Chapter : Freedom

Man, so is this what freedom feels like? After working for the past month on my Master’s work resubmission, I’m DONE. FREE. Maybe I should run around naked to celebrate my freedom or something. Now, I have to wait for my results which I would only know on the 1st of September…hope that I will pass this time. 

Originally, my deadline for my resubmission was on the 31st of August but out of the blue my supervisor sent me an email saying that my resubmission date was pushed forward to the 26th of August and guess what, I found that piece of information on the 24th of August. Boy that certainly made my day.

So on the 25th I met up with my supervisor and she was amazed on how calm I looked. She said this to me, “Jessie, I’m amazed that you are so calm. If it was me, I would be panicking! I’m proud of you seeing how you handle this so well!”  

Then when she left for her class, I started listing down the things I have to do to prepare myself for my presentation in front of two examiners the next day. As I was listing, suddenly I started panicking and was like SHIT! Can I complete all these things on time?!! 

At that moment, my mom called (she read my Facebook status and was worried). So we started talking and she was asking me about my boyfriend. This is how she asks about him, “How’s things with you and your boy boy?” I find it amusing as she refers him as boy boy instead of boyfriend. Also, normally the term boy boy (in my books) meant a guy who is younger than you…well, he does look younger than me even though he is the older one.

Anyway, so my mom called to calm me down and gave me some encouragement (I love you, mom) but I guess these past months I’m closer to her because she calls me more often now. I always joke with her by saying,

You only call me when jie (older sister) is working or not free or the younger one (my brother) is at school or not answering your phone calls. I’m the last resort. (Insert dramatic sobs here)

To this she replied,

Excuse me young lady, your mother here call you just to talk to you. You think phone calls to Australia very cheap ar? (Chinese slang all the way!) Your mother misses her children okay, so far and only one to keep me company here in KL. 

How am I supposed to reply to that?

Moving on, the day of the presentation…I knew that one of my examiners is my lecturer that taught me before and the other was an external examiner that works in a games industry and is also teaching in the university part-time. I was nervous as hell and on top of that, I didn’t sleep a wink that night because I was rushing for my work. I texted my mom and my boyfriend that I was really nervous and my mom called me straight and the first thing she said to me, “Did you pray to God? If not, go pray and ask Him for encouragement.” 

Well, my mom is a religious person so I guess that was expected from her. After that, I called my boyfriend and talked to him for a while and I managed to calm down a little. Then while Kelsie was doing her presentation I was sitting in the corner reading through my little speech that I wrote down like moments ago which I didn’t even use it at all. When Kelsie’s presentation was done, it was my turn…my hands were shaking and I said a silent prayer, “Dear God, please help me get through this. Thank you.”

During the Q & A session, I was amazed that I could answer all the questions from the examiners and what really made my day was one of the examiners (my lecturer) actually liked my game concept! Compared to my previous presentation with a different set of examiners (the first time) they said that it wasn’t even worth doing. So that really meant a lot to me. 

Now that I’m finally free, I should start doing all the stuffs that I have neglected...reading, drawing, playing games and my freelance. In few weeks time, I would be back in KL. I just can’t wait!