# Maria
# 19
# Family
# Friends
# Fun
# Food
# To enjoy the finer things in life
# Sports
# Reading
# And finally... Success

:: Have a great 2012! ::
:: A Meaningful Career ::
:: Relax from time to time ::
:: Nothing ::

Eng Hong
Rachel
Yiting
Zandra

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February 2008;
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The calendar new year has passed and Chinese new year is just around the corner or more specifically, next week.

So how has school been for me? It has been nice meeting up with my classmates again and I really enjoy the time I spend with them. On a different note, I realised that I am not particularly keen on what goes on in class. But since I already made a promise to myself I will be a great student this semester, I will do my best to focus on my studies.

What's coming up? 1. Volunteer training at NUH tomorrow. 2. Church on Sunday. 3. Visiting on Monday and Tuesday. 4. CCA meeting on Thursday/Friday. Not too bad, not too packed. : )

I'm feeling really exhausted now after running for 13 minutes earlier. That is a really big improvement, considering I hardly run these days and if I do run, I'll only run for about 7 minutes. So I'm really satisfied with my performance. Totally tired now..

That's all for now.

Maria xxxxxx

P.s. Stay focused! Press on! Chilling out tonight : )
Signing Off @ Friday, January 20, 2012 l 0Comment

My 4-days community service trip to Hanoi has been a novel and impactful experience. If you're thinking, "Only 4 days? What difference can you make?" Well, read on.

Day 1: Arrival at Hanoi from Singapore. Discussion about our program schedule for the children for days 2 and 3. Went to bookstore to shop for stationery required for the activities and some of them were meant as gifts for the kids. Had dinner at some restaurant (famous for their mushroom). I'm not a fan of it but that's another story altogether.

Day 2: Greeted the children. There were story-telling, dance, balloon sculpturing and outdoor activities. Quite a fun-filled day. The children were very earnest to learn English and listened to our stories attentively and interactively. We hoped to cultivate an interest in learning in them as well as to teach them skills like the importance of team work.

Day 3: Roughly the same thing but we did origami instead of balloon sculpturing. Again, through our numerous activities, we exposed the children to a little bit of the outside world and of ourselves and our culture.

Day 4: Pack up and leave Hanoi for Singapore.

Take-away Points:

We hoped that what we did in the village over 1 weekend (when sustained every weekend from different groups of volunteers) would be the catalyst of spreading volunteerism, hopefully having Hanoi city people volunteering their time for children from the villages. In the long run (at least 5 years down the road), every weekend each group of volunteers spent with the children will have a small impact which accumulates into something that is visible/tangible. An interest in learning a foreign language like English doesn't happen overnight. Being able to work well in a team might not be immediately achievable. An interest in learning something different needs time to build too. I hope that, through each of our small individual efforts, the children living in the villages of Hanoi, will go on and build a better tomorrow for themselves and their countries eventually.

I'm really grateful for the experience. It allowed me to know how fortunate I am and concurrently, what I can do for the less fortunate global community. Even if my effort may not be tangible now, a continuous and cohesive effort from all volunteers will eventually make a difference in these children's lives.

That's all for now.

Maria xxxxxx

P.s. SIA had flight delays when going there and when coming back. Quite a disappointment.
P.s.s. Traffic there was quite bad with motorists (car drivers and motorcyclists) sounding their honks at least once every minute.
P.s.s.s. Learning a bit of Vietnamese Language would have helped me out a little more when interacting with the kids. But we've got a translator so it's not too bad.
Signing Off @ Monday, December 19, 2011 l 0Comment

Exams are finally over on Saturday morning. However, there was no rest as I had to rush over to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) to visit my paternal grandfather. I drove there quickly and was glad to see that he was feeling all right. My dad and I had lunch before heading over to town (Bras Basah area) for my meeting. Then, we headed back home and picked up my mom following which we headed to Lot 1 for dinner. What a Saturday.

Today was no different. Equally busy. Day started early in the morning with Church in town area. After that, we walked around Raffles City shopping centre. Then, we drove over to Lot 1 for my vaccination before heading home to rest. After a few hours, I drove my parents to see my grandfather in hospital and then we headed to Botanic Gardens to see the beautiful Christmas trees and lighting. There weren't many people as it was drizzling. A wet day indeed. And a tiring one too!

Anyway, past reviews from me are here.

DSC1007 Business Analytics [25/11/2011]
Preparation: Minimal (remember that I was going through a religion dilemma and to exacerbate matters, I was down with a bad flu), about a few hours of revision which started on Mon till Thursday.

Continual Assessment (40%): Very mediocre or even slightly below average. Very hard to discriminate good and poor students. Project was not that good.

Final Examination (60%): Hard for me to focus as I was quite sick. Not really in the mood as my grandfather was already warded in the hospital. Moreover, the religion dilemma. Seriously, why did I get myself into this mess? Not a good paper. In fact, it was my worst paper.

Overall Prediction: B (Fingers crossed on this)

BSP1005 Managerial Economics [03/12/2011]

Preparation: Not much. Kept visiting grandfather. Brought my mom to Tan Tock Seng Hospital Medical Centre for check up. Big religion dilemma continues. Was in hospital anxious over my grandfather going for a critical surgery the night before the paper.

