Crunch Crunch
OK, this is another of those times when I shouldn't be blogging but I do anyway, and this time it's just to say that I'm still alive, and the reason for my absence is that exam season has begun over here at NUS.
I sat for my first two papers last Friday and Saturday, and it feels good to flush out brain disk space for those two modules Operations Management and yes-yes-it's-finally-over-that-cheem-module Regression Analysis. This week's gonna be loaded with exams too, with my Financial Accounting exam at 5PM later today, my Lord-please-help-me Multivariable Calculus on Wednesday, and viewings-and-readings-loaded Reading Film and Cultural Texts on Friday. The exam that I'm most freaked out over, that for Actuarial Statistics, isn't until May 4th, so I can focus on that after this crazy week.
Needless to say, I've been very busy studying the past days, and although it's been fun at times, right now I'm just feeling jaded more than anything. Exhausted too, but more jaded, really.
Anyway, the results for the projects and essay I did that stressful stressful week I had sometime ago have arrived, and maybe I'll talk about them sometime else, especially about the HORROR that swept over me when I got back my English essay. Hehe. Not so bad, but it was pure horror. Heh.
And hmm.. let me take this time out to say congratulations to my pretty sister for being in the Dean's List at UPLB last semester and honor student or something too the sem before that! Tsk tsk she kept it from me all along that cheeky girl! Haha now the truth is out! Hehe I've never been in the Dean's List in college too! Hehe congrats Kai! Keep doing really well over at Ateneo de Davao ok? Hmm.. lemme see what goodies I can reward you with.
6:18AM, and it's time to get up and face the new day. Good morning world, and Lord please help me with my Accounting exam! :)
Hodgepodge
Hodgepodge
Nope, this isn't because Nestor and Ferron have in some way urged me to update this blog. It's more because, well, it's been a thoroughly disappointing day for mugging, and what the heck, I have a few minutes to spare before I grab my dinner and fly away into the night, engaging Regression Analysis in an intensive batttle of the brains.
That, and, maybe the fact that I miss blogging too, it's just that it's been overly hectic lately. So hectic, in fact, that I didn't (and don't) quite mind that some people think I'm a dorky loser, with no life whatsoever, who spends day and night mugging like there's no tomorrow. It's true I've been working a lot, but only to catch up on my requirements, which are a lot given my 6 modules, but to justify that whatever I do is not advanced mugging work, but the work of a cramming scatter-brained fellow, I don't really have time or energy or concern now. Look at me with pity or what, I don't really care. Tell me I'm ugly, so what? I have bigger concerns which require my energy and time.
OK that's not quite a nice way to start off this entry, but I guess the exam pressure is getting to me. Exams are in a week's time, and I'm still reeling from the madness of the week that jsut passed. Can I just please rest first, I tell Grandpa NUS. No, you dork, nobody rests in my household! Go grab your books because the acid test comes at the end of the week!
OK lo. So hence little Joseph's predicament.
In any case, what should be the attitude really, is thankfulness that the week is over. The weekend preceding it was the most difficult and trying weekend of my life. Actually, the pressure was building up even the week before that, as my group had to submit this incredibly draining Actuarial Statistics project. Here's a chronology:
6th April, Thursday - Actuarial Statistics project due at 11AM
Iris and I spent the whole night at the Central Forum doing this intensive project about Travel Insurance-- she went back at 6AM, I went back at 7AM, took breakfast, then went off to the Medical Library to finish the project up... and still my groupmates and I were a bit late! Printer at Science CBLC had to conk out on us too. We paid $20 for the printing because the printer fellows would not admit that their printer is defective.
