Saturday, February 27, 2010

Port Dickson

Greetings,

Just came back from port dickson yesterday, the camp was enjoyable and fun at the same time. I get to know quite a number of people and manage to make some friends as well.

The transition camp that was held there basically helped us to get a grasp on what university life would be, especially when u're taking a stressful course like MBBS.

For some of the juniors or friends who are interested bout monash's curriculum, i would just briefly explain the difference between the curriculum in monash compared to some other unis.

It was quite shocking at first to know how the curriculum works, since it's quite different from the traditional curriculum implemented by most of the medicine universities.

Monash actually use a system called the integrated curriculum, in which we learn things through themes for that particular semester. For example , during sem 1. we have 4 themes, such as clinical skills, health promotion and etc etc. The MAJOR difference between integrated curriculum monash's using and other traditional curriculum is that we dont separate our curriculum like anatomy, physiology, histology, pathology etc etc, we learn all those together. The aim is to enable the students to be able to link the things we learnt effectively. Literally saying, all of these are actually integrated in one theme or so. That is why we only have 1 final paper in sem 1.

It hits us quite suddenly because most students were unaware bout the integrated curriculum matter. Some of the mbbs students actually wanted to quit the course.

Another difference is that we actually get to see real patient in our 1st year, which is quite cool as most unis only allow the students to do so in the 3rd year.

Most unis expose PBL ( problem based learning) to the students during the 3rd year as well. However, monash actually give quite an early exposure to 1st year med students for pbl. It's called PCL ( patient care learning) , i think this is good because the students can actually get a good grasp bout pbl when it comes to 3rd year.

This is what i get know in more details bout my course during the camp. Besides all these, i had some fun as well during the activites that were held.

There were several outdoor games, though it was bloody hot at port dickson, nevertheless it was quite enjoyable. I was in group G and we managed to get the 1st place for our presentation ( show on stage). We actually did our own version of "so u think u can dance". Kinda cool rite, XD. syok sendiri. =D

All of the groupmates have to dance on the stage when called upon ( which is rather embarassing). We get to be very creative since we have lots of style like medic style, octopus style, chinese opera style and so forth.

To sum things up, the camp actually served its purpose to get us prepared for our university life. So far so good la i guess, though the camp didnt really have the objective to get us stress up, but the way the lecturers keep mentioning bout competency and all is actually kinda stressful. But i think the main reason is that quite a number of students actually take down notes during talks and speeches at the camp.

WTF

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Life So Far

Greetings,

As many of you who read my blogs would know i'm already doing medic in monash now. I moved in to a condo called lagoonview two days ago. I'm still pretty unfamiliar bout this place, i'm sure i know better once i get to explore more of this place.

There isnt really much difference (i mean the experience) coming out to study compared to the one i had when i was doing my A level in taylors. The major difference is that this time i dont have anyone / any friends from my hometown to come with me. I started out alone. During A level, i had alvin and andy . We bought groceries together, have meals together, exercise and all, at least it's not too boring and u have someone to talk to at night...

Well, the good thing is that i managed to know some of my housemates here in my unit. After some brief introductions and having lunch and dinner together, i believe i have formed somewhat of a housemate bond with them already. They're pretty nice people, one korean and on myanmar who are still doing ur foundations . I have two chineses from china who are living at the same unit as well, but i heard they;re pretty hostile, i dont know anyway since i nvr get the chance to talk to them as they always lock themselves in their room. Well. we'll see how it goes. There are two more girls from sibu who are still having their holidays at their hometown ( chinese new year), so i havent got the chance to meet them yet.

I went to the orientation today. It was erm... pretty infomatic( is there such a word). It's more bout letting u to know more bout the university. It's a pretty small university , i think i'll get to know all about it in like a week? may be. One thing i know bout this university is that it is pretty diversed. There are people from africas, australias, korea, singapore, thailand and etc etc.

While i was having my lunch alone at the foyer in the university just now, there were 2 friendly singaporeans who sat beside me. They greeted me so i greet back, then we hit it off somehow, talking bout malaysia and singapore, courses and accomodation.

It got really funny when the indian dude from singapore told me he thinks the girl sitting a table away from us is pretty hot and he wanted to hit on her. But, he was pretty daunted by the fact that the girl has a whole gang of girlfrens sitting with her so he basically chickened off. Then they started trash talking bout how many girlfrens they had and all , wtf. They asked me bout it, i said i keep it confidential ;). ( not gonna feed u all any infos )

Things are going pretty smooth so far, i kinda like how things are working here.

Oh, i'll be spending three days at port dickson for my orientation camp from wed to friday. Only medicine and healthcare related courses are allowed to go. GEEE, freaking marfarn.

