Tuesday, September 23, 2008 / 10:23 PM
i think 'stressed out' is a very mild adjective to describe how i am feeling now.
Thursday, September 18, 2008 / 7:57 AM
finally back after MIA for such a long time.
been really busy nowadays. i think this sem is the busiest sem of my entire undergraduate life. the workload seems to surpass the workload i had when i was taking 6 modules.
even though i'm so busy that i have to sacrifice some of my sleeping time, i like the intellectual stimulation i got from the psychology classes. although a few of the theories seem absurd to me, it is really interesting to wonder how humans have develop over time. the lecturer for cognition is very good in bringing the concepts across, and it's rather fun actually to consider the opposing theories that try to explain the very fundamental cognitive functions of humans. forensic / correctional psychology highlights the importance of psychology in the practical setting. i actually feel tempted to enter that field after i have completed my bond with moe. i feel that a job in the prisons would be quite challenging.
and my thesis is back onto the track after so long. i finally know in which direction my thesis should go after being uncertain so such a long time.
first week of school and i realised ...
Friday, August 15, 2008 / 7:20 PM
i'm screwed. big time.
throughout the entire week, i don't have the motivation to do all my readings. so basically, i've only read about 10 pages for each module, when the amount of readings averages to about 100+ pages for each module. so, i just went to the seminar sessions with the meagre amount of knowledge i have for the topic of the week. so without doing much reading, it simply means that i have a lot of readings to do for the weekend.
even so, i enjoyed most of the sessions i went to. evolutionary psychology was very engaging because the prof posts very interesting questions which set the class thinking. he is also able to give many examples that we can relate to, which makes very intangible concepts easier to grasp. for cognition, i enjoyed the class even though i wasn't expected to do so. cfk is so funny and knowledgeable, despite many things which i've heard of him. except for the fact that i find his readings very difficult to read. the interesting lecture of all is the japanese class. i find the language difficult, and whenever i try to speak japanese, my pitch would automatically go higher by one note. it sounds as if i'm trying to act cute. (omg~) to end off the week, i had forensic/correctional psychology seminar. this field really sounds interesting. it sets me thinking of whether i should go into this field after my moe bond expires.
anyway, i met my prof before my academic week officially ends for me. the meeting made me depressed and anxious at the same time. i realised that i have a lot to do, but very limited time. to make things worse, my motivation has been dwindling even before real school work comes in.
tell me what should i do? is everyone like me, so jaded, depressed and tired?
national pride
/ 6:46 PM
it's not something that you can only find in national stadium or marina waterfront.
it can be felt in spontaneous settings. sometimes, it is found in mundane settings that you would never expect to feel national pride.
i was having dinner with my dad in the hawker centre just now. coincidentally,the tv was showing the table-tennis semi-finals match between Singapore and Korea. Singapore was represented by Feng Tianwei and Korea was represented by Park Mi Young. As this match was shown live on TV, everyone in the hawker centre was concerned how close Singapore is to her first Olympics gold medal.
As we were watching the match, it was to my surprise that everyone was cheering and clapping for the Singapore representative. mothers who were fetching their kids home for dinner stopped in their pace and grabbed a nearby seat in the hawker centre to finish watching the game. diners also periodically stopped putting food into their mouth when the game got exciting, not forgetting to cheer loudly before going back to their chicken rice. stall owners came out of their stall to watch the game without leaving at least one employee in the stall to tend to business. when Feng scored a point, everyone cheered and clapped loudly. when the Feng lost a round, everyone sighed in unison. during the game, everyone's eyes were glued to the LCD tv.
i don't think which aspect of this scene touches me, but i was really moved when i saw everyone cheering for Feng with the same goal in their minds. i think everyone is really hoping that Singapore will get its first-ever Olympics gold medal.
how i wish i had taken a picture of that scene.
olympic fever
Monday, August 11, 2008 / 9:45 PM
i've cooped myself up these few days watching the olympics. i watch mostly basketball games, since it is a game i know most about.
let me salute to these players. i'm awed by their skills.
Tina Thompson (USA)
Lisa Leslie (USA)
Alba Torrens (Spain)
when stress transforms into insomnia = whining
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 / 12:33 AM
it's 12.34am, and here i am typing this entry after i've only slept for 2 hours and couldn't sleep anymore.
i'm not someone who suffers from insomnia on a regular basis. in fact, if there's an illness of sleeping too much, i think i have a higher chance of getting this illness than to suffer from insomnia. and if i'm getting insomnia right now, it's a big deal for someone who sleeps on an average of 8-10 hours.
what's causing this rare phenomenon? there are a few possible reasons:
1) there's too much work on my mind. to be precise, it's my thesis. technical problems here and there. refining the procedure and questionnaire etc. and limited time. oh yeah, how can i forget the fact that i've did nothing for my literature review?
2) the reading list for each of my module scares me. and the funny thing is i'm only taking 3 modules next sem, yet i'm freaked out by the reading list.
3) my shoulder-ache of my right shoulder.
4) my muscle-ache of my legs from jogging for the past 2 days. (with great stress comes great stamina and muscle-aches)
5) the 3 ulcers in my mouth
in conclusion, i can only derive that the ultimate culprit is STRESS. because my shoulder-ache is usually induced by stress.
and i am not alone. many of the year 4s are going crazy over their studies even before the lectures have started. i think out of every five year 4s, four of them are busy whining and complaining about their workload, and are bitching to and turning to each other for physical and mental support. the last one has gone into a state of shock and thus is incapable of voicing any complains.
forgive my cynicism, it's the effect of the lack of sleep.
"why should i hire you?"
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 / 9:01 PM
this is a very practical article on how to handle this question in interviews.
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=1569&SiteId=cbmsnhp41569&sc_extcmp=IV_1569_home1>1=23000&cbRecursionCnt=1&cbsid=16dde3002236424ba79fa62af62766bd-270637171-wq-6
although interviews are supposed to test on one's spontaneous response, i believe that one can prepare for interviews.
this reminds me of the interview i went for the moe scholarship. i'm glad that i actually tried to prepare for the interview, because some of the questions i prepared for actually came out. the thing about interview is that no matter how unstructured the interview is, there are always some basic questions the interviewer will always ask you on. the best is to be creative with your response and leave a (positive) memorable impression.
just my two-cent worth of thought on this issue of interviews.
1 comments
posted by Y o u !