Tuesday 20 May 2008
This is where I belong...
This is the place where I spent most of my time from end January till mid-May 2008. I would normally spend 8 hours here almost non-stop with intermittent breaks to sneak out for a quick breakfast, lunch or tea in a pantry next door. When I entered the place end of January, the view through the window was not as cheerful, the sky was mostly grey. The photo was taken on a Friday afternoon on 16th May when I was testing a lab camera before taking photos of my experimental set-up. The three red objects on the table are lids for kegs which I used to store fresh water and saline solutions for my experiments.
Friday 2 May 2008
Back to school...
I have always wanted to write about this but I have never really set a time to work on it. Writing is my passion and I wish I could spend more time on it. Looking back, I could have written more especially in the last few months.
It is now way past midnight and as I was having a conversation through YM, I started to think now I have to work on this long delayed task. It was a conversation with a fellow compatriot and colleague and we were discussing about current workload as a student and future career plans. It was a trigger point of sort. As I was asking about his plans after graduation later this year, I made a suggestion for him to read my article...or rather ramblings (see "Of Crossing A Bridge and Biting a Bullet). I can only humbly tell him there is only two postings in the blog. When I first started it was supposed to be my ideas and thoughts over a period of one year while taking a break off work. It never really took off the way I wanted it to be. It is supposed to be less amateurish and reflects maturity. Where possible, I hope some of the materials would be worth for an editor to consider publishing it. Well, it was partially achieved. My ramblings end up on a glossy page on the inside back cover of a magazine published by society at one of the world's most renowned university! A 50 percent success rate is not too bad, aiye?
Yes, I am a student again since September 2007. I can't believe returning to school after such a long time. It has been more than 10 years since I left my last "school" and enjoyed the life of a grown up comfortably gaining the independence of earning my own money. Almost ten years and three jobs later, here I am again attending lectures and trying to comprehend the equations written on the board except that this experience is not quite the same with those undergraduate days when I was younger. The weather is very familiar and the culture is pretty much the same however this now appears very much a foreign land. I would have considered working here 10 years ago but the opposite is true now.
Coming back to school is a refreshing change however adapting to student life is not without any hurdles. As much as I am learning to unlearn, I also found myself learning to learn. The mindset has to change and I am still learning to do that. Gone temporarily were the days to work from eight to five. I am pretty much myself, I can decide when to work or not to work only to find out that working at night is more of a norm rather than an exception here. Trying to understand takes longer. I am not sure whether that has got to do with reduced processing power of my brain or the habits it has accustomed itself after years in the working world.
Coming back to school is beyond my wildest dreams. Winning a scholarship and securing a place was a challenging task in itself however going through the mental and emotional roller coaster rides through the degree course is a different thing altogether. As I navigate through my research work spending endless time in the laboratory and trying to make sense of the data, I found myself in an ocean of knowledge trying to stay afloat and find my direction. I have yet to see the shore. Wish me all the best!
It is now way past midnight and as I was having a conversation through YM, I started to think now I have to work on this long delayed task. It was a conversation with a fellow compatriot and colleague and we were discussing about current workload as a student and future career plans. It was a trigger point of sort. As I was asking about his plans after graduation later this year, I made a suggestion for him to read my article...or rather ramblings (see "Of Crossing A Bridge and Biting a Bullet). I can only humbly tell him there is only two postings in the blog. When I first started it was supposed to be my ideas and thoughts over a period of one year while taking a break off work. It never really took off the way I wanted it to be. It is supposed to be less amateurish and reflects maturity. Where possible, I hope some of the materials would be worth for an editor to consider publishing it. Well, it was partially achieved. My ramblings end up on a glossy page on the inside back cover of a magazine published by society at one of the world's most renowned university! A 50 percent success rate is not too bad, aiye?
Yes, I am a student again since September 2007. I can't believe returning to school after such a long time. It has been more than 10 years since I left my last "school" and enjoyed the life of a grown up comfortably gaining the independence of earning my own money. Almost ten years and three jobs later, here I am again attending lectures and trying to comprehend the equations written on the board except that this experience is not quite the same with those undergraduate days when I was younger. The weather is very familiar and the culture is pretty much the same however this now appears very much a foreign land. I would have considered working here 10 years ago but the opposite is true now.
Coming back to school is a refreshing change however adapting to student life is not without any hurdles. As much as I am learning to unlearn, I also found myself learning to learn. The mindset has to change and I am still learning to do that. Gone temporarily were the days to work from eight to five. I am pretty much myself, I can decide when to work or not to work only to find out that working at night is more of a norm rather than an exception here. Trying to understand takes longer. I am not sure whether that has got to do with reduced processing power of my brain or the habits it has accustomed itself after years in the working world.
Coming back to school is beyond my wildest dreams. Winning a scholarship and securing a place was a challenging task in itself however going through the mental and emotional roller coaster rides through the degree course is a different thing altogether. As I navigate through my research work spending endless time in the laboratory and trying to make sense of the data, I found myself in an ocean of knowledge trying to stay afloat and find my direction. I have yet to see the shore. Wish me all the best!
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