as much as life can get us down, education can diminish a person's sense of self-worth. the ironic thing is, education is supposed to bring a person's social status to a higher level and endow him with the prestigue of posessing a wide range of professional knowledge and experience. look at a more subtle context - obtaining a diploma in Singapore. no, not long-distance learning. with compressed semesters, that means taking a much shorter time to graduate. but with a shorter time to complete the same toll of modules and projects as our seniors have, the stress on us is growing with misery everyday.

balancing marketing concepts, managing human resources and analysing financial concepts sure sound easy, but what with cross-disciplinary subjects that affect your overall grades? at the end of the day, i've definitely become more brave to go up in front of a group of people and speak, and i understand the more intense elements of leadership than many others, but my core subjects are tipping over the thin scale, and i sleep less than 5 hours every day.i thought it was part of life, enduring the immense stress of studying for a nicely coloured piece of paper. but then again, it's the Ministry of Education's fault for bringing this tremendous time toll on us.

it is absolutely not fair i have to get my diploma studying the same stuff as previous cohorts did. in a compressed period. i look back and wonder if it is all worth it. people say i look older than before, accompanied with horrendous dark rings and swelling eye bags that make my eyes look smaller than they already are. a paler complexion to scare the shit out of my lecturers, save for the fading tint of pink on my cheeks. i can even feel the nerves in my eyeball being stretched, all the red veins gathering to form a messy network when i put on my lenses. durn. i go out with my glasses.

walking in weary steps, do the harsh condiments of education override the tolerance of the human body immune system a little too much?