Teacher-student mentoring session

My school organizes mentoring session once a month for graduate students. Some of them are on expectations while doing your post-graduate (e.g. rules, tips with supervisors, presenting papers) and some are on teaching. I found the last session to be most helpful, which was on dealing with students.

My stats guru is the organizer as the chair for mentoring sessions and he invited four speakers representing the counseling department, students affairs, the undergrad student coordinator and the dean of student facilities. Some of the more interesting things I found during the session was:

• They have facilities for every possible student needs. They are especially sensitive to students who are disabled. The dean for student facilities described how she coordinated a session for a student who was coincidentally deaf and blind!
• Campus life is stressful. An average of 2-3 cases of suicide are reported EVERY WEEK. Wonder what the statistics for our undergraduates are; and if such help are even provided
• Instructors are NOT responsible for solving the student's problems, but ARE responsible for showing the students what help are available on and off campus
• Problems with students are inevitable; you are not expected to know everything but you are required to listen to their side of the story
• Enforcement of rules are explicit and complete. They have a guide for everything regarding student-teacher problems! E.g. If you are caught committing plagiarism, you are required to go to plagiarism school, where you will be taught what is appropriate and what is isn't. How fantastic is that??? Students should also be aware of the rules, as they may be sent to court (i.e. internal university court) if they disobey a certain rule

One very important thing that I noted was that, each and every head of the department present that day had a DOCTORATE degree. I think that should be the way. Administrators may be good at what they do in organizing the process, but to me, in a university setting without the PhD attached to your name, you may not experience things the way an academic does. And I've seen that happen... err.. very rampantly before, especially in the scholarship board. :-P Campus politics and policies on university resources should NOT be mixed but that is idealistic and I guess inevitable. But it's nice to see how things are organized here. What is clear, students are their number one priority, and each setup in the university tries to take that into account, in every possible way.

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Siapalah punya kerja...

I got back to work this morning with a blinding headache (lack of caffeine, we ran out!!) and a bad mood. Don't you just hate Mondays?!! Anyway my mood was not much improved with the mess left outside my room over the weekend.

Previously, I had left my student's quizzes and mid term paper outside my room. Usually, I would ask them to come to my room and pick it up. In the meantime while they are there, I would give them a pep talk or two, and give academic related advice. Tapi sejak dah kawin ni paham2 je lah ye... dah takdak masa nak berborak lama2 dgn student. He he he he. Anyway, I was surprised to see the papers crumpled up and left haphazardly against the wall. And it couldn't have been the stray cat's doing (I have quite a couple of regular, feline 'visitors'), because the way the paper was crumpled (obviously, human's touch!) and not torn or scratched by cat's claws. It is a bit strange eh? To add to my paranoia, one of my colleagues told me that over the weekend, someone happened to leave a trail of beras kunyit from one end to the next. Hmmm...... I don't want to speculate who, but it must have been someone who was rather... errr... pissed off.

Aftermath: All traces of evidence cleared!

Apa2 pun, tolong jgn kacau bilik aku. I think this below sign posted outside of my door would have been enough to ward them off!! :-P

Dah cukup jelas dah ni! :-P

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Letter of the week!

Usually, there's nothing exciting in my pigeon hole. I have the usual credit card bills that I have to sort out, insurance notice, and of course not to forget boring administrative letters (calls for meetings, workshops, warning letters from top management to pursue PhD etc). But a couple of days ago one letter broke the trend.

The first paragraph read:

"Dear sister in Islam, Assalamualaikum Wbt... I hope I do not disturb you, and above all, apologize if the message below (MARRIAGE PROPOSAL) is not appropriate for you, because you are already married, engaged or simply not interested. If so, you can stop reading and tear down this sheet immediately"

Should I continue reading? Of course I did! Ha ha ha.

"So I hope I am addressing a single woman who has never been married. I am so sorry I could not find a better approach, even though I was very reluctant and had no idea on your identity, background etc. I learned that many Malaysian highly educated Muslim are unable to get married because of many social factors, so I hope you understand my situation. I just opted for addressing your good self directly, hoping that may be our common destiny prescribed by Allah SWT to be fulfilled in this way. This attempt for marriage proposal is sincere, pure, innocent and I have no evil nor game plans"

He went on to explain his background, why he came to Malaysia and reasons for wanting to settle down here, and of course why marriage is important, i.e. Surah Hujurat, verse 13. I have no idea whether he is sincere or not, nor am I in any position to judge about his rather er... unusual method. I only have ONE question: just how many letters did he sent out? It certainly wasn't personal because my name could not be found anywhere in the letter and it was just slipped inside my pigeon hole at the office.

