Sunday, November 28, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
// life is about removing obstacles//
In life, the amount of obstacles can perhaps, be illustrated by an exponential curve.
For now, I think I'm somewhere near the part of the curve where the gradient is maximum.
Great, it means there's even more to come.
At least, I predict that initial steps into the working world would coincide with the point of steepest gradient.
Somehow, I feel students are still more fortunate than working adults, as we are still given the chance to make errors and most importantly be forgiven.
As we still have the right to request for things we need, which the school would provide us with.
As least, for my school, it works this way.
In future, I can't imagine how difficult life would be, with more exposure to the ugly side of human nature.
Recently, I met some obstacles, some of which I managed to resolve with immense patience. Imagine 50 tries (or it might be even more, I can't remember) for an online test, unitl the time I managed to get 85% correct for all the questions.
Even if I didn't manage to do it before the deadline, I know that I can always request for a longer deadline or seek help from peers.
I guess, the satisfaction of passing the test on my own is enticing.
For some other greater obstacles, well all I had to do was to ask around and fortunately I asked the 'correct' people who were kind enough to point me to the correct source, without any sign of impatience. I kept reminding myself not to take their kindness, even in the smallest way, for granted.
Another thing I felt I did right is dealing with some psych group mates.
It all began when we had to do a group presentation on a paper and my group consisted of 2 psych majors and 1 exchange student.
Well, thanks to the exchange student who apparently overslept, we were not able to proceed with the presentation on the day itself.
The prof kindly asked if we want to continue without her part or present the week after, without any penalisation.
Without even consulting my opinion, the 2 of them told him next week, in addition, becuz the exchange student will be going off for her trip around SouthEast Asia, we would need to re-divide our parts in order to cover her part.
Days passed and I did not hear from the 2 of them about how to redistribute our parts.
4 days before the presentati0n, I e-mailed both, suggesting a way to redistribute the parts, but did not get a reply.
Finally, on the night 2 days before the presentation, I smsed one of them.
And she said she had decided how to go about it and had told the other in the morning of that day.
I was the third speaker and the exchange student was supposed to be the last speaker, they had decided to push back the sequence such that one of the parts originally covered by me would be given to the second speaker while I would retain the other part plus, take on the part which was originally the exchange students'.
The reason why I had to cover her part: Both of them are busy with quizzes.
Imagine my horror!
Well, I know that being psych majors who have to present for almost every module, last minute, impromptu presentations are a small feat for them.
I was aghasted by the fact that they generalise their ability to engin students, or students like me.
Also they simply assumed that I'm more free than them.
Or that I'm a total pushover.
Anyway, I definitely couldn't take that lying down, and tried my best to explain objectively (it was really difficult, with mounting anger) to them.
The main point being that I wouldn't have minded to take on an extra part if they had told me earlier, as I wasn't a good speaker and needed time to prepare.
But since they 'assigned' it to me one and a half days before the presentation, I have no choice but to take it, regardless if I had a quiz on the very next day.
Luckily, my words appealed to their sympathy or perhaps fear that I wouldn't do a good job and drag the group down.
In the end, the one who selected this topic decided to cover the extra part instead.
Anyway, I'm still amazed by how some people can just push work to other people.
Since they did not insist on pushing it to me, I guess, they weren't really that bad.
I'm sure I have not seen the worse.
In life, the amount of obstacles can perhaps, be illustrated by an exponential curve.
For now, I think I'm somewhere near the part of the curve where the gradient is maximum.
Great, it means there's even more to come.
At least, I predict that initial steps into the working world would coincide with the point of steepest gradient.
Somehow, I feel students are still more fortunate than working adults, as we are still given the chance to make errors and most importantly be forgiven.
As we still have the right to request for things we need, which the school would provide us with.
As least, for my school, it works this way.
In future, I can't imagine how difficult life would be, with more exposure to the ugly side of human nature.
