It's a Learning Curve.

It just crossed my mind how the term Learning Curve came about. (thanks for the correction juin yi :P) its an uphill journey, steeper for some, more gradual for the rest, and I'd say mine was just somewhere in between. but probably more of a gradual progressing to steep curve instead of a steep then plateau curve.

our 1 year research project has come to an end. this might sound like my ppd reflective writing haha, but well yeah i did really pick up a lot throughout the 1 year.

I'd learn to work with and grow with a group of coursemates whom i had never had the chance to really work with closely before. Every person was different. every past group work was different. this was the group that bonded through humour and had a strong spirit of give and take. not calculative, accepting and forgiving to my weaknesses and intermittent blur-ness. i admit i wasn't the best of a leader, there are times i procrastinated, gave them last minute notices, made mistakes. but they were accomodating. in the same way, i learnt to give and take, to love ppl for their strengths and weaknesses.

I used to be individualistic in completing work or projects. I relied a lot on myself. But this was one project i couldn't do on my own. it required a lot of labour. telephone interviews, tracing blood profiles, etc. hvg group mates spurred more motivation. n bcz i was the leader, i was forced to make decisions and set targets for the group. some to the point of procrastination xP, but got it done.

last but not least was God's grace. when things looked impossible, unexpected favours enabled us. when things were going fine, or so we thought, we were able to meet the statistician, discover mistakes in our data analysis and make corrections at quite the last hour.

there were ups and downs. but i'm glad we made it. :) most of all, I gotta thank our supervisor Prof Shahrir for the guidance throughout.

our dear poster, Jeans, me, Nashrah and Hafiz

MUASRM's abstract book. an awesome design to infinity :) by kevin tan

the abstract

Looking forward to starting the postings! Gonna begin with Peads! (after a week of camp in the jungle devoid of internet connection and phone line woots) :P

Living By Faith and Sight

Every person you come across in your life leaves an imprint. whether its a tiny trace of aura or a huge footprint stamped onto ur shoes, or face, there's something. Recently I parted ways with a dear friend of mine as she flew back home to Kuching. She was very special. Through her I learnt to love unconditionally. I learnt to appreciate sight. I valued more the words Live by Faith Not By Sight.

most of us live by sight. it gives us security. we recognise where we are, who we're with, enable us to protect ourselves when we spot suspicious weirdos on the streets, venture onto unfamiliar ground with a sense of liberation and control. Now what if we had no sight. Just imagine if one day, we were to be robbed of our sight by a catastrophe, a disease, something least expected. Now that would be a shocking test of faith. Without sight, you'd realise you have no choice but to trust others. those around you, people on the streets (though to an extent not evil random strangers), most importantly God. as of now, we can't see God, but we feel Him. sight kinda distracts us from this abstract thing called faith. not sight literally. but what we can predict and control. but how about things we cannot control? we say, now let's hope for the best and see what happens. that's the usual case :) do we have the faith to believe that we will be delivered? Do we truly trust our almighty Father?

Faith is in fact a much bigger test without literal sight. when we meet blind people on the roads, what comes to our mind is, blind people find difficulty in travelling because they cant see where they're going. now it extends to more than just that. (read on if u're interested) try blindfolding yourself for 5 minutes. oops. can't remember where I put that book I just read, my keys, phone, purse. What colour is this shirt I'm holding. would it match the colour of this skirt. is my hair out of place? where did i put my bag? what food is there in front of me. how do i pack a luggage. how do i take hot water without being scalded. can i turn on the fire on the stove and cook without injuring myself. did i just ruin that shirt i ironed. what do i do with that dead insect in front of me (seriously). i can't imagine clearing up a dead cockroach without sight. :S yeah. just an illustration. lots of memory space to remember where you had put every single thing and how something feels like so that you can recognise it again when you touch it later. but that's mostly daily menial things that we do. those are important. but they're other things far more important. I think if we'd reach the stage where we can get past that (difficulty of doing the menial tasks and stuffs without seeing), I think we'd have a levelled up faith. *level up! Beep!* :P

so where was I? ah yes faith. Faith in those around you to guide you and lead you to safety. For us, faith that ppl we trust and love will give us advice in making good decisions and put up with our everything. Faith in God? in everything ultimately. do we have enough of it. something to think about. :)

He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20

Have a faith filled week everyone :)