Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Grim message

Today, I went into IVLE (my school's online portal) and went into one of my module's official forum (where questions are asked and other students or tutors can reply).

The latest post was titled "Guess what?"

I was curious so i opened it.
The message said one sentence: "We're all gona die!!!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Yes, this module is really tough. And we're probably all gona die. 50% final with only 2 BIG essay questions to answer. Not only that, there is just too much info that is not organized for easy understanding in this module.
I just found it really funny tt he put up that msg in the official forum where the lecturers and tutors could see. Maybe he just needed an outlet to express his agony. And since there isn't an unofficial forum, I guess he had to put it in the official one.

charlyn recorded history @ 1:32 PM

Sunday, April 27, 2008

The best tasting milk

When I went home yesterday, my sister informed me that we had the most delicious milk in the land stored in our fridge. I was amused. What milk could be so special?
So i told her to pour me a cup. And after I took that first sip, I knew I would be spending more money to buy this milk in the future . It was incredible! It tasted like... digestive cookies dipped in milk! Whoever came up with this milk is a genius!! Now instead of buying digestive cookies to go with milk, you can just buy the milk!

I was telling cand about this today n apperently her mum only drinks this kind of milk. I can totally understand why. You should really try it!

This is the milk I'm talking about. Marigold Multigrain Milk!! YUMM YUMM!!

charlyn recorded history @ 7:47 PM

Friday, April 25, 2008

DAMN BORED

I am DAMN BORED!! I don't feel like studying, as i've been doing so the whole weeeeeeek and I just want to relax and chill out. But theres NOTHING to do!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH..... Ok.. i didn't really study as much as I should have yesterday, but tt's cos i wasn't feeling very well. But I've already compensated for it this morning. but i'm so bored now... And it's friday and i'm in hall cos i wanted to stay n study. Looks like I should have just gone home n relax n watch tv. But i've got a paper on monday!!! But i've already finished studying for that. PLUS it's open book. AIYAAAAAAA.... and theres nothing to watch in hall cos theres no cable. argh... geez!!

charlyn recorded history @ 7:01 PM

Monday, April 21, 2008

Thank you God!!

I have so many things to thank God for today!

1. Last weekend, I was watching some videos on my bro's MP3 (he let me use it since he's in taiwan on training) when it suddenly hung. It could not be switched off and nothing seemed to work! I was super frantic, as he would so KILL me cos he just bought this player in janurary, n its rather expensive.

(Also, this wld not be the first time I did something bad when he was away. In primary school, he asked me to take care of his pet frog while he went to camp. I left it under my bed n forgot about it. When he came back it was dead cos it dried up as i didn't put water in.)

So u see, i HAD to fix the player. I went online n searched for all the help I could in vain. Finally, i just decided to let the battery go flat. The next day, I tried charging it. But some how it just didn't seem to be charging or responding. Then later that day, I just plucked it to the computer and didn't look at it. and in the night when i happened to look at it, the charging sign was ON!!

The next morning (TODAY) when it fully charged. I kept my fingers crossed n switched it on. and its ALIVE!!

2. I went for a group interview this morning for an internship for a local SME. (I can't keep my hopes up for the civil service internship so I had to look for others) And I got offered the job, along with the other 2 girls. I think the job is really challenging and I'll prolly learn a lot from this internship. I'll blog more about it next time.

3. I just opened my exam timetable which has the location of the exams and the seating. This sem, I have 2 papers on one of the days. (Its the first sem i'm doing this) One's at 9am, the other at 1pm. Both at the same location. and BOTH at PGP which is just OPPOSITE my hall! (Its not a normal exam hall venue.) I think God is really looking after me. I mean only He has a way of making these very very fortunate "coincidences" happen.

Thank you God for everything!!

charlyn recorded history @ 4:54 PM

Friday, April 18, 2008

Questions

Today, I had had 2 class presentations. This post was inspired by the first class presentation I had today. So last week and this week, my friday morning class had project group presentations. And after each presentation, there would be Q&A.

So during Q&A, the questions being asked really irritated me. I thought that questions asked during Q&A should be within the scopes, or plausible scope of the project. What is the point of asking a group something they obviously didn't research on, which is out of the scope they mentioned during their presentation? They can't answer it and they will probably try to smoke their way through by giving you a "guess" ("We haven't researched on it, but I THINK IT SHOULD BE...") answer.

No one learns anything from that cos the answer is not substantial, u prolly cld have guessed the answer yourself and thus everyone's time is wasted! Once someone asks an irrelevant question which gets "guess" answered, it sparks of a kind of chain reaction. Cos more ppl wld think that its alright to asks these irrelevant questions. (or at least that was what seemed to happen in the class)

Actually, this prolly happens all the time in most classes. Like people asking questions without thinking them through first. And maybe some asking for the sake of asking. I could attribute this bad question asking skills to graded participation and lack of training. These kinds of things seem to happen most in my classes with mandatory participation where points are awarded for participation. The teacher will tell you to participate and just say anything that comes to your mind and ask as many questions as you like. BUT participation I think, shouldn't be "forced" like this, with points. So many students participate for the sake of participating that it doesn't really add to learning (I suppose the participation component was added on because it supposedly increased learning rather than waste time).

