Scouty's Weblog

Attending Lessons

Attended the 2nd lesson for my course of study. So far so good… adapting to the new study environment, though I am still grappling with the requirements for the various assignments. Doing essay / report at Uni level sure is different from those that I had done back in the Polytechnic.

The teaching style is also different, more self-directed learning instead of having information passed to you directly by the lecturers. In fact, I think this is good, as it requires us, as students to seek out the information on our own, thus contributing to the learning process. Though I know the challenges it posed to us, adult learners… who had to juggle with work, do our graded assignments, doing our essential reading (textbook) and additional reading (other sources) and subsequently prepare for the written exam.

Went for my first tutorial lesson last night, finally seen my fellow course mates for this term. Quite an interesting bunch of people, so hopefully for the next few months we can really get along and make the learning process an enjoyable one.

Lucky thing, the journey from Uni back to home wasn’t really that far (45 mins bus ride). Just that waiting to board the bus after lesson is crazy, with the whole bus-stop packed with students from SIM. Seriously… I only board the bus after having to skip 3 bus number 74, which was packed to the max.
Shall observe the situation and see if I can plan an alternative mode of transport back home after lesson in the next few lesson to come.

Meanwhile, shall start doing some reading, so as to really get an understanding of what my module for this term is all about, especially the theories, concepts and application.

Oh well… the beginning is always difficult, so time to get started and adapt.

Lesson

After 2 days of Lunar New Year break, its back to work. Lucky thing its going to be a short work week.

Come next week I will be starting my lesson, the very first lesson in my enrollment to the Social Work degree program. Not sure what to expect but I think it will be fun. Especially its something I had wanted to do, so in terms of motivation, I believe it will be stronger, to push myself on in the next 3 years.

This year will be quite a challenging year. With studies taking a major role in my commitment and also taking up more responsibilities at my association. So I believe it will be another round of training both mentally and physically.

Will start picking up the text for the first module to read soon, at least get a rough idea of what will be covered for this term. That is if I can really ‘pick it up’ from the drawer in my office…..

Lunar New Year

It’s the time of the year where we celebrate the Lunar New Year.

This year’s Lunar New Year falls on January. So for the whole month of January its kind of celebratory mood where party and celebration seems to be at the back of everyone’s mind.

Let’s hope the New Year will bring good fortune to everyone.

Library Kids

It’s nice to see my library kids all growing up well and able to progress to Year 3. Can see that they are facing a new level of stress in their academic work. But I believe they will be able to cope, perhaps now they just need some time to adjust to the new demands of being a Year 3 student.

Best part about it, having seen them from Year 1, the bond and rapport we have is stronger with the passing of each year. That is also the reason why I hasn’t been keen to consider making a switch in my job, even though there had been an opening in an International School recently which I felt pretty confident of getting it.

Some will said it was a foolish decision I made, especially if I could potentially expand my portfolio and experience as a librarian and also see a jump in my pay, since I am well experience for the job.

Yet the main reason for holding back was mainly because of my library kids. I had tried to use my upcoming part-time studies as an excuse, since I am not sure if I can cope with the demands of the degree program and the demands of the new job. But somehow I know that is something I will be able to work out and overcome.

I am not sure what is with these groups of kids that had such strong reasons to keep me ‘grounded’ at where I am now. Though I know on numerous occasions, I had told them that, I will do my best to ensure I stay long enough in RV to see them all finish their A levels. Which counting down from now, it’s another 3 years more to go.
To think I hasn’t stayed in a job for more than 2 years, now I am planning to stay in a place for 6 years.  That is quite an amazing feat to me.

Anyway, I am still enjoying my job and what I am doing in RV, the frequent visits by the library kids further makes my job more fun and enjoyable. So let’s see how things progresses in the future.

A decision I made based heavily on feelings. I am not even sure if the decision was sound, but at this point I am not looking back at my decision. Right or wrong I don’t know… Only time will tell.

2012

Well… I doubt the world is going to end in 2012, as depicted in the movies or as predicted by the Mayans. So shall continue to blog.

The start of 2012, a brand new year. A bit of an oxymoron… Had wished that things will be smooth sailing for the year, yet realistically, life is always about challenging and overcoming obstacles. So I am not even sure if I should wished for a smooth sailing year or a year with obstacles and yet they won’t ‘kill’ me.
Nonetheless, I am hoping that 2012 will be a year of Hope.

Eye Appointment
Ended 2011 with my last medical appointment at the Eye Clinic. Had been searching for my eye specialist which I got to know during my Secondary School days when she was still practicing in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Somehow she had left Tan Tock Seng in 2003 and start her own private practice. So for a period of time, I didn’t managed to find her until like last year.
Finally made an appointment to visit her at her clinic while at the same time getting a check on my eyes. The check-up was ok, without any issues. Though we did had a good time catching up and chatting during the check-up. Now that I had found her, will be having my yearly eyes check-up done at her clinic.

Vietnam
Had made a short trip to Vietnam in view of the New Year holidays and also I wanted to experience how New Year count-down is like in other countries. So checked out the tickets, confirmed it and made my way there.
Managed to meet up a few friends there, so having them as guides was kind of cool, as I get to see Ho Chi Minh City from a local perspective, tasted authentic Vietnamese food and best of all, ride on a motor-bike and travel round Ho Chi Minh City while experiencing the heavy and complex traffic in Ho Chi Minh City.
One of the highlight of the visit was also experience the count-down at Ho Chi Minh City. It was a simple street party, but the turn-out was seriously large, I think the whole of District 1 at HCM City was there. Perhaps the most amusing thing I found / experience during the party was how Vietnamese have a way to prevent people from cutting through their path. It may seem like a selfish act but somehow given the size of the crowd, it is something I felt necessary to do and being a sporting tourist, I also got into the act of ‘blocking’ people.
It was an enjoyable trip overall, really seen and experience quite a fair bit of Vietnamese life-style despite it being a short 3 days trip.

School Starts
3rd Jan was the day everyone goes back to school (for those already in school) or starts school (for those whose kids are entering Kindergarten 1/ Primary 1 / Secondary 1).
It was great to see my library kids back again. Most of them actually came by to ‘visit’ me and say Hi. It’s very heartening to see those kids doing that, though a simple gesture but the feeling was really good, not only that… some of the regular library users also came by to say Hi before using the library. It’s really very encouraging to know that in the course of my work, I had directly or indirectly created some impact in these students lives.
3rd Jan was also the day, quite a few of my friends and my own sister sees their kid enter into Primary 1 or Kindergarten 1 and with the use of Social Media, updates of how their kids were doing were up in their respective FB page.

And that pretty much sums up what had happened thus far for 2012.