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DAY IN A LIFE OF A STUDENT IN 2100 ...................................................................................................................................... Mozart played beautifully, and at the end, instead of standing up and acknowledging the applause, he yelled... "ZEE! Time to wake up!!" My head jerked up, my eyes flew open and instantly, I regretted my reflex actions. The bright strong sunlight that bathed my glass room penetrated deep onto my being and tempted to blind me - my fault actually, for not finding out the direction of the sunrise before I planned on the position of my suspended bed. I stretched my body, like a cat eager for some action. Except that I was neither a cat nor was I eager for any action. The crumpled bedsheet was beginnning to threaten me with bed sores and therefore, I reluctantly pushed myself from the bed. In a sitting position, I glanced at my digital clock and with a cry of dismay, realised that I was late. Not mere minutes late, but a full hour for my morning lecture. Hurriedly, I pushed a button at the side of the bed and out comes a tray from within. On it, nicely arranged were my electric toothbrush, a flat dish of flouride paste and a damp facecloth. I reached over to my side table and grabbed one of the many remote controls in a weaved basket. As my right hand searched for the right remote control, my left was busy applying the flouride paste on my toothbrush. At the same time, my right leg stretched out and pulled a latch open on the floor, about half a metre away from me. With my right toe, I pressed a button and from the opening on the floor, an impressive looking monitor folded itself up and mechanically, on a thin metal pole and a slim table, the monitor 'rises' and stopped at a comfortable position from my upper torso. The screen on the monitor was blank, and while brushing my teeth and still searching for the right remote control, I nudged the only button on the monitor with my nose. Instantly, there was a BEEP! and the screen came alive. There was a slight static noise and knowing that I had to wait at least a minute for the screen to refresh, I completed my morning routine in peace. Or at least, I tried to. Years of practice had somehow perfected this series of simultaneous actions of preparing myself ready in the morning. Finally, just as I was done with my oral hygiene, I located the remote control that I was looking for. I glanced at the door, the only complete opaque material in my glass room. As my room was suspended high from the rest of the house, I had no worries of peeping toms and nosy neighbours. Long before my family and I decided to move to our state-of-the-art house, I had already decided on having my own glass room, away from the chaos and normalities of the world around me. The lessons that I took in my design course had come in handy in designing this glass room. A quick look towards the main house would reveal whomever was coming up to my room, and should I want to avoid any visitors, I would simply blocked the access to my room by pushing a button. The staircase that was the linking bridge between my glass room and the main house would folded in nicely underneath the base of my glass room. Behind the door, there was a full length mirror. Looking at myself, still staying where I was, I ran my hand through my wild hair and a moment later, declared myself fit to be seen by others. Then, I stretched my right hand behind me and press a button on the remote control. Immediately, a partition from the floor began to unfold against the glass wall behind me. The motif of the partition was that of a typical classroom in the 80s - a wall of pin-up posters, a bookcase and a few metal desks and chairs. BEEP! There went the screen again, this time prompting me to key in my password, which I did while grabbing my portable Wacom tablet and a sensor pen. A few moments later, after verifying my password and student identification number, the smug face of my Design Fundamental lecturer, Mr Lim, came alive on the screen. "Ah yes, Zee...thank you for joining us," he began. I smiled timidly and began to navigate my way around, using my tablet and my sensor pen. I saw that most of my coursemates were already there - logged in an hour ago no doubt. I smiled to a few of them, and got a few winks and yawns in return. Turning back to Mr Lim, I said, "Morning, sir. Sorry for being late..." "Again...?" he asked, a smile twitching on his thin lips. "Uh...I suppose so..." I stammered, knowing full well that I was in hot soup. "Hmm..I have to remind you that this is your third time this week logging in late for class. How do you suppose I am going about that?" Mr Lim asked. Getting no reply from me, he continued, "I'm sorry, Zee. I cannot ignore this. You will have to report back to the Adminstration Office and make an appointment to see your Course Manager. I shall inform your Care Person that I will have to terminate your access to this course. Perhaps, I see you next semester..?" he said, his smile now full-blown and from ear to ear. What kind of a lecturer is that? I knew deep down that Mr Lim took great satisfaction in terminating students' access to his design courses. I sighed loudly and a while later, the screen went BEEP! and then blank. I groaned out loud and threw myself back to my bed. Great! I mutterred to myself. Now, I had to get up, dress up and leave the comfort of my glass room to make a trip to Temasek Polytechnic and make an appointment to see the Course Manager. I toyed with my bedsheet while my brain scanned a few possibilities on what reasons should I present to my Course Manager for logging in late for classes. Coming up with none a few mintues later, I sighed again and forced myself to get up and be ready. Deep
down, I prayed hard that the Course Manager would be lenient on me, and
would allow me to continue my studies at the polytechnic without having
to leave my glass room - something that I had not done since I entered
life as a design student in Temasek Polytechnic 2 and half years ago.... -ZEE
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