Have you ever wondered what draws people to the humble space called the void deck? Children running around, teenagers playing soccer at the void deck, the elderly relaxing, funerals and weddings – all of these at the void deck.

The void deck reminds of the past, informs you of the present and predicts the future. You can see the trends, hear the lingo and feel the vibe of a moment in a time. 10 years ago, you can see teenagers strumming their guitar and hanging out. Now, you can see teenagers practising their hip hop dance there.

The void deck has taught me a lot of important life lessons. It taught me the value of friends. These friends are the ones you cry and laugh with. They will always be there when you feel down and you will always be them for them too.

It is captivating to see that the void deck is a mirror of society’s progress. I will never forget my time at the void deck.

I starred in amazement as I saw the demonstration given by my teacher. It was a cool software we were learning-the Adobe Photoshop. He was working on a picture of a woman-whose looks isn’t exactly “take my breath away” material. She had imperfections just like the most of us-eye bags, one too many pimples, fine lines etc.

Our aim? To make her beautiful using Photoshop.

And so, my teacher started erasing off her fine lines, eye bags, pimples, raising her nose bridge, expanding her eyes, elongating her neck, sharpening her jaw, etc. The final result was a woman who was more than just beautiful; she looked like a Greek goddess, the subject of envy and a far cry from her original looks.

At that moment, I felt the urge to scan my photo into the computer and use Photoshop to work on it. I mean, wouldn’t it be great if I could see how I would look with my features perfected? I always wanted a sharper nose, not a nose that looks like that of a pig’s especially when I smiled. I wanted thicker hair so that my hair doesn’t look like it’s thinning-especially when it’s long. I just wanted to see myself beautiful, can’t I?

However, I knew that if my photo went under the powerful tools of Photoshop, you know that the picture just isn’t real. We’re just making ourselves beautiful-according to the world’s standards, according to what the media tells us, according to how society defines it.

But I know that my worth is not determined by what I look like. No matter how cliché this sounds, it’s still what’s inside that count. Ever seen a beautiful girl getting uglier because of the vulgarities she spewed? Or an average looking girl glowing from the inside when she gave her seat up to an old grandma? So don’t despair if your looks aren’t worthy to be on magazine covers, cause not only does inner beauty outshine external attractiveness, it’s also the one that will never fade away.

No homework, no lessons, ample time to do whatever you want – bumming is probably the best job in the world. That is, if you could be paid a decent sum for it so that you could flag down a cab whenever you like or pay for that latest iPhone without having to scrimp and save.

Alas, we can’t all get paid for bumming so we’ve just got to snap out of it. But that doesn’t mean you’ve got to plunge into the next available job and drag your feet to work everyday. The key to making your transition from bumming to working easier lies in some soul-searching (which you could do while officially bumming after the ‘O’s).

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