In My Sister's Eyes.

"So lucky you," my sister said when she found out I had three days off for Deepavali. This was not the first time I had heard the phrase, as she had said those same words when she found out that I was off for PMR week. On this side, however, I was thinking exactly the opposite thing, as I wanted to go back to school.

For my sister, holidays meant no school. One could get up whenever one liked, do work whenever one liked, and sleep whenever one liked. There would be no homework to do from school, no rush to make sure that one is on time for school and there would be access to the television, ASTRO and potentially the computer.

For her, there was nothing more fun than no school. It meant freedom from the system, to do anything one wanted. Sure, it meant no seeing friends and the like, but what can be more fun than just relaxing the whole day for an eight year old?

On top of all this, she hadn't had the entire UPSR week off, unlike me, who had the entire PMR week, plus an extra day. Chinese medium school typically take the ninth day of Chinese New Year or the fifteenth day of Chinese New Year and the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month off (Ninth day of Chinese New Year : Bai Tien Gong, or Birthday of the Jade Emperor. Fifteenth day of Chinese New Year : Chap Goh Mei. Fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month : Mooncake Festival). Thus, she had already had had her days off, but three days at once is nothing like three days by themselves. A stretch meant that the argument for more privileges is stronger, as one may say that the day when one has to return to school is much later, and thus, the number of days one may get distracted may be increased.

For me, however, I just wanted to go back to school. Form 6, as it already is, is hard enough. I can study at home, but in school, there are teachers who can (and normally do) teach something new. Then, there are my classmates, who remind me of the need to study. Going to school meant that I would gain knowledge about something I didn't already have knowledge about, improve my technique when it comes to answering questions and also allow me to practise what I already knew. Unlike what I should be doing, I don't practise much at home, so when there are "small tests" at school, STPM conditions are stimulated : the type of questions, the environment, the time pressure. Everything. Well, almost everything.

Then, of course, is the fact that I had already taken too many days off. There was the PMR week (as I mentioned earlier) and a week before that, there was the mid-term break. Then there was my Deepavali holiday. If you ask me, there were just too many holidays, too close to the exam. I wanted to go back to school to practise, to learn, maybe pick up some tips along the way. Unlike most people, I don't go for tuition at all. As such, the school is the only place I get my formal education, and my only source of STPM compliant questions.

Even amongst my friends who do go for tuition, the common consensus was that they wanted to go back to school instead of just studying at home. We could practice doing biology questions in school, discuss past year chemistry papers in school and practice doing maths in school. My batch is on the small side, so the dynamics might be different, but so far, the attendance has been good, due partly to the fact that something is done in school and that there is a computer in the class which is more often than not, misused.

Now, however, attendance is no longer taken (we are considered on study leave), so I expect that the number of Upper Sixers going to school will drop accordingly. I still hope that some people turn up, but from my experience of group study, more often that not, the studying will be everything but that in the STPM syllabus. Probably with fewer people, I will finally find the nerve to ask my teachers some questions and get some answers , without having to fight with my classmates for time.

But I digress. Going back to the original topic, I think it is really up to one's view when one thinks about holidays. In my sister's eyes, it is a chance to rest and relax, with academic pursuits put away temporarily. In most of the average student's eyes, it is a chance to study, unhindered by the wants of their teachers. In my eyes and those of a select few, however, holidays are a hindrance for further learning.