maniAC: An ACJC site

A-Level Results 2010: The Man On The Street

by Rach

For this A-Level Results 2010 maniAC special, I’ve chosen to interview Tan Zhi Hao, from 2SB3. With an unexpected 4As and a stage position, Zhi Hao was all smiles when I met him for the interview. Always hoping but never really expecting to get these amazing results, his first reaction when he was called to go on stage was literally “AHHHH!!!!”.

ZhiHao, Rach

His A-Level journey can be pretty much summed up in the next few lines. While studying, guilty pleasures included “Facebook and Soccer…[he] pretty much Facebooked the moment he got home until [he] fell asleep”. Indulgences aside, when the going got tough, here’s what kept him going:

“I found a motivating factor for me, that is in the people in school. You get to make new friends, and these are the people who push you on all the time.” And when asked which of the school values he identified with most, it was passion. It is crucial to find passion for the things you study, to drive you. “Because if you have no drive, A levels will just become a pain in the =).”

During the actual A levels, people were there for him to carry him through, encourage him…And he agreed to this interview to specifically thank Janice Yue. In his own words, “She kept motivating me…throughout the entire period, she was always there. And I wouldn’t trade a friend like her for anything.”

Post A levels, and no longer in AC, Zhi Hao misses the friends and the culture and basically the way everyone interacts in AC. And also….(I didn’t make this up), “Feminine interaction”. Yes Mr NS Man. (So AC boys, treasure your female school mates and don’t treat them like they are inferior!)

Prior to the release of results, Zhi Hao was a picture of calm, never having any dreams about it, just too tired from booking out of camp to think about anything.

Curious, I asked him what subject he looked at first, and which the last. “KI. Definitely KI. Chinese was the last, because I already knew what I would get for it. Haha!”

And Post A levels, Zhi Hao is hoping to apply for a place at NUS’ School of Engineering. More specifically, chemical engineering. With those 4As of his, I don’t think he would have much of a problem. A true ACSian who displays academic excellence while not neglecting his own health (playing sports in addition to studying), and most importantly, not neglecting but instead cherishing the people around him, building strong friendships that would last beyond a piece of paper or the walls of the college; I’d say Zhi Hao more than deserves his grades, and that ACJC has truly educated him well, beyond the knowledge found in textbook and lecture notes.

And we at ManiAC wish you all the best in your future endeavours. (: