How to beat Monday Blues.

I could not help but feeling so lazy to go out to class this morning. It’s not because I wanted to  continue sleeping. It’s just that I felt like be cocooned in my house. Dear lecturers, can we get exception going to classes if we had to finish our assignments? Doing assignment alone is taking up more than the contact hour with you so why not? kan?

I am now lazing around, it’s lunch break and having Nasi Ayam made me thinking of bed.

Urgh, okay lets get back to my main point. I have yet find a way to beat the wanting-to-just-stay-at-home feelings, but I found out how to cheer myself up, with hope that if I am cheerful, I will have the semangat to go to classes.

Try to watch this, and surely you will laugh till your heart stops. (okay hopefully not la, but I laughed till one of my lungs is about to collapse)

I have been introduced to Cikgu Shida by my ex-roomate and the roar of laughter are still echoing in my ears when I watched her lip-syncing.

As a TESL student, we have taken up drama class which one of the requirements is to lip-sync. How I wish I have been exposed to Cikgu Shida when we were about to lip-sync. Haha. It was hilarious considering that we were given one day to berangan being an artist.

Not only that, our performance was recorded by the faculty technician and I am sure my lecturer will show it to dearest juniors to expose them how to lip-sync. (Malu!)We were given a microphone to hold and God, it felt like the mic was shaking all the way to finish the song.

Oh ya, the song I lip-synced was Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. We did not have the opportunity to do as Cikgu Shida is doing. Female students can only mime/ lip-sync to female artist song.

I am not her fan yet I am not her hater as well. In this case, I’d rather be ambivalent.  Well, to her haters out there, chillax la. If you hate her, don’t watch her. If you hate her so much, keep it to yourself. In terms of her profession, I don’t think she’s doing anything against what Ministry of Education has outlined. As long as she does her job than she deserves to be a teacher. That’s just my take on this issue.

Anyways, I still laugh whenever I watch her videos.

I love thee, not for thy perfection but for thy flaws

Coming up with such title is by far my first attempt to incorporate Shakespeare’s language in my life. I have been assigned to analyze a sonnet and I anticipate my final work, but for the time being (as the analysis is still on progress) here I embed the sonnet.

SONNET 130

My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask’d, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

If you are interested to know more, or to learn its translation, please click HERE.

Happy reading, and digesting

I get what I expected, not what I desired.

I feel like giving a pat on my back! haha

My 5th semester examination result came out this morning and I – with my eyes half open battling to go back to sleep – forced myself to get up and fill my head with a gush of adrenaline to anticipate my result, turned out to be a blurry moment when I was actually confused by the figures.

I could not tell which was which – my GPA and CGPA were all mixed up. What caught my eyes was only a little remark of “AD – Anugerah Dekan” – and that was my utmost concern. I then informed my mom before clearly distinguishing what my GPA is.

Alhamdulillah, praise be to God. So far this is my fifth consecutive semesters of getting Dean’s List (DL) and it makes me wonder what have I really done to obtain what I termed it as ” a desire”.

Mind you, this is not the kind of entry which I will ramble on how much time I spent for studies, what books I read etc. etc. I am just intrigued with a radio interview – most likely a talk show – but which I listened on the radio. I did not know who was talking, though. At first he sounded like a counselor then he started communicating some medical jargon – then I figured – he is a psychologist.

He said these magical lines – “YOU DON’T GET WHAT YOU DESIRE, YOU GET WHAT YOU EXPECT”. I define it as magical because from the moment he said that I have embarked on train of thoughts. It is empowering. For me it IS.

A desire can be a kick-start to expecting something but then, a desire is just something we badly want, not something we believe in.

I, however, figure that to expect is much applicable for my everyday use- because unlike a desire, an expectation makes me believe in getting something and somehow, with some luck, I get what I expect.

Occasionally, I do get panic attacks, because I am not ‘that’ confident with myself. Usually it was triggered by guilt of spending too much time in the name of fun.

