My first term break
Time flies and I have come to the end of my first term. While world economic crisis and national political drama continue to unfold outside my doorstep, I was struggling to jump start my student life after 18 years of freedom from class assignments and tutor's timeline. Friends thought I am crazy and I have to agree with them. My mom is amused and sometimes checked if I am indeed "tat chek" (studying in Hokkien) and not monkeying around.The intial first three weeks were tough. The biggest challenge was reading the research paper. It was hard to get accustomed with the writing styles the researchers used. Instead of saying "I think this is caused by...", they write "we see a strong co-relation with....". Just saying "our experiments have shown that..." is not as good as saying "there is a strong empirical evidence from our experiments that...." I felt like always constantly have to reach behind my head just to scratch my ear.
Though I do not have to commute to campus, communicating over cyberspace consumes the same if not more time. I should have known that online discussion is 7x24. With my classmates around the globe including Japan, Switzerland, Cameron, Iran, Hong Kong , Paraguay, just to name a few, the discussion threads lights just never dim. It was only after weeks of exhaustion trying to keep up with all the parallel discussion threads, I finally realized that I must limit myself to a time table for study while giving myself time to chill and do other things.
However having international classmates is one of the greatest benefits. The perspectives that we each bring to the discussions make me realize that our world is not that different afterall in terms of concerns and approaches. The ability to participate and relate to each other gave me a lot of confidence too. Though we have never met each other face to face, we could get a glimpse of each other's characters through our writing styles. There would always be a few who are late for classes and constantly apologizing. Some are really smart and writes extremely convincingly and logically. Sometimes the discussions went all over the place that I decided to log off to go to bed. Sometimes it was laser sharp that even the tutors were impressed.
But the best thing of all was through this course, I find myself becoming more alerted and inquisitive. Funny enough, I become more tolerant and accepting on individual level but more critical on macro issues such as politics and econmy. May be it has broaded my views. It has also made me realized that there are so many things that I do not know.
Term 2 will begin in 2 weeks time. I shall be expecting the arrival of another love package from my university. In there will be books and notes for the next term. Tutors have promsed us a hectic Term 2 plus a submission of a research proposal. With work and a more hectic study schedule and an assignment as a "confinement lady" for my sister in June, I am tightening my seatbelt for an even more exciting roller-coaster ride in the months to come.
Though I do not have to commute to campus, communicating over cyberspace consumes the same if not more time. I should have known that online discussion is 7x24. With my classmates around the globe including Japan, Switzerland, Cameron, Iran, Hong Kong , Paraguay, just to name a few, the discussion threads lights just never dim. It was only after weeks of exhaustion trying to keep up with all the parallel discussion threads, I finally realized that I must limit myself to a time table for study while giving myself time to chill and do other things.
However having international classmates is one of the greatest benefits. The perspectives that we each bring to the discussions make me realize that our world is not that different afterall in terms of concerns and approaches. The ability to participate and relate to each other gave me a lot of confidence too. Though we have never met each other face to face, we could get a glimpse of each other's characters through our writing styles. There would always be a few who are late for classes and constantly apologizing. Some are really smart and writes extremely convincingly and logically. Sometimes the discussions went all over the place that I decided to log off to go to bed. Sometimes it was laser sharp that even the tutors were impressed.
But the best thing of all was through this course, I find myself becoming more alerted and inquisitive. Funny enough, I become more tolerant and accepting on individual level but more critical on macro issues such as politics and econmy. May be it has broaded my views. It has also made me realized that there are so many things that I do not know.
Term 2 will begin in 2 weeks time. I shall be expecting the arrival of another love package from my university. In there will be books and notes for the next term. Tutors have promsed us a hectic Term 2 plus a submission of a research proposal. With work and a more hectic study schedule and an assignment as a "confinement lady" for my sister in June, I am tightening my seatbelt for an even more exciting roller-coaster ride in the months to come.
posted by Vegie @ 12:47 PM
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