Brief Respite.

It's been exactly one week since the SRC elections, and one week since I lost out on the post of Deputy President. For some reason, though, it feels like it was much longer ago than that. I guess a lot has happened over these past seven days.

After election day, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my chest. I'd spent a week and a half campaigning with my team - staying back after class and coming to campus on the weekend to make and hang up banners and posters, giving political speeches, chatting people up - basically, putting all our energy into making sure we won the election.

As it turned out, half of the four election candidates on my team got elected to their posts, so I guess you could say it was worth our trouble. After my initial disappointment at losing, I soon realized that there were other ways to contribute to the MIU community even without being in a leadership position. I was at peace.

Returning to my hometown that weekend helped too. I hadn't gone home in three weeks (I usually do so every fortnight), and the warm, familiar surroundings of Ampang were a welcome relief from my recent dip into the dark pool of politics. Running for deputy president of the SRC had consumed me so much that I had been unable to focus on anything else, including my studies. Going home was, as always, like pressing a reset button - it helped me to temporarily clear my head of all the negativity that the outside world insists on feeding it.

I feel a lot better now - mentally and emotionally. Can't say there's too much difference here physically, though, since my hectic schedule forces me to miss lunch most days. Not playing any football at all doesn't help, either. But at least I can concentrate better on my studies, which is just as well since I have some assignments that need doing. I've also had to sit for four different midterms since last week, with another one possibly coming up next week.

This semester has been a heck of a ride so far, but there's still more to come. Even if I were to put aside the tests and assignments, there's still a major event coming up in the first week of December that I have to help coordinate. Things aren't really looking like letting up any time soon.

Well, at least I have the here and now. This brief respite from the drama of life in MIU is what enabled me to write this blog post, and I am thankful for that. Who knows when I would have found time to do so had I actually won that election.