this date adds to another of my most wondefully memorable days!
at this rate... looks like my brain has to increase in capacity! :p
double happiness for me indeed.
wad differed 11thJuly nite (the nite b4 my driving test) from any other nite b4 my driving test was dat i slept very well.
didnt worry abt my driving test nor graduation.
i made a concious effort to calm my nerves & stop thinking abt my driving test. eventho i was not 100% sure if i was prepared becos i only had 1 driving rd practice b4 my actual test.. (instructor was not free to give me more lessons den 1)
so i had no choice but to go for my test with 1 rd & 1 circuit practice.
wad cud the possible outcome be? oh well. wadever happens, happens.
i failed twice already. wad's a third time eh?
but i reminded myself abt wad Grace told me, drive like u've passed!
n all the other peeps like my sis, shu, greg, my dad n so on telling me i can do it!
thanks guys for all ur support!
the encouragement did come into good use in times of distress. =)
i noe i cudnt wait to c my tourism mates & lecturers again but i noe i needed the rest. cannot afford to screw up my tuesday ahead as it was going to be a long one for me. altho a part of me told myself i can well handle the disappoinment of another failure. but den again i was struggling to stay positive as well.
damn, i'm one confused child.
started my tuesday waking at 7am, showered & rushed in a cab to Ubi Driving Centre. i must thank god & my lucky stars.
tuesday, 12July, is indeed a good day.
even uncle cab driver was so nice to me! jus when i thot all cabbies were mean pple on the rd.
tink i found an exception! =) the cab uncle asked me if i was going for driving practice & i told him no i was going for a test.
he actually encouraged me!
told me to stay calm at all times, take deep breaths, jus relax! & good luck!
wow. *stunned* those words coming frm a cabby!!!!
after hearing wad words of encouragement frm the cab uncle, i suddenly felt quite empowered! it brought out a smile from my pretty tired face. (it was so early in the day)
reached Ubi & went on a hunt for my instructor.
got into the car, drove ard Ubi den headed for practice in the circuit den out to the roads again.
all these ended by 9.45 at the centre.
so i visited the ladies, looked myself in the mirror & told myself, just do ur best lyd, just do ur best.
with that i went into the holding room & waited for the balloting process.
everything wasnt new to me.
dere were 14 of us who were taking the 10.15am driving test that morning.
as 1 by 1 the candidates' names got called out, i was siting dere wondering, pls dun let me get Foo Shou Way or Tan Chong Seng again! not route 6 pls!!!
i prayed n prayed real hard.
finally! Chong Yiling Lydia, ur testor is Goh Lim Heng ur test route is route 1.
i was like OMG!! who is Goh Lim Heng?!
i've nvr heard Mr Lim (my instructor) tell me abt dis testor b4!!!! OH NO!!!!!
shit shit shit.... how!? i wondered to myself.
immediately, with shivering hands & fingers, pulled out my hp frm my bag & smsed my instructor.
it took abt 3-5mins b4 my instructor replied my sms.
while waiting for his reply, i thot to myself.. oh he got to be kidding!?
y isnt he replying my sms?! did he not get it? or is he wondering y is lydia so sway to get another lousy testor? so many freakin thots running thru my head jus within those 3 over mins until FINALLY his reply came!!
it said: "ok gd"
in those exact words.
*bliss*
with that i told myself again. just do ur best.
waited for him to come & call my name. when he came, i was the last few to leave the holding rm.
this time told myself relax n jus go wif the flow.
dun forget the freakin seat belt!!!!
i got into the car, adjusted myself & didnt forget the seat belt! ;)
everything started jus the way it shud. thank god for dat.