10th April, Monday - Financial Accounting Project due at 5PM, Regression Analysis Project due at 5PM
So my groupmates on the FNA project were Arthur and this Malaysian guy Jason from Sheares Hall. OK so Jason is nice, really I mean it, but we our discussions take forever. I was a bit annoyed when he told me to read up the book because he wasn't buying what I was saying, but it was peace from then on (I told you he's a nice guy). Good thing Arthur was there to save the day. Haha. As for the Regression Analysis project. I didn't know why I was spending a lot of time on it, when it only accounts for 5% of the grade. Maybe because I screwed up my midterm tests, and Im totally not confident about the exam. Oh Jesus help.
11th April, Tuesday - Reading Film and Cultural Texts Essay due at 2PM. Tutorial presentation on Postmodernism at 12noon.
Now this is the film module that's hands-down the only fun module I have this semester. The essay is 6 pages long, and we were to discuss any text we wanted for stereotypes, greater cultural or social significance, that kind of thing. I decided to discuss a 1960's ad for Marlboro, and tackle the ideology promoted by the Marlboro Man (and Marlboro Country), and how it battled with government-advocated anti-smoking ideology for hegemony (government won). Anyway, I was so close to banging my head on the wall because I NEVER really cram my essays, because I take pride in doing them, but this time, I did. I did a whole lot of research before this, mind you, taking my time to really think of what to say about the Marlboro man, and my books, online references, library database articles, were already there some two weeks back, and I decided I knew exactly what I was going to say. I had my thesis checked and rechecked and approved by my nice New Zealander tutor Jane, and she liked! I liked! And so I moved on to do my Actuarial Stats and Regression and Accounting projects first. But I realized I sort of neglected this essay, and so it was mad typing and thinking and head-banging for me all night and all morning that Monday. For the same module, my group also had to present during tutorial a powerpoint about Intertextuality and Postmodernism. It was fun! I had good fun doing the slides over the weekend, because I got to talk about fun stuff like Andy Warhol and his Marilyn art, The Scream by Edvard Munch and the Simpson parody, the pastiche and bricolage in Shrek 2, the glaring postmodernism in Romeo+Juliet, the self-reflexivity of America's Sweethearts and The Player, and I even offered how Lost is incredibly pomo as well. Fun stuff, the examples and slides I thought of, with a lot of help from Sociology major Hayati (thanks thanks!), and my main concern was that I didn't rattle off too much, and my lethargy and eyebags from not sleeping much wouldn't show. Presentation went well.. Good team we got Samantha Calvin Harold!
12th April - Operations Management Presentation
Oh this was technical stuff.. Not very much to my liking, but it was useful stuff nonetheless that made a lot of sense. Weeks ago we had to submit individual term papers, and now in groups, we had to present one of the papers in our tutorial class. China guy Su Hao's paper was chosen, and he discussed Strategic Operations. It was okay la, I did my part well, although my presentation slides were a bit edited and the animation slides snipped out because well Su Hao wanted a more minimalist approach. OK lo, I didn't mind. I just hope our tutor did not find our presentation too dry in comparison with the fancy shmancy presentations some of the other groups did. It went okay too, and our all-guy group felt good after it was done. :)
13th April - Actuarial Statistics Presentation
OK after the blood-sweat-and-tears-sleepless-nights combo that this project entailed, it was time to present it to class. Collating it was a bitch, as Iris and I have realized during the compiling of the individual parts into a comprehensive report the week earlier, but the powerpoint slides for a 15-minute presentation thankfully didn't take as much effort. Still a lot of effort though. Heh. It was very nice to see Iris, Yilin, Christina, Jermaine and me getting into the group spirit and doing our part and timing ourselves and making sure the slides came on cue and we knew what we had to say. I was particularly anal about this powerpoint thing, where the animationmade by Iris left white lines on the presentation. Haha I ran to the library and did it myself (cos her laptop's language is Chinese haha). Fixed it and tralala it was okay. Thankfully, since this was my third consecutive day of doing presentations, I was most confident now, and right when I needed it, because I have a deep fear of my Actuarial Stats lecturer ever since he, well, made me look not-so-good that one time I presented a tutorial in front of the class. Hehe. But now all is well and things are okay. :) Thanks groupmates. I'll see you around and happy mugging!
* * *
Oh yeah, I went for confession too on Wednesday. It's an exhilarating feeling. People should do it too. I dunno, it's just nice and dandy when you get things off your chest and there's someone to reassure you of things, even if you already quite know those things, but decide to conveniently tuck them at the back of your head. Besides, who's to doubt an old man's wisdom? :) Quite interesting too, that Fr Frans. He's a 66-year-old Belgian priest who speaks English very slowly, but he does the Mandarin mass! Brilliant. Hehe.
Anyway, it's Good Friday today, and I went for this morning's service. Not a mass technically, Fr Richards said. If anything, I should learn to be more prayerful this Holy Week, and the coming exam weeks too. And for the rest of our lives really. Hehe.
If we trust and put our faith in the Lord enough, we will not be shortchanged. God bless us all in the exams! :)
Nope, this isn't because Nestor and Ferron have in some way urged me to update this blog. It's more because, well, it's been a thoroughly disappointing day for mugging, and what the heck, I have a few minutes to spare before I grab my dinner and fly away into the night, engaging Regression Analysis in an intensive batttle of the brains.
That, and, maybe the fact that I miss blogging too, it's just that it's been overly hectic lately. So hectic, in fact, that I didn't (and don't) quite mind that some people think I'm a dorky loser, with no life whatsoever, who spends day and night mugging like there's no tomorrow. It's true I've been working a lot, but only to catch up on my requirements, which are a lot given my 6 modules, but to justify that whatever I do is not advanced mugging work, but the work of a cramming scatter-brained fellow, I don't really have time or energy or concern now. Look at me with pity or what, I don't really care. Tell me I'm ugly, so what? I have bigger concerns which require my energy and time.
OK that's not quite a nice way to start off this entry, but I guess the exam pressure is getting to me. Exams are in a week's time, and I'm still reeling from the madness of the week that jsut passed. Can I just please rest first, I tell Grandpa NUS. No, you dork, nobody rests in my household! Go grab your books because the acid test comes at the end of the week!
OK lo. So hence little Joseph's predicament.
In any case, what should be the attitude really, is thankfulness that the week is over. The weekend preceding it was the most difficult and trying weekend of my life. Actually, the pressure was building up even the week before that, as my group had to submit this incredibly draining Actuarial Statistics project. Here's a chronology:
6th April, Thursday - Actuarial Statistics project due at 11AM
Iris and I spent the whole night at the Central Forum doing this intensive project about Travel Insurance-- she went back at 6AM, I went back at 7AM, took breakfast, then went off to the Medical Library to finish the project up... and still my groupmates and I were a bit late! Printer at Science CBLC had to conk out on us too. We paid $20 for the printing because the printer fellows would not admit that their printer is defective.
10th April, Monday - Financial Accounting Project due at 5PM, Regression Analysis Project due at 5PM
So my groupmates on the FNA project were Arthur and this Malaysian guy Jason from Sheares Hall. OK so Jason is nice, really I mean it, but we our discussions take forever. I was a bit annoyed when he told me to read up the book because he wasn't buying what I was saying, but it was peace from then on (I told you he's a nice guy). Good thing Arthur was there to save the day. Haha. As for the Regression Analysis project. I didn't know why I was spending a lot of time on it, when it only accounts for 5% of the grade. Maybe because I screwed up my midterm tests, and Im totally not confident about the exam. Oh Jesus help.
11th April, Tuesday - Reading Film and Cultural Texts Essay due at 2PM. Tutorial presentation on Postmodernism at 12noon.
