Tag campus life

For My Future: The Race Begins Today.

Rachel Tan HX Leave a comment

18 June 2020, Thursday

You know, when I was working in a little mall kiosk after SPM, things were fast-paced, but still manageable. During my 1 hour breaks off work, I would roam the entire mall on my own, or sit down for the whole hour and record down significant events in my diary. Sometimes I really wanted a coffee bun or a Starbucks cappucino, but I would sacrifice that wish for my journaling. I knew that the experiences that came with my first job, of dealing with my colleagues and my customers, would be something I would want to remember.

In February, when I got another job, this time at a small hospital, things changed drastically. There was no time for breaks, no time to breathe; it was certainly no time and NO PLACE to write in your diary at the emergency unit in a hospital. I tried typing in point form on my phone when I first started, but soon gave up when I had to wear gloves often due to the COVID situation. Together with that reason, and the fact that there was just so many patients coming in per shift, I was soon deluded that this was something I would remember forever.

As I familiarized myself with handling my job as a patient care assistant, the antics of my friendly colleagues of every skin colour, and the patients and their myriad of symptoms presented, on top of all the ice and fire emotional roller coasters I had ridden throughout my time there…. I did not think I would forget this. There was no way, no way at all, I could forget such an enriching experience.

Yet after I stopped working, my memories of my former workplace started to fade; and I acknowledged that was part of being human. I cannot remember everything like a computer. I was very consciously aware of all the memories slipping away, leaving only the most surface of memories: just the registration counter, the triage bay, the treatment room. Deep down I know just how many times I have set foot in the nooks and crannies of that tiny area – the emergency unit, yet I have already forgotten the things that happened there. Most of all, I have forgotten the things I’ve heard, which is the one I most want to remember.

I only hope that some of these are already ingrained in my system. Two months is not a lot, not a lot at all, to have stuck fast within me. But I do believe I will carry some of what I’ve learnt with me.

University has just started the beginning of this month (June), and I am already nearing the end of week 3.

First Sem Assignments!! Oh No…. We’re barely into Week 3.

It’s only Week 3 of the first semester. I’m sure this is only the tip of the iceberg. The very tip.

I wrote all the deadlines (except the one in blue) two weeks before the actual deadline, like a false trick to myself. To get me going early, so that I don’t rush and panic at the very last minute.

I also taped and stapled three coins, 2 pieces of scrap pink paper, and the ultimate one: a solar powered keychain with my name on it, to weigh the two pieces of paper down. Can’t even remember where I got it from already. The standing fan behind me blows too strong.

So as you can see, university life is going to be another hospital job. Rushed. Crammed. No time to breathe. Thus my blogposts, my writeups, will have to be of questionable depth in the next month, next year, or years to come.

Again, I will be deluded, tricked into thinking this is something I cannot forget. I wouldn’t forget a life I would live for the next six years (if I manage to get into MBBS (medical degree)), would I? But truly, all memories fade with time.

Yet, there won’t be time to document every university experience. Thus, I still must focus more on being in the moment.

Now, my first stop would be getting into medicine. I am going to brace myself, and rush toward my first finish line!

I am in a university lecture call now!

Rachel Tan HX Leave a comment

6 June 2020, Tuesday, 1.13 pm

And with that my first lecture week has ended and the new week has begun. About an hour ago I just finished attending a class on cell biology. I fell asleep out of exhaustion, despite having a lot of messy Biology notes to organize, and I literally woke up to the sounds of my father waking me up for my next lecture class: English.

I felt immediately embarrassed. My dad has to wake me up to attend my own classes! It should be my responsibility. I made a note to myself to set an alarm on my phone if ever my lecture periods are quite close to each other, and I plan on getting a cat nap between then.

1.35pm: Our teacher is going through How To Make Inferences now, but she is a little bit rushed in her teaching and I struggle to keep up.

2.10 pm: I am out of the lecture now. I have to take some rest, again. After that I will start working on Bio and leftovers of English.

2.45pm: I did not set an alarm. However I think my body, despite being extremely tired from staying up until 1.30 am last night watching my Biology teacher’s prerecorded videos on Carbohydrates, could not fall into a deep sleep because it knows it has things to do.

Now, let’s get to work!

I did manage to glean two quite useful things from my English lecture, and that is

1. inferences made must elaborate on and demonstrate a deeper level of external understanding as compared to what the paragraph is clearly stating, often including things that may be implied by the paragraph or is not even stated anywhere in the paragraph, and

2. the main idea of a paragraph can be found by underlining the main points as if you were making a summary of the paragraph, then writing a blanket main idea that seeks to cover the concept of all those key words as best as possible.