Running down a memory lane makes me even clearer about how believing in something changed me. When I was in my foundation year, which I define it as a curse and a blessing, I was not someone who would put her studies above other things.

I was aware that my priority was to excel. However, I did not prioritize my studies.

I kept feeding my brain with the thought that what I was actually doing was prioritizing my studies, but it killed me because all I did was lie to myself. I have made the biggest mistake by choosing to ‘have fun’ with my friends instead of burying myself into books.

I learned the lesson the hard way, I get a second chance. A chance to compensate what was missing, and the first week after I registered for my degree program, my planner was filled with my action-plan to get a DL and that was what I lived by. Those who are close enough with me know how bad I want a DL.

I would always call my bestie, when exam was nearing and the conversation was sometimes occupied with “please doakan aku dpt DL please – ko boleh punye” type of support.

I am so thankful for having such supportive family and friends. With their belief (expectation) on my ability, I could get going and expecting myself to obtain good grades.

 

Don’t practice this, juniors.

I just finished writing a page of reflection for my subject. It is a request for my lecturer to embed a page of reflection in my portfolio, and I a came up with this :

One of the core subjects  for a part 5 student is Curriculum and Instruction. When I first looked at my course registration slip, I was sighing for the credit hour- I have had enough of this ‘3 credit hour’ subjects. Apart from the credit hour,  I thought this subject was going to be a dry and boring subject, due to part of its name –Instruction. Instruction was such a ‘big’ term for me, so all hoped for was I could sail through this subject (I am not just hoping to sail through, but to get an A, despite the streotype).

I missed the first class, then I asked the rest how was the class, they said “the lecturer is stern, lets change class lah”. I then resented to just blindly believe, and I went to the class for the first time. I met my lecturer for the first time, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abu Bakar, he is famously known as Dr. Burn. I put my judgement aside and concentrated on his explanations. I went to class with a zero interest and knowledge about the subject (empty glass), and came out with ‘a half full glass’ of understanding. “This is just the beginning” I told myself.

Little did I know that the following week, the second week of this semester to be exact, I was ‘awarded’ with a week of medical leave. I then was worried I could not catch up but when I went to class in the following week, I managed to catch up since Dr. Burn asked one of us to ‘teach’ what we have learned to the whole class. This type of revision in class was a precious gift for me since I did not have to go back and read on my own, because there was a big chance I will not. Dr. Burn’s approach of revising the lesson learned in class before was helpful throughout the semester as it saved a lot of time revising alone at home.

The test was then held, during the fasting month. It was a tiring day since we sat for the test in the evening, from 5 to 7. I was prepared with the notes and when we got the test paper back, I was the happiest person alive, for I was graded with a full mark. Thanks for the revision in class and the notes. I learned a lot on how to design a syllabus. The Taba’s and Tyler’s model, and many more are really helpful especially when we were assigned to come up with our own project –the course design. At first I thought it was difficult to design a course, but with a correct plan and the right guidance, we managed to finish our project on time.

Apart from learning how to design a couse, we were also required to have a mock teaching session in class. I taught a Form 5 class about Robots! I had a good time ‘assessing’ my classmates’ micro teaching, and so did them, assessing my strengths and weaknesses in teaching. From the feedback, I learned what I need to improve as I am still learning to becoming a good teacher.

All in all, after going to classes, having tests, discussions and having been assessed, I can quite sum up that I am now ‘a full glass’, and the most important lesson I got is to never assume something which I don’t learn yet. I am not afraid of the term ‘instruction’ anymore.

When I reread this, I was like ” SERIOUSLY Izzati?”. This suppose to be a formal one, yet I came up with a narrative type of essay. Please accept this dearest lecturer.

Reaching the light at the end of the tunnel

I read a friend’s shout out, which says, ‘there’s light at the end of the tunnel’ and instantly learned that what she meant was the end of our misery. Read : Classes, assignments and tests.

