Skip to main content

“Sorry, I Can’t Make It.”

By

By Eric Shyu

AP Season has come around once again—the season of stress. The familiar rush and tense feel in the air. They come back again every year when everyone studies to do as well as they can on their upcoming exams. The stress creeps up on people slowly, but it becomes very noticeable over time. The first instance of this happening to me was when I wanted to go on a service project with a few friends, and then the phrase first appeared: “Sorry, I can’t make it.”

“There’s no problem at all! I can find someone else to go with me.”

And then I hear that phrase again. “Sorry, I can’t go this time. I have to study.”

I managed to find people to go with eventually, but I knew what was coming. The waves of the phrase “sorry, I can’t…” It makes total sense that people are prioritising their studies over some of the extra activities that they were once doing. 

The phrase doesn’t only occur here, though. It has found its way everywhere else as well. Text messages from friends as well. They started slowing down, and some even vanished from the usual once-a-week check-ins – left on delivered for a few days on end. After a while of not hearing from a friend in university, “Sorry, just got done with finals.” Another friend in Uplands stated, “I will be super busy since it’s exam season.”

After a few waves of hearing that phrase, it crept up on me, too. I found myself saying the same words as everyone else…

“Hey, are we having Pathfinder on Thursdays?”

And the words that I heard from the people around me flowed out so easily, so naturally. “Sorry, I can’t make it for a few weeks until after APs are over.”

Another wave of broken routines. Another cycle of “sorry, I can’t make it.” And so the cycle continues during AP season. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DINGBAT DALAT STUDENT SPENDS PRECIOUS TIME CONJURING UP SELF-REFERENTIAL SENIOR SCRIBBLE RATHER THAN GATHERING LEGITIMATE WORK

By Anonymous
Yusoof Monawvil PENANG, MA - As the deadline drew near and the stars aligned in the night sky above the majestic waters of the Strait of Malacca, one particular Dalat student—Yusoof Monawvil (12), despite a plethora of school events to select and report on—opted instead to spend a remarkably well-wasted 24 minutes staring at a blank Google Docs page, fruitlessly drawing up and shooting down brainstormed ideas.  In a moment of sheer and undeniable epiphany, Monawvil deemed it only fitting to self-referentially satirize his own ingrained incompetence and dingbattery. Commenting on the flash of insight, Monawvil quoted himself, saying: “It all just kinda made sense. I went on DISCourse to look at the little rubric thing Ms. Grad and Mr. Hieber posted, and I checked if I was following all of the guidelines... And I technically am/was; [N]ot like there’s any specific direktive [sic] prohibiting self-quoting.”  In a turn of events, Monawvil did come to find his self-quoting en...
6 comments
Read more

"Spikeball, Swimming, and Sickness: The Remnants of Senior Sneak" by Ee Rynn Ong

By
“Guys, I think we’re here,” said Jonathan Ooi (12) as he peeked out of the lorry to catch the first glimpse of our Senior Sneak location. This year’s Senior Sneak was held in Nomad Adventure, Gopeng, and the organizers planned many activities for the Class of 2026, ranging from traditional games like congkak and batu seremban to adrenaline-pumping ropes courses and whitewater rafting. These scheduled activities proved to be some of the best highlights of the trip, but top of that, the seniors were also given some daily free time to chat, explore, and relax. Josh Stevens (12) had come prepared for this with two spikeball nets, which immediately attracted attention from people eager to spend time in the outdoor sun. The next five days saw spikeball veterans and newcomers alike, spending their precious one and a half hours daily around the unassuming circular net, smashing the yellow ball in hopes of a victory.  Caleb Evans (12) was one of the newbies to spikeball, learning how the g...
Post a Comment
Read more

“I Miss Her” by Nikhil Pillay

By
While most people had a fun week for mid-semester break, whether it was spent with family, or with friends on impact trips, no one had a more emotionally confusing week than Judson Kenneth Robert Nosker (12).  In the light of recent events, Judson, despite all odds, had gotten in a relationship with one of his classmates, and as the break started, he had started to spend a lot of time with her. While with her, he started to experience a new level of joy and completeness that he had never felt before. In the words of Judson Nosker, “The first half of the break was good, but the rest of it was horrible.”  The reason for such a quote and the roller coaster of emotion was because half way through the break, disaster had struck. Judson’s girlfriend had gone on a trip with her family to Thailand, leaving Judson all alone. For the rest of the week, Judson was in a state of longing for her presence.  His friends have reported numerous occasions when Judson would be sitting with t...
Post a Comment
Read more