In about two week’s time, our three-month long summer break would be ending. It would be another 16 weeks of burying ourselves in books and struggling to meet project deadlines before winter would come. Seniors have urge us to treasure our first summer because future summers would be taken up by internships, study trips or international exchanges. And fortunately for me, the past three months have been one of the most fruitful summers I’ve spent.

This summer, I was involved with planning or partaking in some activity almost every week. First two weeks of summer was spent training for adidas Sundown Marathon. It was a pretty last minute arrangement as registration was already closed till limited slots opened at the eleventh hour. The timing wasn’t ideal but pace was comfortable. With that, I can’t wait to run my first Stan Chart marathon in December!

Then it was off to Taipei for some timeout. Weather was less than ideal but I did enjoy the shopping, food and company. We completed most stuff on our itinerary though time wasn’t on our side on many occasions. Most of the time, we braved the cold, the rain and errant bus drivers putting our lives at risk but the people we met along the way, let’s just say Singapore has lots to learn from them. You bet I’ll be heading back there sometime in the near future.

After returning, it was mock camp to test run our plans that we had been drafting since April. And thankfully for the mock camp, we found out what we had in mind wasn’t that feasible. In a quick turn of events, we shelved our initial idea and decided to go with the tried-and-tested formula instead.

Very soon, it was back to uniformed days as two weeks of in-camp training awaited. It was a great time to reconnect with old friends as well as knowing new ones in the jungles of Tekong. It might have been shag but the feeling of being back in fighting form after the physically and mentally demanding training was fabulous. Initial anxiety quickly gave way to adrenaline and the need to better oneself constantly.

The final stretch to actual camp was right after ICT. Pressure was on as deadlines pushed close. All seems bleak when rain poured relentlessly on the first morning but Lady Luck (and maybe a little bit of superstition) was smiling at us. It remained cool and cloudy with sporadic showers for the rest of the camp. While hiccups were inevitable, the camp was undeniably a huge success. The participants enjoyed themselves thoroughly as did we.

As I checked off the last item on my to-do list, summer has unofficially drawn to a close. I hope to spend these last two weeks recuperating for the new academic year; a little “me time” to reflect on the fading summer. While I can’t really say I’m looking forward to school reopening, I still wonder how the coming term is going to pan out.