Now this is the film module that's hands-down the only fun module I have this semester. The essay is 6 pages long, and we were to discuss any text we wanted for stereotypes, greater cultural or social significance, that kind of thing. I decided to discuss a 1960's ad for Marlboro, and tackle the ideology promoted by the Marlboro Man (and Marlboro Country), and how it battled with government-advocated anti-smoking ideology for hegemony (government won). Anyway, I was so close to banging my head on the wall because I NEVER really cram my essays, because I take pride in doing them, but this time, I did. I did a whole lot of research before this, mind you, taking my time to really think of what to say about the Marlboro man, and my books, online references, library database articles, were already there some two weeks back, and I decided I knew exactly what I was going to say. I had my thesis checked and rechecked and approved by my nice New Zealander tutor Jane, and she liked! I liked! And so I moved on to do my Actuarial Stats and Regression and Accounting projects first. But I realized I sort of neglected this essay, and so it was mad typing and thinking and head-banging for me all night and all morning that Monday. For the same module, my group also had to present during tutorial a powerpoint about Intertextuality and Postmodernism. It was fun! I had good fun doing the slides over the weekend, because I got to talk about fun stuff like Andy Warhol and his Marilyn art, The Scream by Edvard Munch and the Simpson parody, the pastiche and bricolage in Shrek 2, the glaring postmodernism in Romeo+Juliet, the self-reflexivity of America's Sweethearts and The Player, and I even offered how Lost is incredibly pomo as well. Fun stuff, the examples and slides I thought of, with a lot of help from Sociology major Hayati (thanks thanks!), and my main concern was that I didn't rattle off too much, and my lethargy and eyebags from not sleeping much wouldn't show. Presentation went well.. Good team we got Samantha Calvin Harold!
12th April - Operations Management Presentation
Oh this was technical stuff.. Not very much to my liking, but it was useful stuff nonetheless that made a lot of sense. Weeks ago we had to submit individual term papers, and now in groups, we had to present one of the papers in our tutorial class. China guy Su Hao's paper was chosen, and he discussed Strategic Operations. It was okay la, I did my part well, although my presentation slides were a bit edited and the animation slides snipped out because well Su Hao wanted a more minimalist approach. OK lo, I didn't mind. I just hope our tutor did not find our presentation too dry in comparison with the fancy shmancy presentations some of the other groups did. It went okay too, and our all-guy group felt good after it was done. :)
13th April - Actuarial Statistics Presentation
OK after the blood-sweat-and-tears-sleepless-nights combo that this project entailed, it was time to present it to class. Collating it was a bitch, as Iris and I have realized during the compiling of the individual parts into a comprehensive report the week earlier, but the powerpoint slides for a 15-minute presentation thankfully didn't take as much effort. Still a lot of effort though. Heh. It was very nice to see Iris, Yilin, Christina, Jermaine and me getting into the group spirit and doing our part and timing ourselves and making sure the slides came on cue and we knew what we had to say. I was particularly anal about this powerpoint thing, where the animationmade by Iris left white lines on the presentation. Haha I ran to the library and did it myself (cos her laptop's language is Chinese haha). Fixed it and tralala it was okay. Thankfully, since this was my third consecutive day of doing presentations, I was most confident now, and right when I needed it, because I have a deep fear of my Actuarial Stats lecturer ever since he, well, made me look not-so-good that one time I presented a tutorial in front of the class. Hehe. But now all is well and things are okay. :) Thanks groupmates. I'll see you around and happy mugging!
* * *
Oh yeah, I went for confession too on Wednesday. It's an exhilarating feeling. People should do it too. I dunno, it's just nice and dandy when you get things off your chest and there's someone to reassure you of things, even if you already quite know those things, but decide to conveniently tuck them at the back of your head. Besides, who's to doubt an old man's wisdom? :) Quite interesting too, that Fr Frans. He's a 66-year-old Belgian priest who speaks English very slowly, but he does the Mandarin mass! Brilliant. Hehe.
Anyway, it's Good Friday today, and I went for this morning's service. Not a mass technically, Fr Richards said. If anything, I should learn to be more prayerful this Holy Week, and the coming exam weeks too. And for the rest of our lives really. Hehe.
If we trust and put our faith in the Lord enough, we will not be shortchanged. God bless us all in the exams! :)