As for the details on how to answer the questions, I might go back to the replay and watch again. Time is tight, though, and I still have my biology notes, which needs thorough organizing for a smooth flow of thought, and a partial report to prepare. I have one more lecture for the day, though, and that is….

A mathematics tutorial class! From 4-5 pm. I’ll update you on that after the class! For now, I really must work a bit on Biology and English. See you in about three hours, real time.

3.19pm: I’m back so quickly, to tell you about something else. I went back to watch my Biology replay first. But I cannot concentrate on understanding what my teacher said in reply to a question I posed during the lecture, even though I know full well I need to. All I can focus on is judging my very own self, for my tone, for my fluency and confidence in communicating, for the way I asked the question, the way I “hassled” my teacher for the answer. Some part of me knows I am only being persistent in my studies, knows I have tried my best, knows I probably wasn’t being as annoying as I felt I was. Only I think so. But I have never been good at things like this.

I will keep working on overcoming this. It’s a small problem, and soon I will learn to judge myself less and be more natural. I already find my foundation so interesting and gradually I know being passionate and absorbed into my courses will take my mind of silly things like picking at the itty bitty details like the tone of my voice of my lack of confidence. Remember, if anyone can love yourself the most, it is you. So don’t waste time judging yourself for every single flaw. Acknowledgement of these flaws are still important, but don’t start feeling disgust of yourself. It is very debilitating and unhealthy.

I know my burning curiosity for learning will take me far, and all these barriers within myself will eventually fall away.

5pm: Alright! I am now done with my first math tutorial class. I have never had such a tutorial session like this before university, and it is a useful type of class specifically for asking questions based on a set of questions given to us to do. I think such sessions are very helpful indeed, and it makes us keep practicing.

5.15pm: I’m going to sit on my bed next to my window, just to soak up some Sun. I haven’t felt the warmth of the Sun on my skin for ages now.

6.20pm: Phew! It’s really hot. I’ve drawn the curtains. I’ve made a list of coursework and other odds and ends I need to get done, all academic related. I’ve got five things on the list. Going to get them done now, one by one! Hopefully I can get them done before dinner, which is…. too soon. Oh dear.

Let’s go.

University E-orientation!

Rachel Tan HX 1 Comment

Hey guys! Recently, I went for my university orientation. It’s my first day at university!…. I clapped, looking at a corporate video of my new campus.

Dad jokingly said that from today onward, I was already a university student, but I said no. I think I would much prefer remembering the date where my lectures commenced, not when I started orientation…. especially because this e-orientation certainly paled in comparison to a conventional face-to-face orientation, where we could hear the unfamiliar voices, see the new faces, and wiggle about as we sat cross-legged on the floor, or on plastic chairs (I don’t know, can’t imagine it.) There would have been laughs and fun. Now, I am forced to ingest all this information, including university rules, online e-learning platforms, co-curricular activities, settling of admission and academic documents, student bill, student ID card and way more within a short period of time. The numerous departments in a university is also unbelievable, to me at least.

The E-orientation did not contain the live video chats or live forums as I had hoped for, but it is still really interesting. After watching the videos of welcome speeches from the university president and students, I logged into the e-orientation portal with my email ID.

How terribly clever! At the end of the page, there was a quiz that asked you questions regarding certain content from the whole e-orientation homepage and portal. Now I will have to go back and read it thoroughly…. while taking note of what the university wants us new students to take note of. I clicked on the e-handbook for freshmen link, and made sure I paid more attention as I read the information in the handbook. With specific information to look out for, it made reading the content just a little bit more fun. I actually started enjoying myself a bit, as I scoured and dug around for the information I needed! :b

The university has listed on its website the pages/accounts that new students should be checking every once in a while, since there will either be announcements or coursework issued through these portals. I have saved all four of them in a folder in the favourites bar on my computer.

Today, I’d just realized that some of our lecture presentation notes are already up (for now, I don’t know if that is all the notes we have or if they are just for casual reading, since all of them are in powerpoint form), and there’s still a lot more to check out on the e-orientation page: videos to watch, pages to read, talks to sign up for etc. Really, when you’re in the middle of it all, it can be a bit tiring; but I learn to have fun along the way. In all, it truly is quite exciting.

And… the floor plan of the university building. It’s not a big university, quite small in fact compared to University Malaya who has a large campus spanning many kilometers; but still. Dear me.

I may just get lost! :b

At this point of lockdown, though, I would rather be lost in a campus then be stuck at home.