This semester has never done me justice, except for when I was lucky enough to juggle my time between studies and Mr. F. Other than that, this semester has been one of the toughest semester in my whole course. Why? There’s a lot of on-going assessments and the time allocated to finish it all has been reduced to one week – for a Raya break, and now who suffer? Think, reflect and respond – especially for those who wanting to have a break earlier. Tiba-tiba rase nak marah, pardon me.

Getting an additional week of break means getting a double trouble work- to replace the class, and to make me even busier. Okay I don’t need much elaboration or else the keyboard will suffer. Now I have to only concentrate since this is the very last week (of miracle) to perform. Then comes the final and semester break. Yay!?

Mr Fiancé – The Assignments.

Mister Fiancé has given me a hard time for the past few weeks. But still, I am loyally engaged to him and will always be. Despite the hard time he cost me, I am insisted on marrying him. (I should receive standing ovation for this)This is my sacrifice and after being engaged for so many years, I hope he will appreciate me. Can you my dear fiancé?

How a chain of events affect me badly

The stolen shoes

I received a text message from my sister, informing me that our shoes have been stolen. These are some of the text messages :

My sis : Kiah, vincci, nose, clarks, and indon mari punye kasut kau sume kena kebas.

Me : Umi pakai ke? Ke kau yang pinjam.

My sis : Bukannnn! Kasut kite kena curi. Kiteorang balik skola tgk almari kasut dah kosong. Gone! Gone kiah oi!

Me : Kau biar betul, waaaaaa! nak kasut!

I was shocked and almost disbelieved that my shoes are gone but that was just my sister doing pranks on me. The truth is the thieve only took my dad’s shoes and some of the branded sports shoes. It is several hundred Ringgit loss only, or perhaps more cause men’s shoes are definitely costly! But then again, this is the loss that we can compensate by buying another shoes.

The armed robbery

This is another shocking and traumatized event that took place in my aunt’s house. It happened during day time when my aunt was taking a nap at her living room with my 7-years-old cousie. She then was awoken to the sound of someone breaking into her house and the next thing she knew, A GUN was pointed at her and the robber ordered her to surrender all her belongings. My goodness! I can’t believe someone is pointing a gun to my on blood and flesh. You pathetic, darn robbers! By all means take all possessions she has but never will you point a gun to her head.

Upon informing this matter, my dad reminded me of taking a much precautions before I sleep. Some of his advice, ‘put on your appropriate pajamas when you’re about to sleep and baca lah tiga Qul and ayat pendiding tu selalu’

For more luahan ketidakpuasan hati kami,  click on my cousin’s blog link here.

The stolen intellectual property

• The homogeneous blogs.

I recently found out that there is a much similar blog to mine. I have the urge to embed the link here, however, I respect ‘the intellectual property’ thieve’s privacy that I feel guilty of revealing her pleasure of copying some content of my blogs without crediting me. Let’s just the Almighty knows who the respective person is.

My sister urges me to take action against her but I so don’t want to be perceived as ‘ all the info in the internet hak milik kite bersama, kecoh la minah ni‘. I despise whoever person who has this kind of mentality – it represents the lower status of ‘the thinking’ part.

• The plagiarized materials for academic paper

This is the reason  why you will relate to me for being such a fuss regarding these ‘never-ending issues of stolen intellectual property’.

There was one time, I was in a hurry and I left my thumb drive at the library. I went to the library to print my paper and when I did the last-minute editing, I forgot about my thumb drive. I submitted my paper to my lecturer with a big relief. Then a week later, I was called by the lecturer. He informed me of the possibility of grading my paper with an F due to another homogeneous paper. I could feel my knee was weaker upon hearing ‘ the F sentence’ which I don’t deserve.

I then asked my lecturer for a some period of time to prove him that the paper is my work and never did I plagiarize it from someone else. It was a tough battle considering the other party who stole my work was a good persuader. Luckily I found my ways to prove all written words are mine. I usually jot down my thesis statement and main points in a paper before proceeding with elaboration of my points in the word-document. So I just showed him the collection of crumpled papers with the almost-incomprehensible hand writing. Another proof is that there are some similarities in my style of writing with the previous paper.