Oh well, at least it certainly merits as the most interesting letter to make its way into my pigeon hole this week! He he he he. Have a good week, people!

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Bits and pieces...

Here are my random bits and pieces, for this week:

1. Domestic chaos

Just moved into my hubby's place. We are still arranging things, and just managed to put the bedroom and the wardrobe together. I watched while my hubby flexed his muscle, sweated profusely and did all the hard work (and all in good humor OK!). He he he. Things are still a bit haphazard though, we still have a lot of organizing to do and the odd bits to put together but everything should be done by end of this week. I was surprised at being a bit emotional at leaving my parents and the only home I know for almost 30 years; but we have to let go sometime right? And I am so happy that hubby is not a TV freak, I can watch all the TV I want now! Ha ha ha ha ha.

2. Mid term week ensues
Only two kids did not show up for quiz 1 and I already scared them good and proper so they would turn up for the mid term. Short semester leaves me no option, I have to get everything done within 8 weeks only and since I was not around for two weeks, things are more hectic than usual. Most of them are OK, I only have one kid who seemed to be problematic. He does not say much but his indifference (being late to class, not paying attention to lectures, asking for notes when he knows that I do not give them out, turning up 1 hour late for class) can be misconstrued as arrogance. And he's far too laid back most of the time, as if he does not care what happens to him. Lantak ko lah asal tak menyusahkan aku sudah!

3. Winds of change
There seems to be one coming pretty soon, so it seems at least from the top management point of view. This might affect my Phd plans so I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. They were supposed to call me for an interview soon but it has yet to happen. Will update this section as soon as possible! Please pray for me!

4. Dare I hope?
Nadal lost today; his unbeaten streak on clay finally broken by an unheralded opponent. Could this be finally Roger's Slam? I Dare Not Hope Too Much. Roger, take your chances and run like hell with it!

5. Wishes to...
Congratulations to my dearest friend Wani on the birth of her second child, Safiah Nadira. I hope she is as cute as Firdaus, and will be a blessing to both you and your hubby. Kalau ada masa kami datang melawat. I also want to wish a speedy recovery to Jiah. Anything please update us, and I pray you will be in your best health soon. To Joey and Kak Mimi, enjoy the coming summer. Hope we can join you guys in Fall. :-P

Till my next scribble; be good people!

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Down but not out

A few things happen recently (professionally that is) getting me down. I feel my spirit breaking down; I have put so much effort and hope on to it maybe that's why I didn't get it. Things have never come easy for me (despite contrary beliefs :-P) but I am trying to tell myself to be happy. Things happen for a reason, am sure. I have my back up plans, but that needs some through discussion with my other half and my parents, of course.

Thing is, I have always done things with a whole lot of sincerity, and nothing I do is calculative. To be sting so bad like this hurts. I have been stupidly loyal and for the most naive reasons. It's the way I have been brought up,and I won't apologize for it! But after all that's been said and done, I've definitely paid my dues, and I don't owe anyone anything anymore. For the first time, I am contemplating of leaving. Leaving for greener pastures might be the best option, albeit the last if all my back up plans fall through. He knows best, and hopefully we pray for the best.

The only thing that is making me happy right now is my upcoming wedding, and yes, today I am spending time indulging myself with a very good friend. Something I have never done before. Will blog about it later! Have a good weekend, friends and readers.

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"Say what?!"

This week's funny quotes during the examination period. You gotta keep your humor intact! :-)

1. "When you say listening style, do you mean the listening process?" (pseudo puzzled look!)
2. "Are you sure this theory exist, I've never heard it before!"
3. "When you say justify your answer, does it mean justify your answer with what the text book said or can you put in your own answer?"
4. "In this question, I can replace interpersonal relationships with interpersonal communication right?" - but of course, it's the same thing! (rolling my eye!)
5. "What does 'elucidate' means?" - second year student, aiyoh!!
6. "What does 'unearth' means?" - third year student, double aiyoh!!!
7. "You say give four points; can I elaborate one by one, or should I just elaborate it all together?" - do whatever you like, I don't really care!!!
8. "Miss, does this question come with a table?"
9. "I'm not sure I remember; can you give me some clues for this one?" - hell, no!!
10. "This one says 'four' points; I am sure there were only three!"

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By the pricking of my finger

...I declare that I do not have HIV! :-P I took Friday off to go to a government clinic to get my HIV test done. Since it's only done in the afternoon, I did not see the point of going to work in the morning and fighting the traffic in the afternoon (i.e. Friday prayers jam) to rush back home by 2pm. The clinic I went to was the nearest one to my house, and I didn't even realize that there was one clinic so close to home! And it was huge. And jam packed with people complaining of various ailments.

Luckily, the procedure did not take too long. I had to take a number, but it was not necessary. I was however pushed from one counter to the next and the nurses did not seem to 'enjoy their work' very much. Overworked and underpaid, perhaps? They certainly look brusque and curt; dealing with hundreds of people daily must be taxing. That did not bother me too much, though.

What was funny was how the test was conducted! I expected patients to be ushered into a room, but maybe because we were considered outpatients, we had to stick our hands over the counter and the nurse would prick our finger to take blood samples! And she was so busy gossiping with her colleagues, she missed once and had to do it again. And to add to that, she was so 'careful' with her work that she dropped one big dollop of blood on my HIV form! Aiyoooooooo.....

By the end of 15 minutes, I was glad to get it over and done with. Never again will I go there! :-p Anyway, the amount of paperwork for getting married appears to be quite daunting. No wonder people are NOT rushing to the alter, it can be that discouraging! However, we have to do what we have to do. The paper work is not something anyone should take lightly; without it the marriage cannot be solemnized.

Now, onto my guest list this weekend!

BTW, remember this? Recently, I got an offline YM message from the person involved. I had helped his group mate for an assignment (NOT my class assignment) because I am genuinely fond of that particular student, he was not getting any help from his group mate (including this person involved in my previous post) and to exercise my thesis proposal writing skills! :-P to cut a long story short, this kid wanted to thank me for helping his group. Perhaps he was shell shocked that I helped him (indirectly) despite him being rude to me. Well, it's my duty as a lecturer to guide even though I don't like him for what he did. The sad thing is, he failed to recognize that I will never be personal with him anymore. What I did was out of duty. And at the end of the day, that is all he is to me. Just one student who happend to be in the same faculty. To get things back the way they were is very, very remote. And what he did says volume about what type of person he is, and that is something that he will never admit, EVER.

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Graduation Dinner 2009

Err, there's a slight typo error there, kids. :-P

Yesterday, the student's association organized a graduation dinner for our department. The committee did a great job despite the short time period given. We are lucky that the current batch of students in the student association operate on just 'plug and play' principles, we don't really have to do much hand holding! He he he he.

Unfortunately, attendance by graduating students and also faculty members were not too good. I think only a handful of graduating (or graduated) students attended the dinner; most who did were juniors. It was a pity as the dinner was organized for them. From the department side, only four faculty members attended (like always, the usual suspects attended :-P). I am surprised that graduating students do not take this event very seriously. In my time, it was one of the highlights of our senior year. Remember La Signora, you were the MC? And Zai went sedondon in the exact shade with a certain brother 'A'. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

I had a good time anyway, the food was good, company was good and performances was very good. I was particularly impressed with the graduation video compiled by one of my students, he really has good editing skills, and he is one really artistic kid. I will upload the video and some pictures once I get hold of it.

The dinner was also held in conjunction with our CSR effort at doing our own little bid for Gaza. A fund box was launched yesterday, and hopefully these kids will be able to chip in a bit to help, no matter how small the amount, it certainly won't be insignificant. An apt beginning I thought, for our motto for the dinner "Share the tears, ease the pain".

Kudos to our students for a job well done! :-)

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Is it NOT annoying?

This conversation took place outside my door today.

Student A: "Madam, where is the mid term?"
Me: "Well, if it's not there, that means I have not posted it yet"
Student A: (In a whiny and demanding voice): "Why have you NOT posted it yettttttttt?"
Me: "What do I look like? A machine?!"

This is probably the 5th time I've been asked this this week. It never fails to amaze me how selfish and inconsiderate students can be. I promised them I would post it next week, and it's only Tuesday, and I NEVER go back on my word (of course I was going to do it this afternoon, after finalizing the results). Dan kalau tanya dengan elok dan budi bahasa yang baik takde lah kita nak rasa 'panas' sangat. Ni tidak, nama je perempuan. Lemah lembutnya langsung takde, lengkap dgn jelingan dan nada suara yang sengaja ditinggikan!