Continual Assessment (40%): Difficult to discriminate among students again. Group project quite messed up (due to us getting a hard question). Group assignments was average only.

Final Exam (60%): The only exam that was completely manageable. Quite pleased despite minimal effort put in. Now hope for no careless mistakes as I only finished on the dot and didn't check the paper. But I did 'check as I do' as usual.

Overall Prediction: A- (the bell curve for this module is very, very steep as their papers are easy)

That's all for now.

Maria xxxxxxx

P.s. Glad my grandfather is feeling better. Hope his condition continues to improve.
P.s.s. I signed up for a full day interview workshop at school tomorrow. A bit 'sian'.
Signing Off @ Sunday, December 04, 2011 l 0Comment

It's not easy for me to be writing this now. There are so many thoughts rushing through my head. I looked through so many sources these past couple of weeks. Could I possibly have been wrong all my life? Or have I always been right in this aspect but got lost recently and now it's time to go back? Or perhaps there is no one right answer. But again perhaps I must choose the answer that is closest to the right answer.

In this world, we cannot agree with everybody on everything. But we must certainly agree with ourselves. If not, we would be in a dilemma everyday! And that would be really tiring! It's not about the religion your parents belong to nor is it about the religion your friends belong to nor is it about the religion the majority of the people in your country or in the world belong to. It is about the religion you feel most comfortable in and can feel it in your daily life. Of course, not everyday would be a good day but my faith in God has shown me time and again how He helps me in my daily life, keeping me safe and happy. I know because I have experienced it and I can testify to it. It's not a matter of chance. One thing may happen by accident. But all good things that add up in my life are then certainly no more a game of probability or chance.

I don't know what will happen tomorrow. Whether is it cancer, sudden heart failure, sudden death or injury by accident, but I do know one thing. God has made plans for me. Jesus is here for me. He is beside me. He is behind me. He is also in front of me, acting as my compass. And a simple prayer to Mary makes a world of difference no matter what others may think. One can only understand when one truly embraces it and experience the love and calm it brings.

I may not understand my religion fully. I may not even understand the other myriad of religions well in the world as well. But I am confident of one thing, i.e. God works in mysterious ways. He reaches out to us differently. There may be different paths to Heaven and I'm not here to dispute that. Today and for the past many days, it is a time of deep self reflection.

Do all these dilemma come at a wrong time? It interfered with my Buisness Analytics exam revision last week and this week, it interfered with my Managerial Economics exam revision which is on this Sat. Actually there is no right or wrong time. Because I know that through this experience, I become stronger, I understand myself better and I grow up.

That being said, I'm pretty tired so I'm going to call it a night. Maybe I should read a bit of Economics lest I don't do well on Sat.

That's all for now.

Maria xxxxx

P.s. Drove my mom to Tan Tock Seng Medical Centre for check up today. Hope she feels better in the coming days.

P.s.s. I'll continue to pray to make a right decision for myself. Everyone is unique and will respond to God's call in a different way. So here I am Lord, is it I, Lord...
Signing Off @ Thursday, December 01, 2011 l 0Comment

So 1 semester is over, in the blink of an eye. It's quite fast yet it's been busy (painful) enough so I'm glad it has ended. So how did my first two examinations go? Let's find out.

MKT1003 - Principles of Marketing [18/11/2011]

Amount of preparation: Reading through textbook and notes. Tried a few past year papers; mostly just MCQs. Moderate effort (in view that my burn-out still exists from Nov 2010).

Continual Assessment (75%): Class Participation (30%) Okay. I did raise my hand and speak around 2 times each week. Oral presentation was fine too. Individual Assignment (15%) I got an A so that's good considering the amount of effort I put in. Project (20%) We got A for presentation, B for report and B overall. Disappointing but accepted. Subject Pool (10%) Everybody practically scored full marks for this component.

Examination (25%): Between easy and moderate, i.e. manageable. MCQs (worth 40 marks) easy. Short answered questions (60 marks) average.

Overall Prediction: A


LSM1301 - General Biology [19/11/2011]
Preparation: The bare minimum - reading through lecture notes, understanding concepts and remembering key ideas. Did some practice questions. Browse through textbook (which turned out to be quite interesting especially when it comes to bioethics).

Continual Assessment (40%): I attained 36.9%. Quite disappointing as I can guess there would be people with 40%. Consists of 5 practicals, museum visit quiz, 1 lecture quiz, 1 online assessment.

Final Examination (60%): 60 MCQs. A, B, C, D, E. Do or die. Don't know then use elimination, followed by luck. Judging from the atmosphere, most people found the paper manageable. I thought it was just average. I had 5 circles but that doesn't mean I'll score 55. I just hope to get above 45.

Overal Prediction: B+ (I'm considering S/U this module if I do get this grade and anything below)

That's all for now.

Maria xxxxx

P.s. Had dinner at Marche and watched Tintin IMAX 3D with E.H. yesterday. : ) Had a good time with her! : )

F.Y.I. S/U means instead of counting to your CAP (Cumulative Average Point), it just ends up being Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.
Signing Off @ Sunday, November 20, 2011 l 0Comment