Recently, I met some obstacles, some of which I managed to resolve with immense patience. Imagine 50 tries (or it might be even more, I can't remember) for an online test, unitl the time I managed to get 85% correct for all the questions.
Even if I didn't manage to do it before the deadline, I know that I can always request for a longer deadline or seek help from peers.
I guess, the satisfaction of passing the test on my own is enticing.
For some other greater obstacles, well all I had to do was to ask around and fortunately I asked the 'correct' people who were kind enough to point me to the correct source, without any sign of impatience. I kept reminding myself not to take their kindness, even in the smallest way, for granted.
Another thing I felt I did right is dealing with some psych group mates.
It all began when we had to do a group presentation on a paper and my group consisted of 2 psych majors and 1 exchange student.
Well, thanks to the exchange student who apparently overslept, we were not able to proceed with the presentation on the day itself.
The prof kindly asked if we want to continue without her part or present the week after, without any penalisation.
Without even consulting my opinion, the 2 of them told him next week, in addition, becuz the exchange student will be going off for her trip around SouthEast Asia, we would need to re-divide our parts in order to cover her part.
Days passed and I did not hear from the 2 of them about how to redistribute our parts.
4 days before the presentati0n, I e-mailed both, suggesting a way to redistribute the parts, but did not get a reply.
Finally, on the night 2 days before the presentation, I smsed one of them.
And she said she had decided how to go about it and had told the other in the morning of that day.
I was the third speaker and the exchange student was supposed to be the last speaker, they had decided to push back the sequence such that one of the parts originally covered by me would be given to the second speaker while I would retain the other part plus, take on the part which was originally the exchange students'.
The reason why I had to cover her part: Both of them are busy with quizzes.
Imagine my horror!
Well, I know that being psych majors who have to present for almost every module, last minute, impromptu presentations are a small feat for them.
I was aghasted by the fact that they generalise their ability to engin students, or students like me.
Also they simply assumed that I'm more free than them.
Or that I'm a total pushover.
Anyway, I definitely couldn't take that lying down, and tried my best to explain objectively (it was really difficult, with mounting anger) to them.
The main point being that I wouldn't have minded to take on an extra part if they had told me earlier, as I wasn't a good speaker and needed time to prepare.
But since they 'assigned' it to me one and a half days before the presentation, I have no choice but to take it, regardless if I had a quiz on the very next day.
Luckily, my words appealed to their sympathy or perhaps fear that I wouldn't do a good job and drag the group down.
In the end, the one who selected this topic decided to cover the extra part instead.
Anyway, I'm still amazed by how some people can just push work to other people.
Since they did not insist on pushing it to me, I guess, they weren't really that bad.
I'm sure I have not seen the worse.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
//bored//
Your Colors Say You Are Hopeful |
 When you are at peace, you are: Energized and innovative When you are moved to act, you are: Confident and optimistic When you are inspired, you are: Creative and productive When your life is perfectly balanced, you are: Totally in the moment Your life's purpose is: To find contentment |
Your Favorite Color Says You're Sympathetic |
 Balanced --- Relaxed --- Flexible Compassionate --- Philosophical --- Humble Loyal --- Inventive --- Unique |
Your Friendship Style is Independent |
 You love your friends, but you don't always need them as much as they need you. You like to do your own thing. Sometimes this means taking a break from your friends and carving your own path. As long as your friends give you the space you need, you are happy to be there for them whenever you can. Your friends lean on you for advice and problem solving. You tend to be "the rock." You and an Empathetic Friend: Go well together. Your Empathetic Friend understand and accepts you... but may be too needy sometimes. You and a Gregarious Friend: Get along well, as long as your Gregarious Friend is happy to only see you occasionally. You and another Independent Friend: Have a love / hate thing going on. When you agree, things are blissful. However, more often than not, you butt heads. You and a Philosophical Friend: Are somewhat a matter of opposites attract. You're both thinkers, but you think very differently. |
You Are An INFP |
 The Idealist You are a creative person with a great imagination. You enjoy living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close to you. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak |
Friday, November 05, 2010
// what is happiness //
some lecturers are just not worth going to.
my rate of writing is just much slower than the rate of words coming out of lecturer's mouth.
i mean, if the terms the lecturer used are familiar and relatively simple to process,
i wouldn't need to think twice about its spelling and what he/she is trying to convey.
some lecturers are good even if they speak fast, in the sense that they speak in a way that is writer-friendly.
by which i mean that u could write down exactly the words they say and be able to process them in your brain at the same time.
other lecturers, well, they beat around the bush and you sort of need a much longer time to understand what they say before you put them into ur own words.
