Daryl Tay.net

2008 was an awesome year professionally (or as professional as you can get as a student), but I’m not sure the same can be said of my personal life.

The first six months were pretty crappy. Between trying to keep a club on its feet despite some members who were an absolute chore to manage, dealing with school (I got my lowest grades ever since my first term in SMU back in 2005) and a relationship that wasn’t working out, it wasn’t a pretty time.

The year began to really pick up in July when I headed back to MTV and the shenanigans that came with it and the great people I met and re-met. I wouldn’t consider myself a stranger to event management, coming from SMUBE, but it was a damn big eye-opener for me.

August was really a “goodbye” month. I enjoyed my birthday party immensely even though it was a much smaller affair than usual. August also was when very strange “seeds” were planted.

The rest of the year was spent overseas and I think that’s where things really got good. It wasn’t like I was in a huge city with lots of partying, but it was a really good time to be myself and think about things. It was also when the seeds started to grow roots a little, and I wouldn’t say things are fully developed, but certainly they are developing.

There’s still a lot of feelings that are consistent with the opening period, but I definitely feel some things are different. I feel like my time in Canada taught me to control my emotions a little (people you meet for the first time aren’t going to take kindly to you blowing your top at everything possible) and that’s definitely overspilling to what’s happening now. It’s not that I don’t get upset, but I feel like I’m handling our disagreements relatively well, at least by my standards (even though they have been few and far between).

I think at the core of it, I have good timing to thank. If it were at a different point in either of our lives, I’m pretty sure nothing would have come out of it. Also I’m very surprised at the nature of our conversations. It’s definitely more open, emotionally, than any previous girl I’ve gone out with. Finally, I think it helps that we were (and are) genuine friends for a year before this, rather than heading straight into a romance. I think it’s turning out to be more serious than either of us had intended or imagined, but I’m not complaining.

That said we’re still rather different people. We both have lingering issues (but not baggage), and we’ve yet to hit a real conflict that we need to resolve. But for now, I think we’re both entering 2009 happy, and that’s something I’m thankful for.

This year, I really wanna keep being fairly good with money as I was in 2008. I’m revising my book target downwards to 20 (since I’ve never hit the target of 30 for three years running), and I’m gonna really try to exercise. The big G (graduation) is also looming. I’ve pledged to myself that nothing (money, peer pressure etc) is going to get me to accept a job that I will not be happy doing. I don’t want to make the same mistake so many others have.

This year also has a first ever wedding of a friend. I think that is going to be the absolute highlight of the ear.

So that’s it for me. Thanks for being part of 2008 with me and I’m hoping 2009 (which has started off well) will continue to be just awesome and end fantastically.