Over and out.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

quite a shock

Greetings,

One interesting thing happened today o.O. For once, i thought i had a problem and i was so scared that i could hear my own heart beating quite rapidly. =.=""

Before i went out to buy some stuffs today, i was alone in the room. Then i heard a faint static sound , like the one u hear when u turn on a radio to a frequency that has no channel. Well, i thought it was from my other housemates i didnt really bother it.

Few hours later, i was having my lunch. I heard that static sound again. "Coincidence?"i thought. Apparently not, i walked to some other places so to see whether or not i can find the source. The funny thing is.... the volume of the static sound didnt change at all although i walked to several places in the restaurant. (i.e toilet)

So i came to a conclusion that the sound came from my brain O.O. IMAGINE THAT. I'm hearin stuffs. It could be a tumour pressing my cochlear nerve( ear nerve) and i'm like a ticking timebomb and i might die anytime. T.T.

All of a sudden, i recevied a sms from a friend. Though not really obliged to read the sms, i read it anyway coz i thought i might be my last text T.T .When i took out my phone, the static sound burst out as if it was confined all the while. I was thinking that time, IS THIS THE END??

Then, i saw the radio icon on my screen was turned on. =.=" .................. Got scared for nothing, in the end it was just me who accidentally pressed the play button on the handphone and triggered the radio mode. That explains the static sound i heard all day =.=.

That's what u get when u buy a phone with built-in antenna.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Work and Joy

Greetings,



It's been about 2 weeks since i stopped working in my former school. YEA, i was freaking fired. They have to let me go since i'm going to further my study next year, bla bla bla. So the sit-at-home-while-i'm-still-getting-my-pay plan had been flushed down the drain just like that. *flush*



Ah well, i believe i have learnt a lot in these past 4 months. It's a different paradigm when u're actually standing in front of the class showing authority to the students. I can tell you it aint easy to be a teacher. I cant deny that it's rather amusing sometimes to be the boss. U can do things like, "clean the blackboard for me or i'll deduct ur marks", just to avoid getting choked up by the stupid chalks(powder). When u left something in the office, u can order students to get for u as well. When u drop sth, u can ask the students to pick it up for u. The last one was exaggerated, but u nvr know =P.



Kay, back to the topic. Let me see... i have learnt that giving a good 1st impression is extremely important in conducting a class. From my expereince, i personally think that there are actually 2 cases. 1st case is when u enter a good and well-behaved class ( top class). That, u just have to be mr goody-goody. Be nice to the students, smile at them, joke sometimes in the middle of the class and also tease one of the students to get others to laugh (this nvr fails). I found students appreciate nice teachers, well, if they dont take advantage of that. Most of the good classes respect that, and u'll be one of the fav as well XP. U just need to be the good guy. This is not exclusive however.



2nd case, when u enter a class filled with rotten students. Yes, they dont respect you, they shout at you, clench their fist in your face, ignore your teachings, glare at you and so forth. From my experience, being mr goody-goody is just going to exarcebate the situation. They take advantage of the fact that u're being nice, they think u're too nice to take any actions on their misbehaviours and violations on class rules. Therefore, u just have to be stern and strict. No exception, no leniency. U need to plant the seed of fear in them, show your authority to them. Oh oh oh, when the class is freaking noisy, shouting at them might work but not for long. Just pick a random student in class, demerit him in front of the class, scold him in a stern way but do not ever snap. The class would turn quiet in an instant, works wonder =D.



When u enter a class which is like stuck in the middle of both cases, then just be flexible, be stern and nice during the right time. Oh, i learnt not to humiliate a student no matter how bad he/she gets, it might get pretty ugly, such as sobbing, throwing stuffs, foul words and the worst i heard is the teacher being slapped. O.O



Besides being in the classroom, it's quite important to set up a good social circle in the office as well, with other teachers. I'm quite lucky to be-friend with my beloved GSTTs colleagues XD. They are considered the youngest in the office already, by that i mean 24-26. -____- . Yea, i'm the only freaking 19 years old, ughh.. Oh, u need to know some friends who can watch your back in the office, reminding you bout sudden change of class schedule, sit-in planners, meetings and so forth. And also a gang of friends to accompany you if you want to have breakfast =X ( out of the school compound =X).



It's a blessing for me to know these sporting colleagues, willing to entertain the ever random outings =.=". And also to enlighten me some of the camwhoring skills, hohohoho, still amateur though ( i'm glad).



I once thought i might regret not doing medic in imu, so that i wont waste about 8 months stayind idle in miri. I glad i made the right choice =), the past 4 months teaching experience i had definitely help me in gaining a different perspective and paradigm, nevertheless help me in becoming more mature and responsible ( i hope XD ).



