Haven't been sleeping well these few days...my dust allergy causes nose blockage when i'm lying down, and it worsens over time. i went to bed nice and early last night, but got woken up at around 3:30am because i couldn't breathe through my nose. don't know when i fell back asleep, but was awoken again at about 9:30am by a phone call. the most annoying thing was that it wasn't even important...just a telemarketing call telling me about some roadshow in orchard. actually, no. that was the second-most annoying thing. the most annoying thing was the caller starting the call with, "hello, 你会讲华语吗 (do you know how to speak chinese)?" i kept the phone call very short and hung up at the first opportunity. i do think that i may have been unnecessarily mean/curt, especially when the telemarketer was just trying to do her job. on the other hand, i'm registered with the do not call registry, and i don't remember opting to receive any marketing/advertising information over phone, message, or email. maybe the employee was just handed a list of numbers and told to go through them? whatever the case, it was not the most pleasant thing in the world to wake up to, especially when i was in the midst of a pretty good/interesting dream.
since the last post, i've taught another class, went for that party thing, and been to see my professor regarding the defense. let's go through these events individually. for teaching, i co-taught the same class, with my mentor again. this time, the topic was on inheritance and genetics, and i taught in a minor role this time. all i did was facilitate an activity. for some reason, the kids were more restless/boisterous. maybe because of the topic? the game involved pairing the students up and choosing a "mother" and "father", which would then have offspring and see what traits were handed down. due to the need for a "mother" in each pair, perhaps this activity is not suited for an all-boys class. anyway, we got through it ok, more or less. no co-teaching next week, but they may start to assign classes to me, so i don't know how it will go. for now, i'm still coping ok, no desire to quit yet.
the party thing was on saturday night, and it was in celebration of our group's third anniversary. normally, i'm not one for such events, but i went to give my big brother figure face, as he was the organizer. the catered food was decent, not really worth the $20 per head in my opinion. there were some activities and prizes to be won as well. i won a bluetooth headset! all in all, it was pretty enjoyable. at the party, i also met one of the group members in person for the first time. i'd previously only saw a photo of him, and i'd rate him at about a 6 based on that photo. it seems that he'd recently started a workout regimen plus using some products or supplements. i'm under the impression that the parent company selling these products is an MLM company, but don't quote me on that. whatever the case, it worked! he's definitely more attractive now. it's an encouraging factor to me, as it shows how much a physical transformation can add to a person's appeal. i did briefly entertain the thought of asking him for a recommendation to the company, which would also help me to get to know him a little better. that second point about hoping to know him better was squashed pretty quickly, though, as (1) there's an 8-year age gap between us (he's older) and (2) he smokes. not to mention that my big brother figure also advised against it, telling me that this guy had more issues than was worth my time. that's my second lesson, which is one that bears repeating: that just because somebody looks good on the outside doesn't mean that they are equally good on the inside. oddly, i kind of find myself not really wanting a partner at the moment. i mean, i'll still notice good-looking people, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to imagine myself in a relationship with the people that i've noticed...the only exception right now being final fantasy guy. i hope this isn't the start of my transition into a crazy cat man.
presented my slides for defense to my professor yesterday, and as expected, there was a significant amount of criticism. i'm not upset by it, as i know that my professor is giving all this feedback with the ultimate aim of seeing me clear the defense. perhaps it was also because his tone was somehow gentler than what i've been used to during regular group meetings. i mean, he prefaced some comments with "it's not a personal attack, ah"...which is extremely uncharacteristic! main points for me were: sell accomplishments more, don't dwell too much on failures, add citations, tell a compelling story, avoid using "roughly". my story for part one is the whole prodrug thing, which i have to communicate across more clearly. for part 2, the main message is "less is more". my professor also said that he didn't like the look of my slides, but couldn't exactly pinpoint why. something about the colour scheme and font. well, i'll take that in stride, and look for a plainer template along with a less fancy font. not that my font is super fancy now; i'm using palatino linotype, which just looks like a slightly more jazzed-up times new roman to me. well, i figure that i'll start a new powerpoint presentation. it helps me to reorganize information and reinforce my familiarity with the content and flow of the slides. i'll probably finish that by tomorrow or thursday, then have 3 to 4 days for rehearsals. i was quite happy when my professor told me that he thought i was good at speaking off the cuff and recovering after i stumbled. but i can't rely on my improv skills for this presentation. if there was ever one presentation in my life so far that i absolutely needed to nail, this would be it. i was also happy and relieved that my professor liked my gaming analogy for cancer therapy. i'll definitely include that slide in the final product.
