By Valerie Ng (25S06N)

The second most common phrase I hear nowadays is “need to lock in” – the first being “I’m so cooked” (and I secretly – well, not anymore – hate it). For those of you who have been so extremely blissfully ignorant about this phrase (and in turn, the reasons to “lock in”), the relatively new slang phrase means to focus and fully commit oneself to something, most commonly used in the context of academics.

This brings me to the question: what on earth is the obsession with the concept of “locking in”? This was a rhetorical question; of course I know what all the fuss is about.