Open Season in the Mountains

There will often come a time when we are stripped of our personal protection gear, to be held hostage or as an open target for others - more often than not, those people whom we are inferior to, and almost automatically cower in fear due to this vulnerability felt in their mere presence - to open fire at us, at least in the form of words. I say words, because "verbal abuse" would be too over the top, with no reflection over the true situation and, decidedly, very much unjust especially if said words are most deserving to the recipient. God Forbid notwithstanding!

Clinical exams are one thing, viva is another. Speaking from past experience in third year - not much, but sufficient to quote to prove one's point - as one stood with the examiner, it felt as if the rest of the ward melted away to a state of nothingness; a mere backdrop, and whatever sound, movements and hustling about faded to make room for the one who would decide if the student before him/her was competent and knowledgeable enough to pass and move on to the next stage. Although one may be able to still stand properly and tread away with a normal gait, these are no helpful indicators of the nervousness that permeated throughout one's internal milieu; indeed, tachypnoea, diaphoresis, tremor, pre-hypertensive blood pressure readings, chest pain, headaches, aberrant patterns on ECG, and some other deviation from the accepted standard of normalcy within the medical field may very well manifest themselves.

A form of adrenaline rush that had never failed to knock one over regardless of his or her own preparation prior to the event.

But there is another! It's the season for campus politics again, and since last year showed a number of "winning without contesting", I'd say I'm out of practice from all this voting business. Yes, I am guilty of not voting in the country's recent general election - when was it again? - but there is _some_ likelihood that I would be participating in the campus's attempt at democracy, yet I am not hoping much, given the sort of administration we are rather unlucky to have at the helm of things (especially when it comes to student welfare and...rights). While we may have capable representatives, with their somewhat limited powers bestowed by the administration, I find it rather difficult to expect that great changes are abound. Forgive me for this bitter scepticism - history had taught me that it is easier to be pessimistic the entire way rather than to face disappointment after an episode of blind(?) hopefulness.

I might be unfair in initially expecting a mountain of changes that would make our lives on campus more tolerable; humans are so full of hopes, but how far do we actually work to achieve those ends? Alternatively, how far are they achievable given the state of things we are in?

The point is: No longer do I personally harbour such mountainous hopes, as we cannot possibly expect _anyone_ to move mountains in a limited time span, so here's to hoping that whatever hopes that people _do_ have would be mountable enough for the time being.

As for my own lack of faith and my occasional tendency to make a mountain out of a molehill...somebody prove me wrong.

Current Music: Psychological Recovery...6 Months - Sherlock Holmes OST

P/s: Let it be said that I do have some degree of respect to the contenders, for their courage and willingness to shoulder such elusive a task - a necessary task that comes with its own set of difficulties and challenges. Whatever I stated above are mostly for my benefit rather than to point fingers at any specific parties *cough*. And this entry is by no means intended to scare anybody...May the best person win, and forget not that winning itself is never the definite end.

P/p/s: Revision weeks. They make you think weird things instead of doing what you're supposed to do...Sigh.