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Roughing and toughing it out might seem to be the kind of thing one would do on a trek, a camping trip or perhaps on a holiday with a shoe-string budget.
Few people may realize it, but school can be quite an 'experience' too! Yes, surviving the daily rigours of school life does extend beyond academics, CCAs and everything else that can quite often be a nuisance.
Hooked brings you The NUS Survivor Guide so you can Rough N Tough it out right here in school.
The other day I was sitting in my all-too-cozy block lounge with the TV on, sipping a piping hot soup - a frequent cure for my ever-too-frequent boredom. They were airing the reality show called 'Survivor: China.'
Presented with several tasks over the course of a few weeks, participating teams had to succeed at each stage to progress into each successive round. Literally thrown into the wild forests of mainland China, this particular group of adventurers had to build shelter and gather food from the surrounding forest. Pooling their resources together - brain and brawn, they did eventually survive the night, though soaked cold in the rain that lasted throughout the night.
If you thought the sanctity of your room would be that one place where you could just chill, think again.
A bunch of girls screaming in the grass patch outside my block at 2 a.m. certainly doesn't help my poor body get any rest, not to mention the global warming that sometimes makes me feel as though I'm sleeping in a sauna.
I haven't figured out a solution to the sauna bit yet (except perhaps lodging in one of those air-conditioned rooms in PGP), but if you have noisy nights, ear plugs should do the trick.
Indigestion seems to come easily these days. A ride on one of the shuttle buses is all it takes to churn up anyone's insides. At 8 in the morning, it isn't an experience many would want to be part of.
Alas, there are only so many buses that can ferry as many as 500 students to one LT alone. It certainly doesn't help when you need to get off, but you're stuck in the middle of a bus packed with people on either side.
With all the ups and downs, travelling on a bus being driven like a Hummer is something you definitely want to avoid. Early risers should take one of the early buses and do the rest of us a favor.
If you are catching a bus for class, jumping the queue is perhaps the only option to reach your destination alive and on time. Unethical certainly, but that's the only way to live!
In order to reach the bus stop after class, one has to be able to leave the lecture theatre. I like to be a responsible and attentive student and sit in the front of the LT (it also helps to keep awake, especially when you have a boring Engineering class).
But before you realise it, the lecture is over and everyone runs to the door like a swarm of bees attacking someone. It is a tedious wait, one step at a time, precious time being lost.
When you look around, irritated at being stuck in this queue, you see those smart ones leaving from the doors at the front of the LT, reaching the bus stop before you. If you really need to be out quick, you should simply leave a couple of minutes early so that you can get the early (a.k.a. empty) bus.
 When hunger pangs strike, you'd better hope it isn't between noon and 2 p.m. The busiest hours at every canteen on campus, it is just impossible to get a place to sit and eat.
There are plenty of empty tables, but they've been reserved with bags, water bottle, pen, or of course, the infamous tissue packet.
This isn't allowed, so you can still sit there anyway, but first the food! A trip to Techno Edge and the Deck would have you believe free food is being distributed. The lines stretch for miles and miles, yet you can't do anything but wait.
If you are dying of hunger however, take the easy way out - a visit to McDonald's means quick service, a place to sit and sumptuous food at discounted student price. Bored of good ol' canteen food? You can also head to Munchie Monkey (Yusof Isak House) or Grinning Gecko (Arts Forum) for a stress-free meal.
As for printing notes, you should do it when no one is there. Our advice is to avoid the "peak" period right before the hour ends (when everyone's rushing for lectures).
At times, the photocopying room at Central Library reminds me of a large factory with everyone working away like robots on their respective machines. It can be a hassle getting a free machine, so it's best to head down early.
However, the photocopying room isn't the only place in the library where you'll find yourself in dire straits. Study rooms and reading areas can resemble an airport lounge where all flights have been cancelled.
With the exams around the corner, everyone is making their way down to that peaceful, conducive-to-study, open-around-the-clock library. If you really want a place, be there early, otherwise, instead of a comfortable couch to lounge on while mugging, you'll end up either on the floor somewhere, or on a bench outside the library, in the heat!
Nevertheless, there is still a 5-week break to look forward to after the exams. Christmas, New Year and lots of sleep - when you can hopefully put this manual away into a dark, dingy drawer somewhere. hooked
Images courtesy of:
www2.bschool.nus.edu.sg
http://www.hifi-enviro.com/
www.nus.edu.sg
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