And if, participation should be graded, everyone should be first taught HOW to participate. How is it fair to grade people on things they have not learnt? Therefore I propose a "How to participate properly in class" module. I will call it HPPC 1101. The class should teach students HOW to evaluate if a question is relevant in its context. It should also teach students HOW to evaluate if a comment they are planning to give has quality. Finally, it should teach students HOW to overcome the fear of raising their hands and participating in class.

Only after students learn these skills, then and only then, do I think it fair to grade participation.

charlyn recorded history @ 7:12 PM

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Its mine!

Announcing to everyone,

I got the almost Perfect room I wanted!
Thank You God!! (I prayed for it)

charlyn recorded history @ 10:05 PM

Thursday, April 10, 2008

I obsess

What do you do when you want something?
I obsess.

Currently i want 2 things
1. The civil service internship (which i got rejected from the first time round, but i'm trying my luck again)
I just keep going to their website, like 2x or more per day to check the status of my application. Well, I just found out just now i got rejected by one of the projects i applied for from the ministry of home affairs regarding counter-terrorism. Sighs.. well 4 more projects left. I really hope one of them accepts me. PLEASE...

2. The almost PERFECT ROOM (opposite my room)
Everytime I walk out of my room i look at it and hope that I will get it. Everytime I walk into the dining hall, I look at that piece of paper which indicates which room you want to see if anyone else is also interested in MY PERFECT ROOM. Well, I will know by room draw day which is on monday.

I don't know why i obsess like i do. Its wasting space in my brain. And i really need all the space in my brain to start studying for exams which start on the 28th of this month.

charlyn recorded history @ 1:00 PM

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

The perfect room

All my room troubles started when i found out they were changing my floor to a boys floor, and making the floor above mine a girls floor. I have stayed in my room for 2 years, and i am really comfortable with it already. I really hate to move. But now that i have no choice, I have to find another room as nice as mine to stay in.

Actually, all rooms are the same internally, so its just the location that makes each room special. Like mine is just beside a pantry with cold n hot water dispenser and a microwave oven. It is on the 2nd floor so i won't have to walk so high and the block i stay in is near the dining room and car park area. The only bad thing is it is kinda far away from the bus stop, and the toilet is about 6 rooms away, which is quite far. And my room can get really hot. But overall, I would rate my room a 8/10.

So today, i walked around in search of the perfect room. (the room directly above mine is a bad room cos its just beside the laundrette which has all the washing machines n dryers. So noisy)

My perfect room had to have a few things.
1. Has to be a single door way (Most rooms share a doorway with another room. And I don't like that cos I really like my privacy)
2. Not higher than 4th storeys. (I hate climbing stairs, esp after a long tiring day.)
3. In the wing tt i'm currently staying in.
4. Near a pantry
5. Near the dining hall & car park
6. Near a toilet

I think not many hall ppl actually care too much about the location, as long as they're staying near their friends. BUT i really think location just makes living easier and since i'm not really really close with my hall friends, location is everything for me.

After scouting the area this morning, I have actually found THE almost PERFECT ROOM!! 9.5/10. It fufills everything on my list, AND more!! I couldn't believe tt i have been staying almost opposite this room for 2 years and never noticed how wonderful it was. I should have moved there last year! The surronding is quite and private as there are only 5 rooms on that floor (a really small number), and the staircase seperates that room from the pantry which has a fridge, which is beside the toilet. OMG its really WONDERFUL!!

Right away, i marched down to the dining hall and put my name in red on the box that indicated i want this room (chope the room first. But its just an indication. there are still other factors that would determine if i get the room in the end). I really really hope i can get it, cos we get to pick our rooms based on cca points and i'm really afraid i may not have enough to actually get into that block cos it seems like tt block is quite sort after.

It wld be damn sian if the room i want gets taken by someone who has higher points then me. Cos then i would always know that there's a perfect room, and its not mine. haha

charlyn recorded history @ 9:04 PM

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

I dislike disliking people

Life gets so complicated as we grow older.

Remember as kids, if you didn't like another kid, u'd just be mean to him and outrightly showed your dislike for him? Like call him names or bully him cos u'd most probably get away with it since u're a kid.

Then when you become a little older, if you didn't like someone, you just tried avoiding contact with him. Cos u know being mean can be hurtful, and you could be punished by your teachers quite seriously for physically harming someone.

But when you become an adult, relationships with others becomes more interdependent, and your actions have more serious consequences. You have to handle your dislike for others strategically. Like pretending to be nice to someone you dislike so he will do what you want him to.

I know that's hypocritical. And I dislike being a hypocrite. Which makes me dislike the person even more because my dislike for him makes me a hypocrite thus making me dislike myself, causing me to have this internal struggle.

I was thinking about the solution to my problem (pretending to be nice to people i don't like). But i can't seem to find any plausible solution. I can't not dislike people, cos there are really so many dislikable people life will throw at me. I can't be outrightly mean to them because it'll seem childish, plus I need their cooperation so I have to be civil. And I can't avoid everyone I dislike cos there are bound to be people I have to work with which I dislike.

I wish I was 5 again so I can just throw stones at people I don't like. (Not that I threw stones at people when I was 5. But at 5 you can get away with murder.)

charlyn recorded history @ 1:18 PM