Also, it depends on the level of difficulty and number of jargons in a particular module.
Some modules, well, they just make no sense to me.
esp those which you need to construct images in your mind in order to understand.
well i'm bad at that.
esp if it's about electrons jumping and such.
it's torturous.
anyway, i'm really curious about some people.
those who excel in more than one field.
or i should say, those who changed their paths in drastic manner, e.g from science to business, from military to entertainment.
do they have the same passion for both fields?
well maybe some really do, and that's great.
but i often notice that some actually followed the first path, even though they did not like it, as long as it can be a stepping stone to achieve a final objective they want.
In a simpler example, studying science in A levels even though they are not in the least bit interested but they manage to do well enough to get into the course they really like (business or communication studies or drama studies)
Maybe they are really smart.
But what I admire them (cuz I could never do it) is that they could tolerate those years of doing sth they do not like at all.
And what's more, they excel in it.
If it were me, i wouldn't be able to tolerate it.
Even worse, some people go into a field becuz of money.
Like all the rage about accounting and finance...
I don't understand how these people can do something well without passion for it,
but passion for something it can brings - monetary rewards.
yes, i do not deny money can bring immense happiness through material gains like things you can buy with money.
there is a cliched saying that the happiness money can bring is temporary, which i would beg to differ, afterall, with technology and fashion trends changing as fast as the weather, as long as one has a constant supply of money, one's happiness can be permanent, (provided, of course one is also healthy)
but superficial, because that kind of happiness is derived from feeling superior to others because of something you have externally.
hence, in my opinion, the difference between doing sth with or without passion is the extent of happiness it can bring.
Passion would bring about happiness at a deeper level.
The kind of happiness that invigorates the spirit.
The kind of happiness that you derive from feeling superior to others because you know you have much more passion than them in every single second of the day, be it during studying or working.
This happiness is what I crave, or unfortunately lack of.
Though i wouldn't say that i have zero interest in my course, but i'm already questioning, exactly how much passion do I have?
Half-heartedness begets regrets, i feel.
If you go into a field where you do not have interest in, then what's the point?
On the other hand, it is not easy to find something that you are totally passionate about.
some lecturers are just not worth going to.
my rate of writing is just much slower than the rate of words coming out of lecturer's mouth.
i mean, if the terms the lecturer used are familiar and relatively simple to process,
i wouldn't need to think twice about its spelling and what he/she is trying to convey.
some lecturers are good even if they speak fast, in the sense that they speak in a way that is writer-friendly.
by which i mean that u could write down exactly the words they say and be able to process them in your brain at the same time.
other lecturers, well, they beat around the bush and you sort of need a much longer time to understand what they say before you put them into ur own words.
Also, it depends on the level of difficulty and number of jargons in a particular module.
Some modules, well, they just make no sense to me.
esp those which you need to construct images in your mind in order to understand.
well i'm bad at that.
esp if it's about electrons jumping and such.
it's torturous.
anyway, i'm really curious about some people.
those who excel in more than one field.
or i should say, those who changed their paths in drastic manner, e.g from science to business, from military to entertainment.
do they have the same passion for both fields?
well maybe some really do, and that's great.
but i often notice that some actually followed the first path, even though they did not like it, as long as it can be a stepping stone to achieve a final objective they want.
In a simpler example, studying science in A levels even though they are not in the least bit interested but they manage to do well enough to get into the course they really like (business or communication studies or drama studies)
Maybe they are really smart.