Some pictures to share, =) :








steamboat =)
fooling around @.@


playing with da photostat machine XD



monopoly session o.O



my 19th bthday celebration




desert at desert




breakfast at canteen



Driving back from breakfast XD





My lame buddy





this is what we do =.="










annual school dinner





Gstts and principal =))











Tuesday, October 6, 2009

WHYYYYY

Greetings,

Colleague A: Guess who old is him ( refering to me).
Friend of colleague B: Should be about our age (24-25)
Me: =.=
Colleague A: Much younger than us la, he's 1990.
Friends of Colleague B: Look so mature one!?

Am i supposed to be happy?

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Updates

Greetings,

Well, i guess it's time for an update about myself. I'm supposed to be tutoring tonight but it was called off because i'm supposed to go for a gathering. That was canceled too though, then i felt like blogging. Okay, too much info i guess. o.O

SO, i guess most of the readers are aware that i'm actually teaching in my former school now..temporarily of course. Since my uni starts next year, so i thought getting a job and get busy would be better than being idle or grow mushrooms at home.

I'm more like a substitute for now since there's no permanent slot for me yet. Basically i went for sit-ins instead of teaching anything. I did teach when there's like a teacher who will be away for weeks instead of days. I'm currently known as GSTT, guru sandaran tidak terlatih. Yeap, quite glad actually because if i'm just a Guru Ganti, the pay would be much lesser. I'm free most of the time though, because i always got my job of the day at the very last minute, so couldnt possibly prepare anything for the students.

Apparently there's some kinda difference in status being a GSTT and a trained teach. And i'm not talking bout the salary here, it's the job. I've been busy during the raya break because we GSTTs hafta rush for some filings and typings. Did i mention that there's no OT for that? Oh well, since i got a pretty good pay, so i might as well not complain.( I know i just did, so shut up)

Besides working in school, i'm giving personal tutorings as well at very reasonable price of coz. Well... so far, i'm having 5 sessions every week, soon i'll have 7. Yeap, will be more busy next week. I hardly have any times for myself lately, yet i'm dying to hang out with frens ( CALL ME).

I'm jealous that almost everyone are now doing their degrees now, especially those who had gone to overseas for medic. I can't wait to start my medicine course in Monash ( i juz got the offer =))))) ). I'm jealous that most of my frens are studying medical related stuufs, dissecting animals and even cadavers. GOSH, i really want to get my hands on these ASAP. And i'm stuck here working in my former school. Waiting is tiring.

P.s- I'm here for u. You're my heaven, but i might be ur hell.
-(Denny Duquette, Greys Anatomy)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

EMO post

Greetings,
I was never a person who gives up easily. I work hard most of the time to get what i desired.
Sometimes too hard.. that i actually started to forget the purpose of such hardworks. By the end of the day, when i'm actually satisifed with my achievements.. i'll start to look back and ponder, "is this what i wanted so badly in the 1st place?"

We reap what we sow, this fact would never change.. When we fail, we'll start to blame at others and even at ourselves. If only i tried harder.. If only he would listen.. If only things were easier.. These are all very common ways to make ourselves feel better. We'll start to imagine or picture the better results, try to forget what it's like to be in the reality. In the long run, we'll be too dependent on these hopes or ideals.. and eventually unable to grasp or understand ourselves..
By the time we realised it, we felt such immense depression, sadness, helpless to live in what we called the real world.

I like to have goals, it's what i used to define myself. I want to be a doctor, i want to get good results, i want to be good in sports, i want to be able to converse well in english, i want this, i want that... Unknowingly, these goals became pressures. It's totally unprecedented and by the time i realised it.. i felt shocked and at the same time relieved to gain such perspective.
I'm too dependent to these achievements, without these, i'll think i'm losing myself here. I'll lose my definition. That's why i dont give up easily, not to say i have a better mentality, i'm juz too scared to lose, or to fail. The supposingly good quality actually magnifies my personal character's weakness. I'll try to be optimistic, positive and hopeful even when i'm on the brink of failure. I'll convince others that there's still a chance and we grab on to that tiny and delicate hope and pray we'll get through this hardship.

What if we failed...

Negative feelings, anger, depression, lethargy emerge. Lack of motivation to make a difference , to react, to influence or to be proactive.. Sometimes.. i'm even scared to have hope about certain things.. knowing that i'll fall harder. And when this happens.. chain effect kicks in. Once i lose hope, i'll lose motivations, i wont work and when i fail, i can always make myself feel better by saying tat.. " hey, i didnt even try, why should i bother failing". Pffft.. I detest this and yet it happened..

I felt like giving up a lot of times... i'm juz too scared to do so sometimes.. because i'm daunted of the consequences. I'm scared that i didnt try hard enough in the first place.. i'm scared of being idle.. i'm scared of falling behind.. TOO MANY CONCERNS and i'm intimidated to just let go and leave it to faith.

I'm tired... i'm really exhausted.. so i guess it's time to let go now.

P.S Dont even try to speculate, i've made it so vague, it's basically impossible to guess. Dont try.
Just give up XP.