The laughter of the block committee reverberated along the block’s compounds. I was in my room, working hard on an attempt to start on my revisions.

The semester is ending soon, like in a couple of weeks. In the past, this period was spent entirely focusing on unfinished tutorials, readings and lots of catching up. This year will be no different, except that it will mean checking out of hostel — suggesting a possible end to communal life. There were times when skeptical school-mates questioned if there’s even fun staying on campus. They drew quick connections of communal living to that of booking-in into army camps. It was true that they were very much similar, except that our friends’ focus were bordering on the negativity of  going back to school on a weekend.

It is not surprising to find them concocting a comprehensive list on how communal living can be detrimental, uncomfortable, limited and simply uncool. What they had listed were not completely untrue. But apart from all the pragmatic needs of life such as having the most comfy bed or the fastest broadband connections at home, staying in hall can mean differently for everyone.

Some applied for hall stay but were never around, it made their rooms so unpleasantly quiet that on occasional nights when they did appear, they were mistaken for ghosts. Conversely, there were those who never return home, for various reasons. It is exactly this myriad of people and cultures that made hall stay beautiful and interesting — just like being in the army.

There’s no need for me to talk about the negativity hall life can bring or has brought, anyone who have stayed in close proximity with a person can give a relatively similar account on the din their neighbours create at wee hours, how their shoes get stolen and how their underwear went missing.

Checking out of hostel will be sad. Not the kind which we will go depressingly sad over but the kind which we will be unwilling, unwilling to accept this unavoidable separation. It will take some luck for me to remain in hall next semester, but whatever it be. I enjoyed my stay as a Temasekian.

I wish I was up there laughing.