Feels good to be back. The examination period had me holed up in my room. Literally. It’s where I spent every breathing second of my morbidly study orientated life. Note : this will not need to apply to anyone who has established a conscientious study plan for themselves. But, despite all the (empty) promises I made about turning over a new leaf this semester, I still slumped right back into that hell hole of procrastination. Looking back in retrospect at the entire year, or at least my time here, I’ve come to the conclusion that the thing I suffered with the most is my tendency to procrastinate. I learnt the hard way that if you don’t do things, they aren’t going to do themselves no matter how much you will for it to happen. Sounds like common sense? Well, if u were anywhere close to the procrastinator that I am, you’d know how hard it is. To fold your clothes right after washing it. Or to wash your dishes. Or to change your bed spreads when you know it’s time to do it. Heck, I even procrastinated in the shower. ‘I’m gonna let the warm water run down my back for just another minute’. Next thing you know, just another minute turns into a few more minutes and those minutes turn into an hour. That’s how all the children in Ethiopia died from thirst so to speak. I have indirectly mass murdered. =(
Anyway, the last thing you would want to do after sitting for an exam, possibly one with lingering uncertainties and disheveled memories, is talk about the period that caused all that grief. But that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Merely because I established a love hate relationship with my study this time around. And also, because that’s all I’ve been doing for the past couple of weeks, it’s the only thing I can talk about!
For some really odd reason, I found efficient maximum absorption of study material within the amazingly short period of time I had was easier to achieve this time around. Ok. I might be shitting myself. And jinxing all the lucky stars that might've shone down on me by making that claim. But it’s true. And I’ve summed it down to four things.
1. The unbearable pressure of exams got to me and kicked my system into maximum absorption, minimum slack mode which resulted in better uptake of information. Aka – performance under pressure.
2. The elimination of internet privileges from my life which deprived me off time consuming activities (ie : blogging, facebooking, chatting, facebooking, youtubing, facebooking, blog surfing, facebooking, googling, facebooking, checking my e mails, facebooking. in that chronological order)
3. The new study method I used. I have absolutely NO idea why I never came up with it before. Coz it seemingly works wonders for me. If you have short attention span like me, try it. Intersperse between two very different subjects. I found interspersing between biosci and psych extremely helpful. I could go on for longer and I felt like I was getting more done simultaneously which was reinforcement enough to keep going.
4. My subjects this time around were just much more interesting..
Personally, I think it’s a combination of all four options. I absolutely enjoyed studying social psych and clinical psych. The amount of stuff I discovered, not merely about myself, but about other people and situations and disorders that I never ever thought I would’ve been interested in to begin with were vast!
I suppose this is going to sound pretty weird but I’ve developed quite an obsession for schizophrenia. While studying it, I felt this sudden surge of interest. Like I wanted to know all about everything to do with it. Shucks. Had I started earlier, I would’ve been able to look things up on wiki and read more journals about it, but I had to settle for a little bit of everything coz I was so behind. Anyways, I did look things up after my paper. Found this picture of a patient with catatonic schizophrenia.
Pretty interesting ay? And this is only ONE form of the disorder. Perhaps I should start considering my options next year so I can somewhat get closer to these patients. I know for a fact that I'd be terrified outta my mind at first but that shouldn't stop me.
Personality disorders were also awesome to learn about. Rotfl. I might actually have one. Geez. I just wish I had started earlier. Pfft.
Social psych components were also my favorites. Learning about self fulfilling prophecies and fundamental attribution errors and the power of the situation explains SO MUCH about people’s behavior towards so many things. Reading my psych textbook was almost like having all my questions on so many facets of life being answered. Seriously, that book is staying with me. I was thinking of selling it at a second hand price at first but it has become my bible ever since.
Fundamental basis towards understanding Freud's stuff. Reading about the Oedipus and Electra complex was intriguing, just coz I never knew that such a period actually existed in our lives. At least I don't remember it. Sometimes I wonder how he came up with all these otherwise unthinkable theories and revelations.
And then there was Erikson's psychosocial stages which pretty much lured me into believing that I had experienced a conflict that will transcend into my later life. And now that I know, I am even more conscious of it, which might prove to be detrimental.
Whatever the case, It was nice reading and absorbing it. Although, I am quite skeptical about the idea of everyone going through these identical stages. And that boy with his hands in his pocket, he shouldn't be smiling. He should be all punked up and angry if you follow the theory correctly. LOL.