Testor Goh did look pretty grumpy initially. but i must say he is a gd testor.
didnt speak unnecessary stuff. he jus gave directions at the appropriate times. =) really appreciated dat.
duno y but for all the 3 times i sat for my driving test, my mouth will get really dry & somehow it seems like i have an apple stuck in my throat.
dat feeling is seriously sucky. jia lat. disgusting feeling.
anyhow, i completed the circuit jus fine. =)
i was pleased with my performance. now it's time for the roads.
hit the roads abt 10.30am - not too bad i must say.
traffic wasnt all dat bad. no hoggers or bully.
but dun matter also becos my test route was within Ubi. didnt require me to go out much on the main Eunos Road. except a small stretch which was managable. so i was fine.
did the test route jus fine, u-turn was fine too.
overall, i was feeling jus fine. (fine is the key-word here)
ok so now time to head back to the test centre.
the whole time i kinda noticed dat Testor Goh did not at any point in time take out his test marking sheet to grade me. in my head i thot, it can b either a gd or bad thing.
so i followed him back up to be debriefed after my test.
Testor Goh hardly said anything cept opened up my marking sheet which he kept in his big black folder & ticked in 3 boxes.
after which he turned to the back/end of the marking sheet and wrote a 8 in the points box and ticked the Pass box.
my heart almost stopped. i looked closely at the marking sheet as he was signing it & my eyes grew larger.
i looked up at him & he gave me a lil smile.
all i cud say was 'Thank u sir.'
and immediately left the room in search for my instructor to break the good news. as i left the de briefing room, a thrillion thots ran thru my head. i cud hardly believed it was true! subconciously, i was kinda slightly crushing my marking sheet! as soon as i realised wad my hands were doing, i quickly stopped it & ran down the stairs.
as soon as i got down, suddenly a feeling overwhelmed me.
i miss my cousin. i wish i cud tell her my gd news at dat very instant!
called my sis, Greg, msged Fie, Sir Daltz, Jav abt the good news.
only told my darling parents when i got hm becos i wanted to tell dem in person. wanted to see how their reaction was.
bought my probational plate ($9.60), took my passport sized photos ($9), applied for my license ($50), paid my instructor ($150), watched my safety video, den left Ubi driving centre to head back to tampines to style my hair ($25).
I PASSED!!!!!
dis is a personal acheivement! i finally did it!
while applying for my license, i met another instructor whom i had a lil chat with. a friendly, endearing looking man. probably in his late 50s early 60s.. he goes by the name Mr Chia. very helpful instructor who told me dat if i needed any help even after passing that i cud give him a call. :) he accompanied me thru the waiting process until i left the centre for tampines.
let Ubi abt 12pm after settling everything.
went to a salon opposite my hse to get my nuisance hair done for grad ceremony later dat noon.
turned out not too bad. cept dat my hair felt like there was a tonne of gel & hair spray on it. YUCK.
got home. showered, dressed up, put on my make-up & rushed to TP wif my parents for a quick lunch in Design canteen b4 the ceremony.
the valedictorian gave quite a good speech i must say. tears of pride rolled down my cheeks as she spoke. "Graduands, we made it!"
after all the toils and struggles together, the late nite project rushing in the comp labs, to the chicken cutlet in biz park, the lunch sessions in Saffron, the in between classes breaks at biz park as well - brought back tonnes n tonnes of memories. both happy and sad.
again, i wished Grace was dere. the ceremony just wasnt the same without her.
i even rememered abt the day we were dressed in our sec sch uniforms becos we had to go back to our sec sch to collect our O level results, even dat day we were out b4 the results were given out. rem cuz? we went to raffles place becos u wanted to buy hp casing for ur Nokia8310..
also, we went to apply for our JAE together. u chose Hospi & i thot i'd jus try for Tourism.
and we both made it in cuz. we both made it out of the 3yrs as well.
all the studying together, pushing each other, n u helping me paid off cuz.
everything paid off. we have gotten our Diplomas cuz. we did it.
i cudnt help but feel a great sense of pride that afternoon. walking on stage and receiving that big red folder. it was another great great sense of achievement.
after the whole ceremony, i took a couple of photos wif some pple which i will upload shortly.
left TP wif my parents and met the rest for a while at TM after.
waited for Fie as he had nites off to catch up for a while as well.
this day started well and ended well.
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