i suppose it's good that i don't feel nervous just yet. with luck, i'll completely skip the nervous phase and only break down after the presentation and Q&A sessions...by which time the happiness would override any negative feelings. but let's not look too far ahead. most important thing now is to get my slides in order, then to rehearse. like my old boy mentor said, by the time i'm due to give the talk, i should be familiar enough to recite everything accurately from memory. that's something to aim for.
since the last post, i've taught another class, went for that party thing, and been to see my professor regarding the defense. let's go through these events individually. for teaching, i co-taught the same class, with my mentor again. this time, the topic was on inheritance and genetics, and i taught in a minor role this time. all i did was facilitate an activity. for some reason, the kids were more restless/boisterous. maybe because of the topic? the game involved pairing the students up and choosing a "mother" and "father", which would then have offspring and see what traits were handed down. due to the need for a "mother" in each pair, perhaps this activity is not suited for an all-boys class. anyway, we got through it ok, more or less. no co-teaching next week, but they may start to assign classes to me, so i don't know how it will go. for now, i'm still coping ok, no desire to quit yet.
the party thing was on saturday night, and it was in celebration of our group's third anniversary. normally, i'm not one for such events, but i went to give my big brother figure face, as he was the organizer. the catered food was decent, not really worth the $20 per head in my opinion. there were some activities and prizes to be won as well. i won a bluetooth headset! all in all, it was pretty enjoyable. at the party, i also met one of the group members in person for the first time. i'd previously only saw a photo of him, and i'd rate him at about a 6 based on that photo. it seems that he'd recently started a workout regimen plus using some products or supplements. i'm under the impression that the parent company selling these products is an MLM company, but don't quote me on that. whatever the case, it worked! he's definitely more attractive now. it's an encouraging factor to me, as it shows how much a physical transformation can add to a person's appeal. i did briefly entertain the thought of asking him for a recommendation to the company, which would also help me to get to know him a little better. that second point about hoping to know him better was squashed pretty quickly, though, as (1) there's an 8-year age gap between us (he's older) and (2) he smokes. not to mention that my big brother figure also advised against it, telling me that this guy had more issues than was worth my time. that's my second lesson, which is one that bears repeating: that just because somebody looks good on the outside doesn't mean that they are equally good on the inside. oddly, i kind of find myself not really wanting a partner at the moment. i mean, i'll still notice good-looking people, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to imagine myself in a relationship with the people that i've noticed...the only exception right now being final fantasy guy. i hope this isn't the start of my transition into a crazy cat man.
presented my slides for defense to my professor yesterday, and as expected, there was a significant amount of criticism. i'm not upset by it, as i know that my professor is giving all this feedback with the ultimate aim of seeing me clear the defense. perhaps it was also because his tone was somehow gentler than what i've been used to during regular group meetings. i mean, he prefaced some comments with "it's not a personal attack, ah"...which is extremely uncharacteristic! main points for me were: sell accomplishments more, don't dwell too much on failures, add citations, tell a compelling story, avoid using "roughly". my story for part one is the whole prodrug thing, which i have to communicate across more clearly. for part 2, the main message is "less is more". my professor also said that he didn't like the look of my slides, but couldn't exactly pinpoint why. something about the colour scheme and font. well, i'll take that in stride, and look for a plainer template along with a less fancy font. not that my font is super fancy now; i'm using palatino linotype, which just looks like a slightly more jazzed-up times new roman to me. well, i figure that i'll start a new powerpoint presentation. it helps me to reorganize information and reinforce my familiarity with the content and flow of the slides. i'll probably finish that by tomorrow or thursday, then have 3 to 4 days for rehearsals. i was quite happy when my professor told me that he thought i was good at speaking off the cuff and recovering after i stumbled. but i can't rely on my improv skills for this presentation. if there was ever one presentation in my life so far that i absolutely needed to nail, this would be it. i was also happy and relieved that my professor liked my gaming analogy for cancer therapy. i'll definitely include that slide in the final product.
i suppose it's good that i don't feel nervous just yet. with luck, i'll completely skip the nervous phase and only break down after the presentation and Q&A sessions...by which time the happiness would override any negative feelings. but let's not look too far ahead. most important thing now is to get my slides in order, then to rehearse. like my old boy mentor said, by the time i'm due to give the talk, i should be familiar enough to recite everything accurately from memory. that's something to aim for.
-random thought of the day: Gym time!-
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