It also never fails to amaze me how they harangue me for their marks, when they never bother to keep to their deadlines themselves (late to class, late submission of assignment, last minute work for group project etc). And kalau markah tu bagus takpe jugak. Ni memang kes cukup2 makan pun tidak. Just to teach them a lesson, I might just decide NOT to post it at all!!

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When all else fails...

... just sigh. At least, that's what I am doing right now.

It's been a frustrating week. I have been trying my best to cope with the fact that my lap top crashed, and that the PC that they gave me is too damn slow. Alamak, lembap nak mampus! I NEED FASTER HAMSTERS! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY TO WAIT FOR MICROSOFT WORD TO OPEN! (whew, that felt better!). It looks like I have to upgrade the RAM if I want it to work better. And to top it off, it took the technician 5 days to reformat my lap top and today, it's still not done yet! When I ask him very nicely about it, he scowled at me as if I had no right to ask such questions. The nerve of that man!

This is a VERY common problem in my faculty. Somehow, the supporting staff does not do any 'supporting'. Instead it's as if we, the academics are supposed to beg for their services. I am really puzzled at how things are run, it's mind boggling and it's also extremely frustrating. For instance, earlier this semester, I found 'alien' students in my class, i.e. I definitely did not sign their registration form! There is a specfic ruling that for all add and drop after a certain period, the student has to ask permission from the lecturer to enter the class. I would not have minded if my class is not 'overflowing' but as it is, the average number is 60. The limit for each class is actually 50. So, the administrator must have added these students in my class without my knowledge. And this other time, the office person designated to print question papers just 'forgot' to print my mid term questions. And when I became so fed up and told him (politely, of course) that I would do it myself, he said: alah, kesian kat awak! (in the most patronizing tone ever!). ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Tech issues is another thing that puzzles me. Granted, all lecturers without a doctorate are not entitled to a lap top. It's supposed to 'motivate' us to work for our PhD, supposedly. But are we NOT entitled to an office PC that works? I don't mind one that is not new, but at least give me one that is servicable!!! Sigh. And why do the techies always act like they are doing me a HUGE favour when I ask for help? Isn't it their job? Why are they allowed to lord it over everyone, when all they do in the tech lab is play games, chat or blog?!!! At first, I thought was just me they were being rude to, seeing as I am young and (seemingly) not needing any respect. Then I heard that they were like that to everyone. Is that supposed to make me feel better?

It is at things like this that I sometimes come to hate my working place (NOT my job, just the place and the way things are run!). And oh! the silly rules that does not seem to make sense, and that those in the administrative post seems to make up at their whim and fancy! I met a highly respected colleague who's away for a while, and she remarked that my lamentations is not new; that is why good, young lecturers she knows have quit because of better offer, frustration at the way the system works and not knowing how to 'beat' the system.

To me, that is a moot point. I've had job offers before from other institutions, but well, seeing as how I am sentimentally loyal (perhaps some people would call foolish) to my university that I am electing to stay. Perhaps it is just sentiments; I just love the halls that I walk past everyday; this place has given so much to me so it's time to give something back. Yes, I know. I am naive and disgustingly idealistic! In the meanwhile, I shall just keep 'harassing' the tech guy to get the job done as soon as possible. Well, no job is perfect, and I suppose if that's my only grouse about my job, I should be thanking my lucky stars. :-)

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Why I'm OFFLINE (among other things!)

My lap top crashed last week. Sigh.

I think it must have been someone's thumb drive which was infected (and not maintained) causing my lap top to crash. It was quite bad; the virus attacked Microsoft Word until I can't open any word document. Normally, I won't let anyone use my lap top but the request came from someone I did not expect (not) doing any PC maintenance. Anyway, its over and done with, but as a result, I am now left homeless (OK, not exactly homeless) but PC-less and roaming around like a hobo to the tech lab. Kayak anak gembel aja. He he he he. And that is why I am NOT on YM. Luckily, I've backed up my data so the lap top can be reformatted, and I manage to wrangle a promise from the tech guy to install also a new PC in my office. It's been six months since I last requested for a PC OK!! Nothing's happened yet, so I shan't be too hopeful. :-P But at the very least, I shall have my lap top back tomorrow; I really can't function without one!

