The Journey of Seven Psychos

When a journey ends, what the public often sees is the end product of the said journey. They have no idea what happened in between... I think the most important part of the journey is not only the beginning nor the end, but also the "process" to how an individual got to the end.
Our journey was not a path lined with roses, rather, it was an obstacle course that tested every fiber of our patience and willpower. Our journey started the day after the picture you see above. That day we celebrated our beloved Ange's birthday and the success of our Pinning Ceremony. It was the beginning of our journey as Fourth year Psychology students.
What the seven of us have endured goes beyond mere words. I'm guessing the lower years who saw us gathering in the canteen must've thought that we're quite a merry bunch, they only saw our smiles, but they had no idea that we were there eating our troubles away (haha!). What have we gone through??? Fourth year life is a war zone, but it never took away our sense of humor nor did it suck the joy from our lives. How did we survive it? Easy, we worked bloody hard. We didn't party, we studied (crammed on some days). What's our secret? FOOD (haha). Really, mostly ice-cream- we usually drown our sorrows with trips to Pipo's or just your regular Magnolia ice-cream.
The hard part of the journey is practically over for us. We're done with the Oral Defense. We were all there for each other when we had our respective Oral Defenses and well, we were pretty damn happy to hear that all seven of us made it.
So you see, that is what the public saw during the Research Forum today, when we presented our studies. They saw the end product from months of work toiling restlessly, burning the midnight oil, and praying to God plus all the saints and (soon to be canonized saints) in heaven that our study will be approved . They did not see our moments of paranoia, insomnia, and etc.- we're lucky we didn't end up in a psych ward... though we did have our moments.
Anyway, my point here is, the war zone was intense, it was a tough battle, none of us came out unscathed- I think we aged in the process we're old waaaaaaaahhh...... Digressing aside, it's actually a fun and trying experience at the same time, but as I said during the Pinning Ceremony no journey would be worth it without the other six people who shared it with me.

So for would-be researchers and incoming Fourth year students, remember these rules in surviving your senior year and thesis making.
1. Pick a partner you can work with- someone who is truly dependable. Someone who can motivate you and probably scare you to work. (haha)
2. If you do not have a partner. Kudos! all you have to worry about is to manage your time well.
3. Never underestimate the time alloted for revisions or data gathering. Just work on it right away- never and I mean never dawdle.
4. Listen and never argue with your adviser or panelists
5. LOVE your study. get to know your study soo well you can talk about it in your sleep ( that happened to me by the way)
6. Oh... really, the Oral Defense isn't that hard. It only becomes hard if you don't know your study that well. so again go back to no. 5- love your study.
7. Pick a good school / company for your internship. 200 hours is a looooooooong time so better find a place that won't feel like prison, pick a place where you might like to work and learn bla bla.
8. Pass requirements on time, never be absent...
9. Keep all your certificates from seminars (you'll need them)
10. Eat ice-cream. Really it does wonders for one's shattered sanity.

When all else fails, pls approach your Guidance Counselor.