Teaching adults

This week was surely the most stressed I have ever been in the workplace, the week of the Certificate in Fund Administration.

Co-ordinating the programme wasn't a problem, just a matter of admin and socialising. But asking me to teach the Fund Administration module, 4 hours of material, to a group of people who are actually in the industry... it's too much!

Tuesday night, I was so stressed, going through 3 VCDs of the previous guest lecture on this module in the previous intake (by a VP with Citibank with 17yrs of experience somemore).

I really thank God that I somehow got through it on Wednesday morning and managed to get past their Q&A without falling flat on my face.

Never ever wanna put myself through this again... was so drained after Wednesday I don't think I got anything done till today. (cos Module Coordinator chasing already)

O/S List
1. Specialist Diploma study guides
2. Module 3rd common test questions
3. Module Exam questions

Double blessing!

Joel's brothers were born yesterday... I wasn't around when Joel was born, didn't get to carry him.

Jonathan and Joash, their names both mean "gift from God". Indeed, they are. :)

They're so small...!

Jonathan...

Joash...

Can they come home

Extracted from AFP:

Tourists who have descended on the French capital despite a crippling transport strike are trying to make the best of the inconvenience -- they just walk or give up on sites they had planned to see....

Near the Louvre pyramid, David and Patrick Ee, 24- and 25-year-old students from Singapore, said they had "walked 20 kilometres in two days" because there was no public transportation. From their hotel in the northwestern suburb of Clichy it takes them two hours every morning to get to central Paris.

"But look at it this way, we get a different glimpse of Paris. When you take the metro you don't see anything," David said.

Not really in the know of what the strike is about they still respect the right to industrial action.

"In Singapore, this is absolutely impossible, and the unions support the government", said Patrick.

Dop! SIGH... my poor brother claims misquote. (somewhere in a hidden room in Singapore, 2 ISA files with surname Ee being set up...)

So cute, cannot take it!

Had lunch with Ke-Yue, Shirley and Joel today, after church.

He's soooo cute...!

GMAT

I decided on Tuesday that since I have some free time now and have been thinking about the possibility of doing a Masters some time in the future, I might as well take the chance to take the GMAT.

Signed myself up for Dec 11th paper, ordered some preparation material. 4 days later... it arrives!
Ouch. 14 study guides and 3 GMAT official guides. Looks like lotsa studying for the next 3 weeks...

Oh, but have you ever seen Fedex tracking system? It was so cool, following the progress of my shipment! Check it out:
It's crazy... I almost feel like ordering another package just to track the progress of the shipment! hahaha...

Deepavali fellowship

Cell cycling session today, at East Coast. We hadn't done this in a while! Was supposed to be blading but it rained in the morning, so we cycled instead.

Real fun, got rather burnt, tho only under 2 hours in the sun (apparently not even a very hot sun that day too). oops.

Really thank God for everyone in the cell, past and present. Through this cell, God has helped me find my way closer to Him, I gotten past some really tough times. Most of all though, they helped to remind me that in my heart of hearts, I love God and I want to put others before myself. I do.

Thank you God for bringing our lives together in one cell. Thank you for Simon, Elaine, Lizzie, Belinda, Eric, Charis, Eugene, Dawn, Viola, Mal, Dennis, Jeanette, Dennis, Doris, Sharmaine, Boon Seng and everyone that used to be in our cell.

You think, you do it

I did it today. Drafted my letter last night and this morning, went to meet my Deputy Director to tender. It's hard, cos he was the one who put so much effort into bringing me in, fought to put me under Banking and Financial Services when I refused to be put under Accounting and Finance section.

To be fair to him, he was very nice about it. Calmly explored any other possibilities where my needs could be met. He finally gave up and accepted that it was going to happen, but encouraged me to keep in contact, either cos I might want to guest lecture next time or that he might be able to put me in touch with his banking contacts for future job opportunities. Classy guy.

What am I going to do now... I know what I want. But can I do it and still get healthy hours to commit to God? Will they even take me now? It's ok, I have 3 months to find a job....

Gatecrash!

EY's D&D was held on 2nd Nov, Friday. For the fun of it, decided to gatecrash and say hi to everyone again. Times sure have changed since my first 2 D&Ds. *shudder*

Anyway, was really great to see everyone again. I do miss everyone... for all the crap, there were some memorable times.

EY D&D 2007

Facing it

Week 3 of teaching

Day 1:
Week starts normally to be honest. Pushing ahead with the classes, getting to know my students better. My roommate tells me the sore voice is likely permanent, they all have it too. But some of the students do participate quite a bit and it is pretty encouraging.

Day 2:
Something's missing though... I miss financial modelling. Why? My mind's not being pushed, not being challenged. Where's the rush I used to feel? It's weird... I'm not sure how to put it. In some way, I'm not feeling the sense of achievement, the sense of satisfaction. The adrenalin rush. How long can I hold out?