Other than that... I am busy preparing for something. Will blog about it later. If I EVER do. He he he he he. On another note, since Kak Nuwal generously tagged me, here I am happily replying to the tag! (been slacking on my blogging so today's entry is a bit long-ish. He he he he). Enjoy!

Facts & Quirks

1. List these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
5. Link the person who tagged you.
6. Leave a comment for each blogger.

7 FACTS ABOUT ME

1. Second child out of five
2. Saggitarius baby
3. Earned my driving license at the age of 25!!
4. Both my parents are Kelantanese, but I'm from PJ. :-P
5. The eldest daughter
6. Working as an educator; it's not something I planned but I love it. :-)
7. Love the colors red, turqoise, cream and black.

6 QUIRKS ABOUT ME

1. Very straight-forward kind of person. Some people might even say naive. I just hate being lied to, that's all. So if I catch you in the act, just say it out to me already! I can handle the truth better than a pack of lies. Don't assume I'm a dumbass, honey. I see right through you! BTW, I can see your nose growing, Pinnochio! He he he he.
   
2. I can't wake up without coffee in the morning. I get grumpy.
3. I can't skip meals through out the day. I (also) get grumpy.
4. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a jumping from one relationship to the next kind of person. I've had only three serious relationships. Two of them ended badly. He he he he.
5. Like Kak Nuwal, I am anal about order. He he he he. I like things that are planned coz I am quite practical. And owh! I'm also quite anal about cleaning my desk before I leave home. I can't bear to see an untidy desk, and I don't like people messing it up either.
   
6. I err... get antsy if I can't access my e-mail or surf the Net for a couple of days. That's how I relax actually.

I now tag these seven (un?) fortunate people. He he he he.

1. Pakalang (lepas test buat OK? :-))
2. Joey Rizal (apdet! apdet! apdet!)
3. Dini ND
4. Kak Hana
   
5. Princess Grace (kalau baca silahkan ngerjain tagnya yah he he he)
6. Wani Zamin (walaupun ko takde blog; he he he he)
7. Tuan Azmil (coz you tagged me on FB! So now, YOU are tagged! :-P)

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Bits and pieces....

This week, semester just started. I am feeling a bit lazy, but got to get the cobwebs out of my brains after resting from lecturing for nearly two months. Here's a snippet of this week's happenings.

1. "15? Jgn harap!!!"

I was supposed to teach a new subject this semester; its a new core course and since it was offered after the pre-registration I was hoping the number of students would be small. Before the add and drop period, I had only 15 students. Hooray!! My joy was short-lived. Yesterday when I checked the list, the number had ballooned to 40. Owh well, a girl can hope, right? :-) I am looking forward to it, though since I want to make that subject my area of specialization. The main text book seems to be a lot of fun, and I am already thinking of fun things to do for class projects.

2. Less chaos

This semester there seems to be less chaos. Students are still coming for manual registration but its not as bad as last semester. Maybe because we are offering two sections for second level subjects. There were however, a few things that came up that I might have to highlight during the department meeting.

3. Edward is sick

I am not sure what is wrong with the cat. She is not eating as much and seems to be having trouble 'going to the toilet'. Can cats be constipated? She's been eating a lot, and drinking very little so maybe that's it. Any ideas people on what to do?

4. Chick movies! Chick movies!

I really need to de-stress. Perhaps a spot of chick movies will help cure my stress. He he he he.

5. Family time

My cousins from Kelantan came down. They're loads of fun. Too bad they're only staying here for a few days; I think by Christmas they're leaving KL. However, they will be spending the night at my house tonight so I look forward to spending some time with them.

Catch up with y'all later. Owh, to Kak Hana, if you're reading this, get well soon!

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Am I being too 'emo'?

Tgh2 sibuk nak prepare untuk GRE, aku masih sempat berdrama. Bukan aku lah tapi ada orang yang berdrama dan dengan itu menyusahkan idup aku. Kalau nak berdrama pun boleh tak jangan libatkan aku? Sigh.

Now, I've had my fair share of students asking me for favours. Usually if it's academic related matter, I will entertain. But if it's a personal favour and bordering on the unethical, I will usually ignore it. Past couple of days, since the results came out, I've had 5-6 students e-mailing or YM-ing me to ask me to check their results. It's no big deal, and their results could not be accessed because the server was too slow, they had financial problems, did not pay compound, etc. So, I make allowances for such students.

