1 more week of lectures and presentation and I've survived the semester!!!! wohohohohooo.

 Is this sem tougher than last sem? Hmm. yes and no. yes is because this sem, strict but brilliant lecturers expect the best from you and you're pressured to perform and push your boundaries. a good kind of pressure, no? And no because this sem I've sort of gotten the hang of the workload and burden of it, unlike last sem where it was freaking overwhelming for me. 

overall, I can't wait for the break!!! omnomnomnom 

I sent a thank you email to my lecturer recently and I made sure that every word was intentional and a true reflection of what I've learnt from the class and what I thought of his/her teaching -- which was of sheer intelligence & brilliance. But my lecturer had a different point of view; he/she ended the reply with "P.S. no extra marks for flattering me ya". 

-___-" why can't thanks be accepted when it's due? ok after re-reading my email it seemed I may have went a tad overboard with the compliments but when I was penning it, it all came from my mind and heart! as in whatever I feel, I just type it in. I had no intention of fishing for extra marks. Or maybe my lecturer was just joking? but then no emoticons were included. Hm. 

Plus, I very well can't explain and justify myself over email right? I will sound like a school kid, whining and defending myself (altho I did actually reply but a diplomatic one-liner sentence ha ha). Lesson learnt; one man's meat is another man's poison. What may look like a sincere expression of thanks to me may appear differently to the other person at the end of the line.

but ironically, why am I feeling sorry and embarrassed for sending a thank you email? I certainly shouldn't feel that way at all considering the fact that I sincerely sent it to thank my lecturer for all he/she has done. and yet... his/her perception of my sincerity has made me feel small & silly.

Or am I taking things too seriously? lol. perhaps. see, this is what introverts go through. we internalize our thoughts and feelings way too much hah.

but anyway, this is life. deal with it. 

And dealt with it I have, taking it with a pinch of salt. I'll still send thank you emails though haha because I feel lecturers should be given appreciation and thanks for their time and effort spent in teaching students. 

ideas are cheap; execution is expensive

Today I had the most thought-provoking session of my research methodology class and also in my entire undergrad + postgrad experience in uni. My lecturer (who is awesome) asked us questions that prompted us to look at ourselves and our code of conduct i.e. our integrity and ethics in research. those questions allowed us to express our opinions regardless whether we're right or wrong and boy, did we have a lively session of question after question. At least that's what I felt. 

Take-home points were:

 1. ideas are cheap (that was like quite mindblown. We throw ideas around like it's free (and it is haha) but then the process of making those ideas into reality takes a lot of effort and hard work)

2. at the end of the day, no one else will hold us accountable for our integrity and ethics in research except us ourselves... and God. we can lie, bluff and BS all the way to get a degree but who is accountable for that? No one but us. And Dr. David ended with this: "when in doubt, choose the best moral path". 

My brain just had to pause for a while to process all of this. Shucks. Is this what adulting or critically processing information feels like? Being pushed into our minds to critically evaluate and probe life?? :O 

I have to thank Dr. David for that. He & Dr. Leela are the best lecturers I've ever encountered in my entire uni experience and I'm very privileged to have learnt from them. So outstanding in their own element. 

Just penning down some after-ten-o'clock thoughts before I sleep or maybe do a bit of work. ttfn :)