Day 3:
Had a meeting with the Director of the School today. It's one of those meetings where the Director says he wants to meet all newcomers and have a dialogue session. Turns out it's a "Director talks for 40 mins nonstop then stops to ask politely if we have any questions before rushing off to meeting" kind of session. Ah well. Funny thing though, during that session I'm daydreaming about how crazy would it be if I were to go back to industry now. If I serve 3 months notice, what would my exit strategy be?

Day 4:
Moment of truth. I don't remember how it happened, but I know it was like a little seed in my mind that grew and grew and grew. By the end of the day I realise that I did want to go back to the industry. I missed financial modelling, I missed the analysis and report writing, I missed the presentations to clients...

but how could I let this happen? How could I have done so much research into becoming a lecturer, thought about it for 5 years, talked to so many people, yet let it come to this?

My parents know me well. They can see the difference. They told me they can see the difference at the end of each day, there's a fire in my eyes that has disappeared. Even at the wee hours last time, there was that fire. It's gone... why?

I know many will look at this and say I don't know what I want. Some will say they're not surprised. Others may be disappointed. You know what though? No one is sadder or more disappointed than I am. I realise now there are 2 people in this. Who I wish I was, who I am. I wish I was that guy, who could just be there and help my students. But the reality is that doing that leaves a gaping hole inside me, a yearning to do something, to challenge myself in that way.

I counted. 3 months to the end of the semester is next week. Let's see what happens...

Day 5:
CV's done, emailed out...

O/S List
1. Specialist Diploma study guides
2. Module 3rd common test questions
3. Module Exam questions

Further but closer

It's been 2 weeks since my brother flew to Geneva. In the time since, it feels like my family is closer than ever.

I started this family email group for the 5 of us some time back. Perhaps the distance has helped in a strange way, but it seems like all 5 of us have been emailing back and forth every day. Case in point - we had like 51 emails over 7 days, just talking about our December holiday plans.

I'm glad.. and I thank God for my family. We may not always agree with each other, we may not always communicate much, but I know there's a closeness that makes my family my haven. I have never missed Christmas with my family before, so glad this year we'll get to spend it together again, this time overseas. :)

Still

We sang this today for worship during cell meeting... have you ever felt it, when the words of a song feel like the Holy Spirit is giving you the words to say, straight from your heart. I dare say I truly felt God's presence with us during cell tonight.

Still
Reuben Morgan

Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust

Where are you, my voice?

After the first week, my voice feels sore as ever. With 12 hours in class and another 16 in FSRC, I am mildly concerned if I can keep this up week after week. By the 2nd week, I find myself on MC, down with the flu (or is it sore throat) of sorts.

I count 171 students in my module and another 19 in FSRC. Kinda hard to remember all the names, but I'm working at it.

One thing's for sure though... I definitely enjoy FSRC more than traditional classroom teaching. In FSRC, I get to teach them whatever I want, set them whatever project I want them to do. It is here that my experience has the most relevance, e.g. showing them how to use the Bloomberg machine. I also got them to play a stock trading game/role play, where we simulated a trading pit and some of the students were the brokers, some the stock exchange and the rest the investors. That was quite some fun.

Classroom teaching on the other hand... it's tough. I have one hour to deliver a fixed set of material and classroom control consumes so much energy. I so very much want to find new ways of teaching the material, but with so little time and so much material, I can't afford to try new things or wait for them to participate. So in the end, I feel like I'm dragging them through the questions and answers, then end the class. Problem too is that to make it interesting with stories, I don't have that wealth of experience so I need to do lotsa research. But I'm so tired!

My boss tells me he wants to introduce financial modelling to FSRC one day. Gets me all excited! Kinda miss financial modelling...

Major bummer came in the form of an arrow, firstly that I have to co-ordinate the Certificate in Fund Administration course in late November, then that I have to teach one of the sessions that week. The class is in fund administration... how stress is that? I not only have to teach an area I have not worked in before, but I have to teach it to a class of adults who mostly have years of experience in that line! Hai...

Overall, feeling very physically tired. I'm told I look more tired at 6pm than I used to be at midnight. No energy to clear O/S list...

O/S List
1. Specialist Diploma study guides
2. Module 3rd common test questions
3. Module Exam questions

Day One

Day One of teaching... what a day

830am - Unlocking doors for the Financial Services Resource centre this week, where I supervise projects for students in a simulated working banking environment. Conduct intro session for the new batch in FSRC by myself and set them something to do, before rushing off to class.

11am - First ever class! Quite an enthusiastic class, lab session, goes quite well. I've been told that the accounting diploma students are quite quiet and studious (cue the accountant jokes), so I guess it held true for this class

2pm - First ever tutorial! This time, extremely noisy class, can feel the effect on my voice, trying to control the class. I've been told that marketing diploma classes tend to be pretty boisterous and while I'm loathe to generalise, it certainly holds true here.