Nak dijadikan cerita, ada lah hamba Allah ni tiba2 YM me after I came back from Cherating. I was so tired, I was not thinking straight, and I was worried about my GRE. So when he buzzed me, I was not in the mood. But since he was pretty close to me and I am fond of the kid, when he asked if I could do a favour for him, I said yes without thinking, and expected him to ask me for academic related favour (I was tired!). So, imagine my surprise when he asked me to use the database system to check out some chick's profile that he had the hots for (personal info like birth date, etc). I was like: WHAT THE....?!!!! So I got a bit pissed and told him off. Takkan bende2 macam tu pun nak suruh aku check? Haiya...

And it wasn't even what he asked, it was the way he did it and his reaction when I said 'no'. He is quite arrogant (like I learned from past experience) so when he apologized it was in an offhand, cukup-syarat kind of apology. I could tell he didn't really mean it. But I let it go even though he was very rude to me and told me he was perplexed at me being angry at nothing, and he didn't think he did anything wrong (as usual).

A few days passed. Yesterday, he again sms-ed me wanting me to check his friend's results (not my student but a kid I know) ; but the request was done in a very non-personal way, with a "sorry kalau tak berkenan" remark. I got pissed (again) but did it anyway, and smsed him back, sarcastically remarking: "just because I am pissed at you doesn't mean I should punish someone else". And you know what he said: "Owh really? I don't really care about that!" and again I went: WHAT THE...??!!

This is coming from a kid I happen to care about, have gotten to know his family and even met his parents. This is coming from the kid that I really went out of my way to help when he was in my Intro class; he was not very strong academically and I gave him extra guidance because I saw that he had potential and was hardworking. This is a kid that I listened willingly to his break-up stories (he breaks-up at least once every semester, biasalah cinta monyet... kita dulu pun gitu gak... betul ke? :-P) and was there for him to pick up the pieces. This is the kid that I put up and tolerated his childish antics when things did not go his way. This is also the kid that I think of just as my kid brother. So padan muka aku lah.

But now: enough is enough. I wash my hands off for good. I've had enough. This is where I draw the line between doing my job and my personal life. I am not going to be used like an old hanky at his whim and fancy and be summarily dismissed and tossed out when I've run past my usability date or when I do not give in to his requests. Sometimes, it is better not to care so much; misplaced sense of duty just ends up ruining your abilities to think clearly and it clouds your judgment. Again I say: enough is enough.

Am I being too 'emo'?

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Back from Cherating...

Yeah, I know I complained about having to go, but in the end I had loads of fun.

Maybe because the sessions in campus was boring, we had to listen to talks the whole time. In Cherating, the organizers switched gear. We had a few group discussions and a lot of interesting team building activities. I was lucky to be in a nice and friendly group too; we had four engineers, one psychiatrist, one chemist, one obstetrician, one pharmacist and two law lecturers. And even though most of them were middle aged, and some were already associate professors, they were quite sporting. They took to all the activities enthusiastically, and had a wicked sense of humor. We were always in fits of laughter the whole time.

The activities planned were varied too; we came in second for the jig saw puzzle contest, but we won the egg dropping contest. The engineers managed to create quite a sturdy cocoon over the egg that when we dropped it, it had only a slight crack. And if it was not for the fact that we lost in the tele match (the boys got disqualified for one match even though they came in first), we would have ended up overall champions! He he he he.

All in all, it was quite fun. I made lots of new friends and even though I was really tired, I think it was the perfect antidote to get away from my daily routine and forget about my GRE for awhile. :-)

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Twiddling my thumb...

...and trying to memorize tons of words in my GRE word list.

They always find extra things for us to do while we are on semester break, don't they? Sigh.

I am at a one week course for all newbies, to introduce them on what being a 'staff' really is all about. While I am all for camaraderie, being united, free food, free lodgings at beach resorts and all that jazz, I am not pleased at the thought of sacrificing one whole week. Especially when all that precious time could be devoted to studying for my GRE. Sigh (again).

So this week I shan't be online because I repeat again: I am twiddling my thumb out of boredom,and rather than being forced to listen to droning talks, I surreptitiously peek at my GRE word list and silently stew at all this wasted time! :-P

Later! Catch up with you guys in a week.

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Commercial break...

