Just a simple whiteboard, a few Artline non-permanent markers on it's bottom, plus an eraser.
Blank .. empty .. ready to be filled up with impromptu newsbites.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
It's settled ... and now's another time of transition
1) One phase ends ...
I finished typing my written thesis at 4.50pm today. Photocopied 2 extra sets at 6.05pm. All 80 pages of it. It's finished. Done with. After beginning last July 2006 (all together, 10 months) and enduring 6 months of non-stop laboratory work ...MY THESIS IS OVER!!
HURRAH!! Ma cherie!! Thanks to God for bringing me safely through the entire process. And for being able to finish it just on time, though it was mostly last-minute typing, as i didn't grasp the core essence and purpose of my work till the last week of ... MARCH!! Hahaha ...
And with that, my University life comes to a close. Not just that, this marks the finishing point of all my 18 years of formal education. Imagine ... starting in 1989 in St Faith's kindergarten in Keyalang Park .... and ending now in 2007 in UKMKL. Not just that ... if I will live on till, say, 80 years of age, I've already finished over a quarter (>25%) of my entire life span. The magnitude of it is staggering. What have I learnt? How have I grown? And so on. Questions to ask as I come to the final days of my Uni life ... I only have my viva session this 7 - 11th of May, a short thesis presentation on May 19, and my convocation somewhere in August 11 - 17. And that's that.
2) ... and another begins
Time to start looking around for a job now. Alotta questions too. Where to stay ... Kuching or KL? What to work as ... underwriter, lab technician, research assitant, tutor, etc? What is my distant goals in my career - to work as that all my life, or to further my studies later on?
More importantly though ... How will I live my life? Will it be all for God? Or selfish living ...?
However, I have a self-declared break, from May 11 till June 11. So, time to take a well-deserved rest and just chill out for awhile ... To savour this moment of transition ... for it only comes once.
I'm sorry for the lack of posts ... I've been racing like a mad dog trying to finish my thesis. The deadline is TODAY (Monday, 23.4.07), before 5pm!! I have managed to get an emergency extension till tomorrow from my Department Head, but it's only to be granted as a last resort. Am hoping and praying that it'll all be over soon.
Just a few more steps ... A few more pages left ... And it'll all be over ...
At last, the final piece of the puzzle is in place ... Thus, below is the outlook of the next 5 weeks.
10.4 - Case study group report hand-up & quiz 12.4 - Special Topics assignment 16.4 - Special Topics paper 19.4 - Case Study paper 23.4 - Thesis draft (thank God our Head of Department agreed to the change!!) 7.5 - 11.5 - Thesis viva 18.5 - Final Thesis in hardcover (5 copies)
Once the 18 of May is over ... I have unofficially completed my degree!! Whew ... And that marks the end of the education phase of my life, the end of 17 years of studying. Wow.
2) And after that ...?
Seriously, after going through the rigors of my thesis and hearing the results presentations of my other 92 coursemates ... I think I will not return to a postgraduate degree. Or at least only after a couple of years of work. My attention for detail, scope of knowledge, perseverance in seeking results and interpretation of data is not sufficient at this point in time to go for a research Masters/PhD. And yes, I am burned out after 8 months of thesis work! To force feed 50 mice with a blunt-end syringe for 4 hours a day for 4 months, as one of my coursemates did ... ma cherie!!
Job-wise ... I have already applied for tutorship at the Medical Faculty of UNIMAS, but no reply as yet. Resume ... te he he, my bad; I'm only going to type it out next week. My coursemates have already sent theirs, and one or two have even gone for job interviews! Argh ... I am so slow! I'm so hoping to get something in Kuching, but there are few posts there for my field. So ... somewhere in the Klang Valley?
Regardless, I'll be in KL till around the middle of June, at least. Will try not to start work (if I get anything first lah!) till after my church camp at Bukit Selesa Hillhomes, Genting, this 1 - 4 June.
It was one wacky week and weekend. I met my supervisor on Tuesday ... and FINALLY understood how to analyse my data around Wednesday (28.3). It took forever for me to do the calculations, as the information was alot, and I had to summarise everything in my statistics. 2 groups (50 eggs and 25 eggs) with 4 different concentrations of essential oil each. Ouch. Spent all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday doing my data analysis ... showed my final results to my Professor on Monday morning, and he was satisfied with them. Okay ...
Then spent Monday night doing the powerpoint slides ... as I only managed to do 12 slides on Sunday night! Made another 25 slides on that Monday night ... slept at 5AM ONLY!! DON'T repeat that ... my head is still ringing from that mad excrusion into the wee hours of the morning ... !!
2) And the presentation itself
To my utter surprise, my thesis result presentation went alright. Praises and gratitude to God!Honestly, it wasn't the best that I could do, but getting it done is better than not done at all! So I didn't have time to check it properly ... only managed a 10 minute review of my slides with my co-supervisor. The rush through all my analysis and results compilation meant I didn't really go through my slides either ...
I actually presented it in Malay because my supervisor INSISTED ... but wow; thank God that I managed it. During my previous thesis proposal, I was all messed up and had to switch to English halfway through. After all, I stammer and Malay isn't my first language. And also thank God that no epilepsy happened, even during my 5am typing.
During the Q & A session, I was only asked by a Dr. if I did the extraction of the essential oils on my own, and if I had made sure that all the other factors had been standardised. The unfortunate comment by a Professor was that my graphs and tables were too small ...I forgot that what that looks good on a computer screen might look terrible on a LCD projector screen!! That's what happens when you do your presentation at 5am in the morning - just 6 hours before your actual presentation...
3) Job search begins - but stay grounded!
I was on the phone with my mum last night when she said something which struck a chord within me. "Don't let your job dictate and define your life". A very important thing to remember as I begin my job search, especially since it's not easy to get a good job these days ... life isn't about work, life is about God and living for Him. But so many, too many, get lost within their careers ... they're more "engineer/clerk/lawyer/cook/doctor/etc ..." than being a Christian and a human. Best to start with a proper perspective so that I don't have to make a painful course correction mid-way through my life.
4) Further deadlines
10.4 - Case study group report hand-up & quiz 12.4 - Special Topics assignment 13.4 - Thesis draft (might be postphoned to 20/23.4 - hopefully!) 16.4 - Special Topics paper 19.4 - Case Study paper 7.5 - 11.5 - Thesis viva
Notes:
Good Friday and Easter Sunday is around the corner ... may we all remember the Lord who we celebrate and follow in His foot-steps ... not just celebrate it as a nice religious event.