3pm - Back to FSRC. Monday's not supposed to be my turn here (Tue & Fri afternoons only), but I'm standing in for my colleague who's on leave this week. Teaching them ethics, which goes very well considering how boring it can be. Got them to role play all the different roles in the Enron scandal, so think they had fun.

530pm - Finally lock up FSRC. Man...what a start. Seems like everything came together at the same time. So tired, no energy to do O/S list.

O/S List
1. Specialist Diploma study guides
2. Module 3rd common test questions
3. Module Exam questions

Show time

I've been waiting 6 weeks since I started work, tomorrow I conduct my first lecture, first tutorial and first lab session.

It's been a balance of excitement and dread over the 6 weeks, but now that it's here and there are so many last minute things happening, so many thoughts flying thru my mind -

"Can I relate to the students?"
"Can I control the classes and not let discipline go completely out of the window?"
"Will the fact that I look so much younger than the other lecturers impede my ability to teach?"
"Do I have the energy to keep trying to make my classes interesting for them?"
"Do I have what it takes?"

heh, what can I say. Stress lah. It's like a presentation at work, except that it would be my toughest clients yet. haha...

Just got to get past tomorrow, after that everything will be much better. Right now, heart's beating so fast and stomach's stuffed with butterflies.

Father, grant me Your peace that comes with letting You take control. Give me the courage to do what I know is Your plan for me.

Cook-Out!

Aside from cooking in uni (for survival) and army (barely counts) days, I have hardly ever touched anything in the kitchen back home.

Today for the first time, I actually tried cooking in my home. The place I've been staying for the better part of my 28 years. Yes, first time.

Hari Raya Cook-out

Was also our first time cooking together. :) Won't tell you who cooked what. you guess :P

Swiiiiish

That's what you're likely to hear when I'm playing. Hee... just bought a badminton racket. First racket of any kind I own in dunno how many many years man!

Going to try it out this evening... swish swish swish :)

p.s. if you didn't get that, i mean i keep missing!

8 p.m. - *pant* *pant* *pant* am clearly in need of some fitness

I finished a book!

I just finished reading "The Short History of Christianity", probably the first non-fiction book I've actually started and finished in a while (usually it's just John Grisham or Star Wars).

Stephen Tomkins wrote it from a religion-neutral standpoint and injection his own brand of humour. I guess much of the history I knew from reading European history, membership class in PLMC or visiting churches around Europe. Even so, I gotta say, the history of the church is gory, distasteful and sometimes downright sickening. Also reminded me of my tremendous discomfort when I visited the Vatican and saw statue after statue of popes and saints.

So how does one react to it? I see it as this - people are imperfect, the church is fallible. But God is not. His Word is not. So no matter how discouraged one can sometimes get looking at some churches or church leaders (disclaimer - I'm not pinpointing anybody or any church!), we can find our bearings and comfort from the Bible.

It reminds me of what I was told as I was starting out as a Sunday School teacher almost 10 years ago. Our lessons must always draw the points back to the Bible, because that's the foundation of what we believe in. If not it's just a guy telling stories to a group of teenagers.

Quite excited that I started reading again. :)

Bye

Had dinner with my family for likely the last time before my brother flies off on Sunday.

It's one of those things you knew was coming and didn't really hit you till now:

He's going for good.

I guess I always thought it'd be like going overseas study and one day he'll be back. But I realised last night this time it's different:

He's going for good.

We're very different personalities and have often clashed over the years. End of the day though, he's my brother. There has always been a magical happiness at home when all 5 of us are together.

Bye Xian, home's not the same without you around.

Offering

Father,

You are my peace. Your love brings me warmth, Your assurance brings me comfort.

Thank You Lord...

Offering
Paul Baloche

The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your Presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It's only by Your Blood and it's only through you mercy
Lord I come

I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one on earth deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may You receive the honour that You're due
O Lord I bring an offering to You
I bring an offering to You

Oct 7 -

Amazingly, they sang this song for today's worship!

I can't find it

During the PLMC Cell Church Conference last year, we sang a song which has stuck in my head since.

However, I can't seem to find the song anywhere, not even on the internet.

This is what I remember of it:

"Glory to the King forever You have made me glad
I will sing I will shout Your praises forever
...
Holy One, I praise You now,
for You O Lord are the mighty one who reigns
Shout for joy..."

Anyone know what is the title of this song and who sang it?

3 Oct -

I found it! Thanks May San!

Glorify
Paul Zaia

Glory to the King forever You have made me glad
I will sing, I will shout, I will clap my hands
In Your presence now and forever

You O God are the mighty King Ruler of the Earth
Let Your presence come Let Your will be done
As Your praises fill this place

Chorus:
Holy One, I praise You now
For You O God, are the Mighty One who reigns
Shout for joy, I lift Your Name on high
Let the people come and glorify Your Name
Glorify Your Name

Bridge:
Let Your glory fill the earth
Let the kings fall at Your feet
And proclaim that You are Lord
Every tribe and every tongue
Will declare the things that You’ve done
And proclaim that You are Lord