I am a bit too busy marking these past few days to actually update my blog in detail. Plus, I found out that I am supposed to go for the TIDE course in November. Crap! When will I have time to do my GRE then?! Sigh...

Anyway, lately I threw caution to the wind. And I've never felt so alive before.... with every fiber in my body. I found my way back, and now I am firmly back on sure footing... :-))

Later!

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Macam2 ada... (Part Two)

Today I met up with three of the four amateur plagiarists as retold in the previous post (Part One), sans the kid who failed last semester. Confronted with their deed, and shown the evidence of plagiarism, they caved easily. Aku pun buat lah muka garang dan cuba untuk tidak tersenyum sama sekali. Hey, you have no idea how hard it was since I am such a softie! :-P

Faced with insurmoutable evidence, they looked bashful and admitted that they did not check the assignment before it was submitted. However, they did carry out the actual interview and they did have the necessary data transcribed. Their biggest mistake was that they just left everything else with their other group mate (the one who failed the class last semester). He was supposed to compile their assignment and they trusted him without even checking the assignment before it was submitted. Then, one of them showed me an e-mail, sent by the kid who had failed, dated today (30th of October 2008). That kid admitted that he sent in last semester's assignment, and did not include the new data at all! His excuse was that he simply 'did not have enough time'. Come on!!! Nampak sangatlah pemalas nye...

In the end, I decided to take mercy on them and gave them a few days to submit a new assignment. The new assignment will of course be at a much reduced mark, and they have to submit it with the new data within the stipulated time. For kid number four however (who did not even bother to show up!!) tiada maaf bagimu. He is the main perpetrator, and he intentionally intended to deceive me, so hence 'zero' is a just punishment. As for the rest, their biggest mistake was extreme idiocy and carelessness a.k.a. tidak apa attitude, as well as taking for granted that their group mate would settle things simply because they felt that he was 'more experienced'! That I can still forgive.... However, intentional action to deceive is just not forgivable.

Moral of the story:

1. If you have to plagiarize, do it in a smart way
2. Do not assume that lecturers don't read assignments. Most of them do.
3. Keep copies of previous work so that they don't attempt anything funny; if they can find a way to get out of things, they will!
4. To err is human, to forgive is divine! Ha ha ha ha.

I hope it's a lesson well learned for all of them.

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Macam2 ada... (Part One)

Haiyo... this is so funny. If I weren't so pissed off, that is... Thank God I still have my humor intact, or else I would have stewed about this for days!

This kid failed my colleague's class last semester. Last minute, I was asked to replace her this semester and I did not have time to change the assignment research project title. I was aware that he failed so I took him aside and told him that whilst he could use the previous semester assignment for guide, under no circumstances could he copy 100% from it. Furthermore, he had new group members and plenty of time to work on the project to collect new data so there was no excuse for the extreme idiocy that occurred next.

Two days ago was the assignment due dates. I began marking in earnest because we have to publish the carry marks by end of this week. When I received this kid's assignment I was not too impressed with the work, and I was quite surprised by how shoddy it is. There were four people in the group. Three of them I was not surprised with the quality of work (including the kid who failed last semester). The fourth member however is a very intelligent and hardworking student who has impressed me this semester. He had so much potential that I was about to convince him to double major with our department (he's not majoring in Communication). So I checked the work again. Imagine my surprise at the end of the work when I saw the transcription and he included the name of a student (OK, it's Kodoq :-P) and I knew Kodoq has already passed this particular paper. Then only I remembered that last semester, Kodoq is the group mate of the kid who had failed. I did some investigative job and found the previous semester's assignment with my colleague, and compared the two assignments. IT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME. The only thing that changed was the cover page (it was a nice looking cover page) and the group member's names in front of the cover.

Come on lah! HOW IDIOTIC CAN YOU GET?! I also later found out that he got a copy of the assignment that morning before he submitted the work. Obviously they were not doing anything the whole semester and last minute decided to pass up last semester's work. That is still considered as plagiarism, no matter if it was partly your work last semester. I promptly gave them a 'zero' for the group assignment without any twinge of guilt. I only feel for the fourth member of the group; coz if he had scored in the group project he would have easily gotten a Bplus or an Aminus in this subject. Owh well, it is impossible right that he was ignorant of the fact that his team mates were going to plagiarize the group assignment?

