Savoring School Life

School has started for 10 days and I am really enjoying it. I love holidays! But being a student is one of the best thing to be. Must relish the times as a student. It's such a short period of time compared to working life and has a "critical period". Meaning, that we can only be students the first 2 decades or so of our lives. Because anything way more than that is really challenging as society and people has certain expectations for us and we need to fulfill certain roles (like a father providing for his family, a daughter giving her parents monthly allowances and a self-sufficient individual). So I really treasure the opportunity I am able to be educated and be empowered to accomplish my dreams.

I've never felt so happy studying. Mainly because I am feeling the empowerment from the knowledge I learnt to face challenges in society, with people and in life. And very importantly, I'm studying what I like - Psychology, the study of people's behavior and cognition.

2 lecture slide in econs lecture today reminded me of what I learnt in SOT. It was about how to produce growth in an economy. Here is what the slides wrote:
What should be done?
Investing in People
- There is a direct positive relationship between per capita real output and level of health (life expectancy, infant mortality)
- The relationship has been confirmed by analyzing historical data with help of advanced statistical procedures
- It is also found that level of education and per capita GDP are highly correlated.
- Education adds to stock of human capital (enhancing people's capacity to produce more), increases growth by stimulating innovation and new ideas, and creates high-level manpower essential for R&D activities.

And this is what Pst Meng shared in SOT: if you want your company to be successful, invest in people.

Well, the word is confirmed by science.
The logic is very simple, you make people happy, people will be willing to work their best for you. When companies improve the welfare and value of their employees, they generate loyalty and passion among employees to commit themselves to the company. The duty of managers and high ranking officers is really to show that the value and worth that the company adds to each employee (not just in terms of salary, but even psychological, personal and family well-being) is greater than the price they pay (time, effort, commitment, OT etc.) And the way managers can show it is really by love and passion for the employees. Meaning, not treating employees as people who they can manipulate and order around or just people who needs to get things done. But able to go down to their level to mingle with them, who remembers things about them and treat them as VIP, as if their service to the company has great relative importance. Relationship preceeds work. To what extent does the employee recognizes him/herself as part of the company depends on the extent of the relationship managers have with their workers.
Even as I share this, it has become a revelation and an inspiration to me. Bringing me new understanding to what I have learnt. But really, nothing is new under the sun. Sometimes, we just over look it in the pursuit for success - the underlying principles of success.

[* pardon if i have spelling and grammatical errors!!! hahaha]

Preparation for School!

Year 2 Sem 2 is starting in 3 days time and I'm very excited about it! New modules and new stuff to learn. I'm shifting back to hostel too. I really look forward to this semester. I didn't do too good for last sem and I'm just ready to fight back. Not gonnna give up my 4.0 til the very end. Nothing is impossible!!!
Here are some of my preparation for school...

BIDDING!
I managed to get all the modules that I want but spend 803points on Personality and Individual differences! Now left so little points in my programme account =( It's good that my social work only used 1point. I'm minoring in human services (which actually mean social work), and I have to share my programme account with psy modules and sw modules.


Woohooo... PTL, I've all the modules that I want. If I get the tutorial slots that I want too, then I effectively have classes only from Tuesday to Thursday. It'll be long long weekend for me. LET THAT HAPPEN!!!


IKEA
Yanx & I went to ikea to shop for things to put and use in our hostel. Actually I didn't want to buy anything. I wasn't interested in decorating my room as I was afraid there will be a lot of cleaning to do. But well, I just couldn't resist to buy something.

Yanx & I wearing lamp covers =)


Gotcha!


Opps!


Hmms... -_-

I bought a dustbin because my dustbin for the previous sem were just plastic bags hanging by the window or on the floor. And got a rug. So that my floor will not look so empty.


I shall bring soft cushion or soft toys from home to put at the rug, so I'll have a cosy corner. I'm also gonna borrow a guitar and speakers. Hmmms.... I'll have more music in my room. The rug and music is inspired by Yeekiat. His room is so comfortable and cosy.
Yanx also bought the same dustbin but the white one. She also got photoframes to put my picture. Hahaha.

MAKEOVER!
I had my hair done just yesterday. I'm quite satisfied with it though it could be better. The apparently red dye that my mum bought turned out to be brown on my hair. Arrggghx... Nvm! Then I went to a hairdresser @ Far East - "IN THE SALON". Dye blonde strips and cut my hair much shorter. The process was terrible cause I thought I looked weird. The strips didn't look very nice at first. And my hair looked funny. But when all was done, I was quite satisfied.

BEFORE
This is my hair before... I don't usually take pictures by meself and most of the time it's tied up. So this is the best "before" picture. Haha.


DURING
While waiting for my dye to dry... I was so tired waiting!


AFTER

I think I look younger =D I bought a gold hairband because my fringe is shorter. I feel back in secondary school days where my friends and I always use hairband.
Well, I think the photo doesn't truly show how my hair is really like. Gotta see me in person! Hahaha

Afterwards, I went for dinner and spend the night with Joyce.




Joyce, you are special! And you are the best candidate to be yourself. I love you just the way you are.


So now, I guess I'm more or less ready for school. NUS, here I come!

HC 04S68

For the first time this year and for my first time since don't know when, i attended a class gathering with my JC classmates. We had dinner @ Bukit Timah then went for ice-cream @ Serene Centre. I'm glad to catch up and chat with some of them, especially those I don't frequently hang out with. It was happy even to just see everyone doing quite well. Most of the guys have ORD and I'll see many of them in school during the later half of the year. Didn't take many pictures... but took some from facebook =D
















Best wishes to all for 2008! Til we meeting again... Cheers!

Appreciation Night

Celebrating the end of 2007 and welcoming 2008...

881 & HairSpray: Travelling back to the 70s!