Thing about psych is you can actually see it unveiling before you. Right before your very eyes! It doesn’t answer all your questions but it sure does clear a lot of doubt. And I’m all about figuring out this rather unpredictable life.
After A levels, I was pretty convinced that I was never going to do math ever again. The urgency was strong. I learnt this year though that in order to major in economics, I HAD to take it. And so I did. And although studying math in uni is pretty much a compressed form of perhaps a year of study into a couple of months, things ticked more easily than it did during A levels. Integration was easier by leaps and bounds. Integration by substitution and integration by parts were puzzles that I struggled with in A levels. But this time around, it just clicked into place. Shame really that there weren’t many questions on it during the finals, but I’m pretty glad that the conflict I had with integration has been resolved. =)
from unresolved puzzles to perfect fits?
Economics was more like my turf. Macroeconomics is a whole load more interesting than microeconomics. Just coz you don't only learn about the gains and losses of a certain firm but of the entire country. I completely suck at writing academic essays for econs. Can't seem to figure out why. But I supposed my love for the gargantuan amount of graphs related to this subject make up for my incompetent writing skills.
Pretty much sums up my perpetually fueled interest towards the subject. Although a day before the paper, I was on the brink of tears at 2 am coz I still couldn't "get" the Philips curves. And I get VERY frustrated when I can't interpret graphs.
LOL. I have no idea why I decided to put this picture in. You can't read anything and I can't b bothered with trying to attach an expanded version. I guess Mike's Calvin n Hobbes obsession rubbed off on me. But it's funny. Just google economics and it's one of the first images to pop up. (You prolly won't do this... LOL but I did tell =P)
And then there was BioSci. A paper despite being outrageously exciting, involving mass dissection and theories of evolution that went so far past my knowledge of primates, I don't think I did too well for =( There was just too much to absorb and too little time. And given that, I was forced to forego some of the components that I thought we weren't going to be tested on. Like that dumb lamprey question. But it did come out! And i was like, dengggggg! Five marks. Poof poof. Shit happens.
At least I I know the Burgess Shale isn't an era but a place. And disparity of the multifaceted species on earth. And about neroethology which I don't think I will be looking into as a professional career anytime soon. Still. This was one of the more interesting papers taken this year. And the fact that it's 60 percent coursework and 40 percent exams eases the tightness in the chest that I'm feeling at the moment.
The weird wonders of the Cambrian explosion.
This funny looking hallucigenia was constructed upside down at first. Honestly, I don't see the problem. Both ways, it still looks the same to me.
And now I have this extensive memory of fossilised animals and extant group forms engraved in my head. Seriously, it's like a whole other language pretty much. Actinoperygii. Lobopods. Trilobites. Cephalaspidomorphi. Chondrichthyes. Kerygmachela. Opabinia. Anomalocaris. Some of the few that I can remember. LOL. Am also aware about the importance of the hox genes which I never bothered with before. I'm actually pretty apprehensive to give up on what I learnt this semester. Coz I know as time goes by and other things become more important, It'd all probably get lost somewhere within the different lobes of my brain. I kinda want it to stick though. =(
Here's a little recognition to the few things that did help me get through the examination period with less pimples and slightly booted confidence.
Music. The spice of life. I practically owned JoBanana's Ipod throughout the examination period. While she owned my modem. The perfect symbiotical relationship I must say. =) Did me immense good.
Angel Milk by telepopmusik =) The songs are awesome!!!
Massive Attack is really good in a slightly haunting way as well. Just don't listen to it at 2 am in the morning when your convinced there's someone looking at you from outside your window. The House theme song's (Teardrop) in this one.
Out and about in Seremban. Nostalgia. Buildings of heritage. Guess what mum and I did? Shopping! Again. Yes. I am just all about that, aren't I? Thanks mumsy! *hugs*
Kacang pau (Red Bean Flour Mould?!) Finallyyy! =) Also got mumsy to buy the baked siew pau.
Billy Valentino, the salvaged stray, all grown up!! He's even a daddy now. Have yet to meet the wife tho. =P
The new additions to the fam. They can't even open their eyes yet.
Temple near Parkson. And a hint of the Kembara that I am forced to drive upon my return here.
Last floor dinner. Fewest participants. Majority had left post exam.
Thai Me Up in Ponsonby had a wide selection of food. And served rice in amusing shapes. Got us all competitive about who was more special of the lot.
Kyle got us all convinced that he was the most special of the lot. Look at that heart.
