Fridays

Tomorrow is Friday.

I’ve always looked forward to Fridays.

Because Fridays are Grand Prizes :) You’ll get 2 official off-days after Fridays, and in hope, to re-charge yourself and be ready for the following Mondays to Fridays (although that’s not always the case. The off-days, I mean).

As a student, Fridays are similar to other days in the week. But for me, Fridays are special in this semester. I attend two lectures in a Friday, morning and afternoon. It’s an emotion-roller-coaster-day for me.

In the morning, the subject being discussed is related to problem solving in physics. We talk about what problems are and what is real problem solving, types of problems and types of problem solvers, strategies used in solving problems, some PS models and researches done, how they implicate our instruction in schools etc etc etc. All related to my very own life and experience. A very interesting subject, it is. Seeing Physics from a new perspective. Happy.

In the afternoon, we talk about testing and evaluation in science & maths. All about measurement, testing, evaluation and assessment (they are all significantly different, mind you). Almost after every lecture, my heart fell to the earth. I felt pity for myself, the children and educators alike. Students have the every right to dislike (dislike, hate or loath or all) exams. I think the true educators do too! It must be very hard for the teachers who understand the true meaning of assessment to follow the set of so-called assessment standards (which is actually only a guideline for some once-a-life-time-evaluation, eg SPM). The best part is, we still have to sit for a final exam for this subject, you get what I mean?

Alas! We still need to follow that system until who-knows-when.

Tomorrow is Friday. And I’m looking forward to another round of roller-coaster trip. It’s exciting.

Equip yourself to handle administration challenges (2010) – From a personal experience

After the thrill of getting your university offer letter, you should do some preparations for the coming administrative challenges you would face (yes, these are the true challenges of life).

First of all, get yourself some electronics gadgets that I promise would get you through all the situations you would encounter. Mobile phone, laptop (if you only have a desktop, by all means, carry it with you while you are running your errands), digital camera, papers and photo papers, a complete set of stationary (I mean COMPLETE with stick glue, scissors, staple, puncher, paper clips, cellophane tape etc) and a 3-in-1 printer are the MUST items you got to have with you.

Secondly, do some homework, look for items/ documents you need to bring with you for the registration or application. But I doubt you’ll find all the necessary info even if you look through each and every crack of the noticeboard, each page in the website and each fine print on the programme booklet/ pamphlet. That’s why this is second to the first preparation. We should be prepared for uncertainty, shouldn’t we?

Third, you will need sufficient time. Empty your schedule for the whole morning or whole afternoon if you wish to register or apply for anything. Long queue, uncertain instructions to machine malfunction, you name it. The best time-killer I would say.

Ok, let’s hit the tasks.

To register for admission – you’ll probably need to produce copies of documents which you thought you have already submitted. So, you can print them all out from your printer (if you have already scanned them in your PC) or you can photocopy them on the spot using your 3-in-1 printer.

To apply for residential college (other than the one you were assigned to, which is a thousand miles away from your faculty), please bring your photo(s) with you, if you haven’t done so or brought insufficient copies, you can quickly snap your own picture or get your friend to help, and print it on photo paper using your 3-in-1 printer.

To request documents from office, you’ll need to prepare a letter (there is always no forms for these, you know). So you can use your PC and printer immediately (you’ve already wasted so much time waiting in the line!)

For stuffs you’ve got to wait - No solution to this yet, you’ll have to be patient, and wait (that’s why clearing your schedule)

What’s the use of a complete set of stationery? Well, we’ll never know ;)

Remember, high mountains never trip you, it’s all those tiny stones that you’ll stumble over and fall.

After you’ve gone through all these craziness, you can finally sit down and concentrate on the not-so-challenging lectures, assignments, notes, readings, and your postgraduate project. You will succeed.

Happy studying 