3 person group, whereas other groups had 4 or 5 people. However, we got to enjoy the journey as we worked together for our project. And I’m so happy to be able to pray and commit our group project together with my group mates just before the presentation :)
In my Leadership & Team-building mod, my prof is a Christian that even mentioned Jesus washing the disciples foot under servant leadership. We were randomized into project groups, and I ended up in the group with Rachel who is also in Hope, and Yu Hang a CCA-mate in JC, they were the only 2 I knew in my class. When I first class participated, my prof also remarked that my name “Joel Isaiah” was very prophetic to the class LOL. She also told me personally that I had a very good attitude. I somehow became the leader of my 8 member group overtime, and it really isn’t easy. I have to balance, to not be the one who forces tasks or directions, but also get everyone to bond and participate together. But I find it a blessing to go through such an experience to lead and God’s been blessing our team and our project greatly. We are even linking with Hope Centre and my mother’s education company for our CSR initiative project.
There were many other things that happened too. I will just mention 3 of them in this post.
The first mention is that I kinda had a fallout with a brother, where we experienced barriers in communicating and relating to each other. There was also tension and a little disappointment when an incident happened unintentionally. However, through the saga, I learned to a deeper extent, that despite of fall outs, conflicts or communication difficulties, love triumphs. As God loves me and always reaches out to me. As I continue to let this brother know that I love and care for him, it can go beyond words. And love never fails, love never gives up. I’m glad for our strengthened friendship as we continue to care for each other and seek God together.
The next mention is that I am cherishing my family much more. I took out time to exercise with my brother, to eat his cooking, to talk and even had one discussion that was from night till sunrise before he flew back to London. My family is going through arguably the toughest season thus far and each of us are facing some of the toughest circumstances. There were tears and weariness, but there were also much care and concern, and we also drew closer to God as a family.
Just before my brother flew off, I initiated for a family LG and we really got to have it. I played guitar for worship for the first time, playing “Heart of Worship”. It was riddled with mistakes, but we were still ministered as we worshiped together. We also looked at a sharing quickly, talked as a family and prayed together. I’m so thankful for this blessed experience and I know that God will continue to watch over us in His love. Though life is really really busy now, I hope to continue to care for and spend time with my family, to keep in contact with my brother in UK, and to continually pray for them.
The last mention is the 2nd tuition that I got. Before I got it, I did not have a lot financially. As I stayed in contact with some of the brothers and sisters I met in Cambodia, I was moved by their cause and was burdened for their need for providence. In faith, I decided to give out of my pocket and gave $50 to them. I hope that I can continue to give even in the future, and I’m also glad that I’m going back to visit them during my SMU OCSP next year. A while after I gave, an agent contacted me that I got this 2nd tuition job. It was to teach Secondary 3 English. I did not feel prepared, and I felt even more inadequate when I finally had my first lesson with my tutee Wei Qin. He was really studious, and his English isn’t really that bad, yet he somehow failed the previous exam(partly because of the strictness in marking). During the first lesson, I really didn’t know how to teach him English.
However, something very divine happened at my 2nd lesson with Wei Qin today. I was so worried that I cannot properly teach Wei Qin in English, so I asked Jia Jin(a brother in Hope who gives English tuition) if he wants to teach Wei Qin. But it turned out that my new tutee can only afford one lesson per week and he is ok with me to continue to teach him English, Maths and Sciences, even though I felt so inadequate in teaching English. Today we met for a 2.5h tuition, and I went through the essay that I asked him to write in the 1st lesson. It was to share about his experience in secondary school. He was from Whitley Secondary School at Bishan, and when I was in Hope Central in Ablaze, my LG was combined between Kuo Chuan(my secondary school) and Whitley. In his essay, he talked about being bullied, and he was so depressed till he even thought of taking his life a few times. He also cried out to God to help him even though he wasn't 'religious'. He didn't write on about whether God did help him. Although his perspective differs from mine, we both went through similar experiences of being bullied when we entered secondary school and we both cried out to God.
I haven't got to share about my experience to encourage him and to tell him about God's love, but I will next week. Furthermore, the English assessment that I gave to him is really helping him. Today I was really able to connect with him, and teach him effectively in both English and Maths. It was by God's grace as I have not touched the O level maths syllabus since O’s, and I was feeling so inadequate to teach English previously. I taught him longer than required, from 2.5 to almost 3.5 hours. And he also treated me to Starbucks. I want to continue to invest in this tutee's life, and more than anything, to bring him to know God's love and receive Christ in his life in the days to come :) Praise God
That’s not everything that happened, but I’ll stop here. I’m also having a headache now, and I still have that bad mouth pain and sore throat. Do pray for my health and rest. I’ll go back to studying and to QT-ing later :) See ya
