So Orange :p

Pre-exam prep talk

My MSN personal message: Can someone tell me how 2 finish studying 2 years of work in 2.5 weeks?

Conversation 1:
Ivy (former CG leader, final year med student): You just have to accept the fact that you cannot possibly finish studying everything.
Me: Ya, lolz. but that does not mean I cant try, right?
Ivy: You wanna die ar?

Note: Honestly, I think now feel like half dead dy..

Conversation 2:
Joo (classmate): Gary, I cannot help you coz I duno the answer too.
Me: U no need answer wan lar.. coz u too old dy.
Joo: How is age relevant 2 da question?
Me: Coz u too old dy, so old people tend 2 b a bit kurang siuman and ask stupid questions..

Later..
Joo: Gary, r u very rich?
Gary: No, y?
Gary: U wanna bcome rich izit? Later I buy 4 u kaya ball..
Joo: Crazy

Ok ok.. back 2 studying!!!!!!!!!!!

Not something I need at this point of time

Can someone enlighten me how am i going to finish studying all these in 2 weeks?


Screw ups.. the overload of assignments this semester, and as I came home late at midnight yesterday, hoping 4 a nice quick shower and then hitting the books, power at the condo went out. That was just the beginning, as cockoraches started coming out from the exposed ceiling tile - not one, two or ten, but the entire colony!!! Cockroach wars! By the time power got restored around 2 am, the toilet looks like a nuclear warzone after we emptied 2 canisters of insecticide.. I counted around 150? crap, how 2 study???!!!

Last day of classes

We had a party on the last day of classes. And the dress theme was 'School Nerds'.

The mad dash towards portfolio submission

Monday, supposed to submit a collection of assignments worth 30% of the whole year's marks..

8.15 am - Woke up and realised that I was late for assignment meeting.. crap.. could nto really do much at home coz hostel internet broke down..
8.30 am - God, why is it raining so heavily??
8.40 am - Rained receded a bit, walked under the rain.. luckily on the way Sue Wern saw me and gave me a lift to uni..
9.00 am - Went and top up print quota RM 20

..and later spent duno how long printing endless pages of reflective essays and HLSD interviews.. sent the edited version of the 3000 word Health Promotion report to our academic advisor for proof-reading.. He said it was ok, only got a few things to edit. Then, found out that we were SO over the word limit with 3800+ words.. need to chop.. opened the file, and I was wondering, "I thought yesterday I spent the whole day editing the sections b4 sending it off 4 my group member 2 do referencing, HOW COME THE SECTIONS LOOKED DIFFERENT??!!" No time 2 really bother dy lar.. spent the entire lunchtime adding appendices and editing til 3 sumthin.. printed my additional pieces of work earlier (man, colour printing already burnt a big hole in my pocket.. RM7.50 for 5 pages in the additional pieces of work..

Then, they dropped the bombshell.. we printed double copies of the HLSD interviews already, now they tell us they wanted a photocopy of the consent forms as well.. so went 2 office to submit other assignments first 2 clear some stuff out of the way, they turn me away and ask me get everything done then only submit at one go.. felt like blowing up on the spot.. so I ran to the bookstore 2 get stuff photocopied. stupid bookstore, u know rite at some shops if u photocopy more than a certain amount they give u somethin like 5 cents per page.. Here dun have, RM9.20 (10 cents per page), super expensive.. if not coz its raining and I was in a rush, I oso dowan 2 do it there..

Then another bad news, they wanted a second copy for the 2 additional pieces of work. *pengsanz* i'm not going 2 print out another set of coloured slides.. total waste of money. so i went 2 photocopy, that guy said sorry come back in 10 minutes, he needs to go to the toilet.. WHAT THE..

There was a LONG queue after 10 minutes, so there I was waiting.. super cannot stand dy.. dun care lar.. for additional pieces of work, just grab CF posters which happened 2 b on the wall 2 supplement my reflective essay (convenient :p)

4.55 pm - Submitted assignments just in time.. there was a super long queue at the office, and those who ended up submitting after 5pm although they were waiting there for ages apparently will be penalised 5% of their marks.. what nonsense.. with last minute notices that we will have to make double copy for everything, now they say its our fault?? Hello? I'm supposed 2 b practising my OSCE practical exam leh b4 tomorrow's mock exam..

I'm tired, cranky, sick (headache, cold, fever and whole body aching) thanks to 4 hours of sleep per day for the past week rushing this project. Apart from a Mars bar for snack, I did not eat 4 whole day til dinner.. Last but not least, I'm FED UP with all the nonsense they are putting us through..

but..

Guess I'm being taught to be thankful for little things that come my way.. postponement of the deadline (otherwise it would have been due last Friday and we would have all died miserably), a carpool in the rain, the fact that our academic advisor said our HP essay is ok, how fortunate it was that I managed to submit b4 the office closed the deadline and started penalising people..all happened by God's grace.. Guess I'm not being appreciative or learning it that well though..

An observation..

..of what exams and assignments stress does to you.

People not responding to Hi's and Bye's anymore.
People frowning and not interested to talk to you.
People rushing to finish their lunch so that they can go and study.
It's just people..

Oceans will part (the same goes for my studies and assignments?)

This year has promised so much and yielded so little in terms of what I expected. [sigh..] Frustrating, so many things has happened, that quite a lot of people I know are on the verge of burning out already. Me too.. I think I lost count of the number of times I broke down last week.

But for all that has happened, I am indeed thankful for the little pockets of encouragement that has come my way.. though my second (supposedly last) year as an undergraduate student on campus b4 going 2 JB 4 clinical years was ruined by the faculty.. H-E-L-P, I want to see this final killer week through despite 6 assignments due..

