The final day of 2013 calls for some reflections.
2013 was a great year for me, both at school and at work. I re-contracted with my management agency (Gushcloud) for the second year and have attended many events in the year itself, leading me to meeting so many people. I have also plucked up tremendous courage to go for many movie auditions, which helped me overcome my fear of filming. I have given up too many opportunities for various roles and I can safely say that I am now open to the idea of acting.
Uni life was nothing but a whirlwind for me - with never-ending projects, essays and exams to study for. Guess I lost count of the number of times that I ranted about how busy I am. I switched my studies from full-time to part-time to cope with the amount of things I was juggling all at once - from university, my marketing stint at Mirage Flowers, freelance writing, blogging and modeling. Some people in school made it all a little better, and even though I know it would be hard for us to meet up since school has ended, we would always hold fond memories of how we managed to pull through it all together. In all, I really enjoyed my course in Murdoch University and that it is surely one of the best things I have accomplished for myself. However, I am honestly really glad that my time in school is finally over. I have been studying for too long, and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am so relieved that everything panned out just the way I would have wanted it to be. I am finally a graduate.
My work with Mirage Flowers ended prematurely, and even though it feels like a short period of time working with the brand - I am grateful for the opportunities that was presented to me during my stint and the people I came into contact with. I have learnt things the hard way, and am thankful for the grueling process from red-tape approvals, conceptualizing campaigns, outsourcing and the final executions. My time there has taught me a valuable lesson - to never question myself and always, always work hard in silence and let success be my noise. You will know that your work is valued when it is irreplaceable. (View my work here)
Speaking about work, I had many advertising collaborations in 2013, which saw the explosion of my wardrobe space (in a good way of course). Thank you to all my advertisers in the past year, for believing in me and my work. Thank you for the patience and understanding, even when my replies were delayed due to busy examination periods. It was a great joy meeting and working with all of you, and I genuinely hope that all those hours in shooting your products has translated into more exposure to your brands. Thank you for always sending me gorgeous stuff, and for slipping in gifts/cards/food into the packages to cheer me up at times. Thank you for showing so much kindness towards a stranger like me <3
Year 2013 also saw a roller coaster of emotions. I met W in 2012 and things rolled out smoothly at the start. We both possess such similar interests, and love doing everything together. For the second time, I introduced this person on social media as someone special to me. (I did it once a few years back and all my social media platforms were instantly hacked + deleted wtf). I have always been a rather cynical and pessimistic person when it comes to love. But, W was very patient with me and tried his best to "fix" me. I guess you could say that he did help me open up to the possibility of love, and opened my eyes to a world of positivity when we were together. In retrospect, he taught me so many valuable lessons - about life and how to look beyond the superficial. He taught me how to see the little details, to never compromise and settle for things. At the end of it, we could really look at each other with the comfort that we both of us did try our best to salvage things. With that, he will always be someone dear to me.
It was also in 2013 that I started modeling exclusively for a local brand, Young Hungry Free. I have enjoyed every single shoot with the kind owner, Winnie - who is an enterprising young lady and a person to look out for. I am humbled by how grounded she is when it comes to her work with the brand, and her never-ending energy to push on when the need arises. We share the same values about our work and it is truly a blessing to be part of this rising brand.
Last but not least, I would like to show my deep appreciation to all my readers here. Thank you for your endless support through the years. Thank you for all your encouraging emails, comments and physically coming down to support me during events. I hope you feel very welcomed through the conversations with you guys face-to-face - please do not hesitate to approach me when you see me, I am only human and what I do is just a job. I would love to meet all of you someday, to extend my gratitude personally and maybe erm, chat about random things.
Oh, and my new year resolution? To rise above the little things and make everyday count.