Last Sprint

This one week September break is the last "sprint" for most, if not all the Primary 6 students in their preparation for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). Good luck to everyone, including my own daughter, Marieann. It's the last sprint.

Rest and Study

Today is the last day of Term 1. The one week March holiday officially starts tomorrow. 
It is going to be a week of rest and study as well for the girls. 

Where Should You Study Abroad?

Well, what do you know. I did study abroad in Australia, just not in Sydney but in Brisbane lol. Guess it is close enough and in the same country haha. :P 

You Should Study in Sydney

For you, studying abroad sounds like fun, and not just the studying part. You are full of energy and you like excitement. You are the type to hit the books hard while having a ton of other things going on. Yes I totally enjoyed studying Psychology at the University of Queensland and learning to take care of my own unit (including doing household chores, marketing, etc)! It was fun and I was hardly homesick. :) Don't get me wrong. I didn't go out partying or clubbing at all. I was literally right at home in Brisbane (yes the same home that I recently went back to ship my personal effects back). You want to completely take in whatever city you end up in. You want to do it all and to make a ton of friends along the way. You are interested in everything. You have equal amounts of passion for learning and for adventure. I am still in contact with all the friends that I have made at UQ! :) I still remembering studying hard - listening to the audio recordings of my lectures and rewriting my lecture notes (my notes were so meticulous that even my tutor photocopied them for future use lol). There was always one day a week, which I totally looked forward to, where my Taiwanese neighbour and I would just go on a day/ raod trip in her car. :)

Where Should You Study Abroad?

Honeymoon's Over!

It is official. P1 honeymoon is officially over.

Marieann came home with lots of homework. There were work from the Chinese activity book, the Math workbook, and English worksheets. On top of that, she has spelling tomorrow which she still has to revise. I was a nervous wreck when I saw the amount of homework. I just don't understand why she doesn't seem frayed by it all and why she could take her own sweet time to do her homework.
I don't remember assigning children that much homework when I was a teacher. A former SCGS colleague of mine and I both lamented about today's volume of homework as we had to supervise and rush our girls to complete their homework. Pressure to perform academically is catching up, however more with us than our girls who are the happy-go-lucky kind. Sigh.

P1 honeymoon is over! :(

Why do PhD?

"Why are you doing a PhD?", many a friend have asked me that. Some even told me point blank that I was the person they least expected to do a PhD. (Hey, that stings a little.) But know what? Me too. Really. Serious. I never expected myself to be doing a PhD too.

I did apply to do a PhD for all the wrong reasons - out of fun and out of curiosity just to see what it takes to get in. (Ok, some of you may be swearing at me for making light of doing a PhD, like Dennis. Sorry.) I NEVER expected myself to get in BUT I did! Well, I am not a quitter so I went through with the PhD. But I must say I have been quite or rather VERY LUCKY in the course of my PhD. By LUCK (more, if I haven't used it all up yet), I should be able to do my oral defence BEFORE the end of this year and GRADUATE. ALL MUST HELP PRAY FOR ME, OK?! In case, you all start to think that I am having an easy time doing my PhD, it is NOT like that all the time. I do suffer from the usual baloney of doing a PhD - writer's block, agony and stress ("WHY am I torturing myself like this?!") ...

However, as I continued on this PhD journey, I have gained much. Not just knowledge, I also gained a better insight about myself, that I have determination, perseverance, strength, courage, faith, patience, .... Most importantly, I learnt that I can still LEARN.

Some quotes that I like:

Taking charge of your own learning is a part of taking charge of your life, which is the sine qua non in becoming an integrated person. - Warren Bennis

Learn to live, and live to learn, Ignorance like a fire doth burn, Little tasks make large return. - Bayard Taylor, To My Daughter

Learn what you are and be such. - Pindar

Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning. - William A. Ward

Education is a social process ... Education is growth.... Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself. - John Dewey

The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you. - B.b. King

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. - Henry Ford