I will worry about my exams (less than a month away) later, since I have not started studying any of my 1st and 2nd year notes at all. When will all this madness end?

LAMP camp day 2

Woke up early for devotion, morning exercise and then breakfast..


Then my group went tree-climbing :-) ya, like monkeys.. i tell u, its so hard to hoist myself up there. The harness was like causing pain to my thigh area, and when they adjusted it I got stomach cramps..
The hardest part was when u r stuck halfway between the ground and the top. Had to force myself to SCREAM and continue while shouting praise songs like some madman in the jungle :p but in the end it was worth it as I managed 2 reach the tree top (yay! :-))
Ya, this is me hugging the tree like my bolster.. Man, I missed my bolster..
And this is me after tree climbing.. super dirty and tired..
Ok.. after lunch, we had orienteering..
Jo and I were paired in a group (Liang took the photos).. We had to navigate with a compass, count number of steps, calculate bearings etc to get from one checkpoint to another and retrieve a clue (sounds like jungle version of Amazing Race :p)
Anyway, funny part was when we came to the last checkpoint, it turned out to be a decoy.. Where was the actual checkpoint you ask?
Look closer.. Honestly, I can't believe how blind we turn out to be :p lolz but it was fun, haha..

Debriefing actually asked a few interesting questions.. Which of the equipment did we use the most? The compass was not of much help, as you can't really see what is ahead of you.. The map seemed a more reasonable option, furthermore the checkpoints you can compare with what is shown on the map.. Checkpoints on the map are like different stages in life. The map is like a guide, don't you think? Think word of God.. Up and downhill contours.. sound familiar? :p As for the compass, what does it describe of God? Pointing the right way? Never changing (yesterday today the same)? So ya, there needs to be a balance between experience and knowledge of what to do..
Choose a card containing characteristic (ie Hope, Faith, Perseverance etc) which you felt the camp has impacted on you the most, pray about it with a partner..
What we aim to take back to our university?
ok, we closed with a session appreciating the trainer guides who were with us for the past few days.. and of course; group photo!

Belated post - LAMP Camp Day 1

During the 1 week semester break, I had the opportunity to go for a 2 days 1 nite Leadership through Adventure Ministry Programme (LAMP) camp organised by the Monash Christian Fellowship for committee members, assistants and KG leaders. So we went to the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). oh, and along the way Shu Yi, Li Wen and co. had to endure a dose of lameness :p We got lost, but we somehow arrived there in the end..


We started off with a game which required us to constantly be alert at all times :p

After that, we had a session which required us to set goals, ie what we desire to gain and achieve in this 2 days of camping..
Then came the application part, we were given 2 rubber rings, and we had to plan how to get from one checkpoint to another by taking turns to throw the rings to our partner (ie from checkpoint 1 to 2, do you want 2 have 2-3 small throws and ensure accuracy, or take the risk of missing with 1 big throw?).
Oh, we played traffic jam. lolz (remember Monash medical students transition camp?) Anyway, Joseph (ie engineering student) came up with the solution on solving the problem (haha, sorry lar.. but i oso forgot dy how to do it - long time dy).. Anyway, the important thing was that during the game, a few of us were trying to chip in ideas. I guess that sometimes it can be frustrating when working in a group if one's idea keeps getting rejected. Hence, it is important for the leader be aware of such situations - to assure everyone that all decisions made are for the group's benefit, and that everyone's ideas are appreciated. During the 2nd part of the game, we were blindfolded, and the eagerness of wanting to finish the round fast and break the record of the 1st round nearly caused us to forget the initial way of solving the game. Overconfidence can lead to complacency at certain times, especially if a particular task seems so familiar that we forget to exercise caution.



Then, we had lunch, before heading out for mountain biking.. Man, I tell you, that's actually more exercise in 2 hours than I had actually done in a month (can die wei, no wonder the hill is called 'Steroids Hill', super steep wei..

but our efforts were not in vain, as we were rewarded with a couple of nice things to admire..

and guess what? stupid leeches were everywhere! 2 in my shoes, then when I was taking my bath, one tried to climb up the bathroom door into the pocket of my pants..
and the butt of all jokes, guess where did one of it bite me?
Before dinner, there was an activity to test our creativity, balancing 20 nails on 1 nail hammered into a block of wood.
Definitely for engineers :p but we came up with a masterpiece!

Not much to do at night, the instructor took us deep into the jungle and left us there for 1 hour (without our watches and handphones) to do QT.. big challenge for me, coz I'm actually afraid of darkness and whatever nonsense lies behind the trees making funny noises. However, it was a good experience for me lar.. funny thing was when praying half way, for some reason I just sensed that something is going to happen, then all of a sudden there was a bright light shining from my right.. I was like, "Ok, what in the world is this?" turned out to be a 4WD of the park ranger. *pengsanz* lolz

The C of C.A.R.E.G.R.O.U.P

I realised that weird things happen everytime I chair caregroup..

First time during Nerding caregroup (F.R.I.E.N.D.S.): While we were playing games, a large group of visitors came in late, disrupting the flow of the game. but it turned out well in the end :p everybody had a great time.

Second time during Develop and Discuss (B.U.D.D.I.E.S.): One of my CG members suffered epilepsy not once, but twice.. there was slight panic lar.

Third time (last Thursday): One of the visitors brought her friend who could not really speak English. As for me, no need 2 say lar ya, I'm a banana (couldn't really speak mandarin).. So it was damn funny that I had 2 run the Caregroup using super-broken Cantonese :p lolz

A new learning experience for each of those times :p