But what I admire them (cuz I could never do it) is that they could tolerate those years of doing sth they do not like at all.
And what's more, they excel in it.
If it were me, i wouldn't be able to tolerate it.
Even worse, some people go into a field becuz of money.
Like all the rage about accounting and finance...
I don't understand how these people can do something well without passion for it,
but passion for something it can brings - monetary rewards.
yes, i do not deny money can bring immense happiness through material gains like things you can buy with money.
there is a cliched saying that the happiness money can bring is temporary, which i would beg to differ, afterall, with technology and fashion trends changing as fast as the weather, as long as one has a constant supply of money, one's happiness can be permanent, (provided, of course one is also healthy)
but superficial, because that kind of happiness is derived from feeling superior to others because of something you have externally.
hence, in my opinion, the difference between doing sth with or without passion is the extent of happiness it can bring.
Passion would bring about happiness at a deeper level.
The kind of happiness that invigorates the spirit.
The kind of happiness that you derive from feeling superior to others because you know you have much more passion than them in every single second of the day, be it during studying or working.
This happiness is what I crave, or unfortunately lack of.
Though i wouldn't say that i have zero interest in my course, but i'm already questioning, exactly how much passion do I have?
Half-heartedness begets regrets, i feel.
If you go into a field where you do not have interest in, then what's the point?
On the other hand, it is not easy to find something that you are totally passionate about.
Monday, November 01, 2010
// double 2 //
Very soon, I'll be crossing the double 2 mark.
Birthdays are really paradoxical;
on one hand, you always look forward to it.
on the other, it is dreaded becuz you are reminded to add one to your age.
Anyway, I guess I should be thankful for surviving the past year
and being able to celebrate another birthday this year.
After all, life's unpredictable, isn't it?
Anyway, the older one gets, the lesser one look forward to one's birthday probably holds true for me.
When I was young, I always suffered from insomnia on 1st nov, from being too excited about the next day.
In recent years, however, 1st nov had become a day when I wanted to sleep early but can't, all thanks to exams or assignment due the next day.
This year is no exception, I'm rushing out ppt slides for a presentation.
On another note, this year's celebration with my family made me felt sentimental, I don't know why... a sign of aging? haha.
Simply hearing the birthday song sung by my parents, sister and aunt made me felt that I'm still a child in my parents' eyes. Loved.
I wish...
Every year, my family can celebrate my birthday with me, everyone in good health.
Even though I don't meet up with some of my friends very often, I hope that they are happy wherever they are, in whatever they pursue.
Despite having poor episodic memory, I can still remember the experiences I had with them, including times of enjoyment (holidays) and suffering (exams).
World peace; even though there is not much I can do.
Very soon, I'll be crossing the double 2 mark.
Birthdays are really paradoxical;
on one hand, you always look forward to it.
on the other, it is dreaded becuz you are reminded to add one to your age.
Anyway, I guess I should be thankful for surviving the past year
and being able to celebrate another birthday this year.
After all, life's unpredictable, isn't it?
Anyway, the older one gets, the lesser one look forward to one's birthday probably holds true for me.
When I was young, I always suffered from insomnia on 1st nov, from being too excited about the next day.
In recent years, however, 1st nov had become a day when I wanted to sleep early but can't, all thanks to exams or assignment due the next day.
This year is no exception, I'm rushing out ppt slides for a presentation.
On another note, this year's celebration with my family made me felt sentimental, I don't know why... a sign of aging? haha.
Simply hearing the birthday song sung by my parents, sister and aunt made me felt that I'm still a child in my parents' eyes. Loved.
I wish...
Every year, my family can celebrate my birthday with me, everyone in good health.
Even though I don't meet up with some of my friends very often, I hope that they are happy wherever they are, in whatever they pursue.
Despite having poor episodic memory, I can still remember the experiences I had with them, including times of enjoyment (holidays) and suffering (exams).
World peace; even though there is not much I can do.
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