I was actually considering to bring this matter to ‘court’ as this act of stealing has crossed my line.This is so true, considering that my dad was very supportive of my decision. He was once an academe so he knows too well of my suffering. I was not only on the brink of getting an F but also, being dispelled by the university.  There is an enactment on plagiarizing and the punishment is not being able to pursue any tertiary education in any universities. If the lover of yours is caught cheating, there is always another second chance. So to further emphasize how wrong it is to steal other people’s work, there is no second chance in plagiarism.

I learned it the hard way not to forget my belongings.

Thank god that plagiarism is taken seriously by all universities or else the students will just misuse all the information provided by the internet.

That week of hell of mine has gone, but the pain is still intact.

In conclusion, stealing  physical properties will eventually healed by any compensation of the same materials but stealing someone’s intellectual property will put the victim in, not only sticky situation, but also, jeopardy of the victim’s future.

p.s. Considering that almari kasut is almost empty, I can buy more shoes to fill the empty space. Yay!

I need a hand!

Earlier this morning after taking my Mandarin test, I asked one of my friends to help me proofread my writing. His reply was : “Kau punye paper tak payah proofread da, kau yang patut proofread untuk semua orang.” Basically he was saying my paper is good and does not need any proofreading. First, looking on the bright side, I should take that as compliment.

Second, looking at my paper – it is not a delightful sight. I am slowly turning to a state of delirious. I burned the midnights oil, to do here-and-there editing, scan the whole text thousand times it hurts my eyes.   I am worried my points are not coherently organised and clear the way I need it to be. Someone told me I take things seriously that I need to loosen up but then this is not the matter which I should take it lightly. It is a matter of an A or F paper. Yeah. I admit that I am a sucker for A!

The first impression

I just finished writing my introductory paragraph for my poetry analysis paper and felt like rewarding myself with a bar of chocolate. Even though I have like 80 percent more to finish up writing my paper, it is such a tremendous success if I have done with the introductory paragraph. Why? Because I spent a lot of time thinking and reorganizing the words to produce a clear and meaningful paragraph. Haven’t you heard of the term ‘first impressions’? Well, having a good introductory paragraph in an essay is the essence to attract the reader to stick to the text and give them a clear glimpse of the whole text.

First impression does no always count in judging the whole being. If you want to look smart, you dress smartly.People will never know whether you are truly smart or not. It’s the look that deceive the people but in writing, the first impression is always the determiner of a good piece of writing. If you want to evoke a reader’s sense of agreement, you persuade them using you words and what makes them want to read your writing again? THE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH. It applies to a speech and knowing it’s importance, the political figures master themselves to come up with a good introduction, especially in delivering speech. This is the truest fact. They are the people advocates, thus they have to convince them by means of communication, orally or written.

In conclusion, being a writer is easy, but being a GOOD writer is not.

Je suis desole pour vous deranger

I am sorry to ‘deranger’ you or simply means I am sorry to disturb you.

I just want to dwell on what’s happening with my life today.

First, I had test – lets forget about this or else I will rant on my oops-I-forget-to-include-this-and-that answer and it will defeat the purpose of my being refrained from eat and drink (fasting).

Let’s look at things which enlighten my day, say, me meeting the lecturer (does that enlighten you? haha). Okay I have no intentions of dwelling on my purpose of meeting him. So here my story is.

Knock, knock… Je suis desolé pour vous deranger (I am sorry to bother you). Looking at his shoes, hesitation knocked on my way to come in to his room. “Put your shoes on”. I put my shoes off and left it outside. “Put your shoes ON miss” .Duh.

Well that was just me being blurred. I was embarrass but my seem-to-be-unanswerable questions were answered after consulting him. Now I can lay on my bed with both hands under my head dreaming that he will not be that strict when marking my paper off.

Looking at our effort of walking through the direct sunlight, he comforted me (us) by saying ” I don’t expect you to give me a noble work”. I, on the other hand, expect myself to produce an A+ work. Is that considered as a noble work sir?