Basket.

I did on occasion think, last year, that I might miss school life once everything was said and done. This was despite the endless frustrations, worries and troubles it dumped on me virtually daily, coupled with omniscient exam stress and more than my share of personal problems.

For three months I was able to avoid dwelling on this topic, except during periodic fits of insomnia. And it was definitely the last thing on my mind throughout much of last year, as I struggled with difficulties on all fronts - a lot of the time, all at once too. I know I wished plenty that it would just all end and I could live a carefree life without worries.

But now that all is said and done, I realise that I do indeed miss school life, with all its idiosyncracies, and miss it quite a bit. The odd thing is, it's only starting to bite now.

Having got my absolute freedom for a week, I found myself wishing at times I had something to do. An essay to write, maybe. Or - God Forbid - a maths assignment? I didn't dare go that far.

Not unnaturally, what I miss most has to be the companionship. To be able to go to school everyday and see familiar faces and know that (ok, most of the time at least) your friends would be there. Much of my school life, especially the past two years, it was about the only thing that kept me going. Somehow I never formed as strong a bond with my BMT section as with my JC class, even though we almost literally did everything together. Which is longer, after all? Three months or two years? And it's not like A01C never suffered together.

I realise what a wonderful classroom environment we had going. Especially during GP or Econs lessons. Plenty of wisecracks, laughter, banter, the occasional dirty joke. I don't think we learned anything much, but it certainly was good times. Definitely an experience I miss.

We still meet up fairly often, more often than most classes, I suspect, but what I really miss is being able to see everyone everyday. Swap jokes, empathise, gossip, pull silly pranks on each other or just have a serious conversation for once... with school over it seems there is less to talk about these days.

Then there are other things I miss about school. Like my CCAs, especially HISSOC. I know I complained a great deal all the times we had to stay back late and get work done (which was plenty), but now I miss those times. I now realise how memorable they were and what fun we had, even as the work frustrated us and left us utterly deadbeat. For sure, I'll always remember RMUN. Both 2003 and 2004. And so many other things too - from SS Week to even J1 interviews.

In a sense, I'll even miss homework. Those late nights spent banging out an essay (or two, or three) were, I now realise, as close as I could ever get to complete peace. Everyone else asleep and my light the only one left on the whole street - it certainly was serene. Just me, my word processor and my music.

I think I can quite sincerely say that, despite Aaron Loh's views to the contrary, despite all the incredibly tiny yet annoying daily frustrations, despite the full weight of the academic burden, despite the constant struggle against some thing(s) or another, the two years of JC were the best of my life. So far, of course.