Moral of the story: IF in any circumstances you want to 'get out' of things, do it in a smart way and make sure you are not found out. And yes, it does not pay to plagiarize assignment when the lecturer is me. :-P

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Why I love my job

Note: This post is dedicated to Wani, who is the most hard working officer I know. :-)

Yesterday, while on YM me and Wani chatted about our jobs. We were commenting on another friend of ours who was complaining that she hated her job, and felt really stressed out with it. Well, to me... any job is stressful. You just have to learn to channel your stress in the right way.

I did not start out wanting to lecture. I wanted to be a journalist. It probably was the fault of my Intro to Mass Communication lecturer (props to you, Sir Hisham Kandil wherever you are!). He encouraged my interest in words. I was so sure that he was the perfect role model I ever had. Little did I realize that in actual, he personified my ideal of what a lecturer should be. Interesting, interactive, caring, funny and personable. I can still hear his voice resonating when he talks about the communincation field. He had the knack to make the most dry subject into something extremely exciting.

After graduating, I promptly flunked my first interview with a famous Malay publishing house. They thought I didn't project the right image as a journalist (I looked too soft and pretty, they said! Maybe they err.. did not observe me closely! Ha ha ha ha ha). That was the first clue that it was not to be. Later on, I got two job offers as a journalist with an English daily, but again I turned it down due to parental objections and the fact that I was already attached with the educational institution I am now with.

There are many reasons why I love my job. Flexible working hours (which accounts for me playing hookey in the middle of the afternoon to watch a movie! ha ha ha), independence to do my job (nobody is err... looking over my shoulder to make sure I teach EXACTLY according to the course outline), I get to saman kids who wear celana robek2, ill-fitting clothes ala2 tak cukup kain, rambut gondrong to kelas (ha ha ha ha ha!) and I actually enjoy talking about Britney Spears with 50 watchful eyes hanging on to my every word (that's a slight exaggeration there, but you get my drift, right? ;-))

But the thing I love the most is the satisfaction of mentoring my students. I see the changes, right from the time they were in their first years: tentative, timid, making numerous mistakes that is inescapable due to lack of experience... much akin to a baby learning to walk. After a few semesters, they are more confident, speak more eloquently, can do things without being told and make fewer mistakes. In short, they are now running fast on their own without falling down. And of course the grateful smiles on their faces, the innocent satisfied facial expressions and the sincerely expressed "thank you's" when they do well far outweighs any monetary reward offered. And yes, you won't get rich in this profession.

But those are the reasons why I love my job, and I will probably be doing it for a very, very long time... :-)

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Google it!

Recently, a few nice things happened to me, as if God was listening to my wet Wednesday complaint. :-P I shall write about one of it now.

One of the things I do in my free time is Google my name. Come on! I'm sure you all do it too, admit it! I do it to periodically check what my students write about me online (if any). Hey, at least I'm not as bad as one of my other colleagues who told the students who write about her to take down their entries. I believe in the freedom of expression! He he he he.

Anyway, I've had a few insignificant entries that mentioned my name sporadically, but this entry was particularly nice. This is one of my current student, and she wrote:

Kelas yang dia ajar ni memang best. Kelas sempoi je walaupun kelas ni memang dah takde lorong untuk lalu lalang nak pegi toilet bagai. Padat dan sendat. Budak lelaki kelas ni memang agak ramai dari kalangan foreigner dan diorang lawak tak ingat dunia. Walaupun Miss aku yang ini memang mengamalkan pemerintahan kuku besi bila bab bab attendance, tapi aku makin boleh biasakan diri dengan cara dia. Kelas start pukul dua, lambat seminit, jangan harap la kau nak masuk kelas. Tak payah dok terhegeh – hegeh nak ketuk pintu bila Miss dah kunci. Sebarang alasan memang tak dilayan. Tapi tulah yang ajar aku untuk cepat – cepat datang kelas. Takdelah dok melepak kat kafe makan roti bom mapley. Miss ajar pun cepat dan padat, suara clear. Aku tak ngantuk langsung dan takde pon rasa macam nak buat – buat ngantuk. Lecture menarik sebab Miss selalu bagi contoh pakai nama – nama student.

It's nice to be appreciated. :-) I highly recommend you to google your name, just in case to see what others have written about you. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for anything that happens when you do so! Ha ha ha ha.

Sekian update ku buat hari ini, La Signora. Terima Kasih. :-P Please excuse me, I have to continue my Googling.

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