exams are over. it was alot of facts and figues that i had to comprehend. the different systems i struggled to rememeber. the 2 files of notes that i ploughed thru' with much frustration... the paper is over. and when i walked out of the venue, i kinda felt more relaxed that it was one less thing i had to worry about. but then, it hit me, that i actually still need to remember all the stuff i;ve learnt in the last 3 semesters.... and that i cant actually walk out of the exam and forget everything i've learnt, cos i'll need to know them for the next exam. and most importantly, i'll still need to know them to treat others in the future, esp when i;m in the hosps..
cpp. i remember the times in secondary school when we grumbled and complained about doing community involvement. i remember how we used to hate it so much that we wld pull a really long face when we had to go to malcolm park and plant herbs. the worse bit was the weeeding! i even remember how hard it was to get people to donate when we had to sell flags along orchard road. in college, i remember the funfair we had to put together to raise funds for the college. it was so much work, so much learning... it was a different experience. yet, i didnt think it was much of a success. all the volunteer work with gracehavern was an experience i truly enjoyed. i wish i could go back to doing some tutoring of kids who might be disadvantaged. i remember the smiles i saw on the kids faces when i go there after a long day at school.. it certainly did make life a lot more meaningful.
anyway, at uni... it's cpp. community partnership placements. it was something that i kinda dread. basically, cos it started out on the wrong note. i applied to do lifeline. it basically involves over the phone counselling...and sadly, i didnt get my placement. reason being that i was an international student and that i didnt understand english. this really mad me super-de-duper mad as i felt insulted that they thought i didnt understand english just cos i wasnt aussie. it also made me realised how discriminatory some societys are. n to top it off, they told my co-ordinator at uni that i didnt show for my second interview with them (claiming that they gave me a 2nd shot at the interview) when they didnt even call me about any interview... so u cld imagine how mad i was.... and they told me this during my nice summer holidays.
in the end, i had to go for another interview at wesley employment services in the middle of the holidays. and it was at footscray, right on the other side of town. i kinda dreaded going to placements cos it meant that i had to wake up really early for placement and i had to dress formally, when my friends could wear casual clothings for placements. and since it was on the other side of town, it meant that i had to walk to the bus loop to catch a bus to the station. take the train into town. change train and get to footscray.. it wasnt difficult, just troublesome... and life could have been a lot more pleasant if they allocated me a placement nearby. i was really unhappy about it... and contemplated many many ways on how to be late for the 9am starts on the other end of town. but yeah, i kinda survived. all the running after the train, hoping and praying that the connecting train from town wld be on the adjacent platform so i didnt have to run across from platforms to platforms amidst the crowds... placements were all that fun initially. my placement buddy ilana kinda felt that my being asian was the reason i was reserved. and she kinda bossed me ard...just cos she felt she was better at the job/placement. and what made me mad was that she tried claiming all the credit for all the work she didnt do... but it's over. no more placemetns with her for now. i really enjoyed placements when i was there on my own. i could communicate directly with daniela, my supervisor. i didnt need to worry about someone out there undermining my ability. i also got to interact more freely with the other employment consultants cos there was no one there to butt in when i was talking. and i got to do the stuff i enjoyed. it was like, i could really do what made me happy... and also contributed to the organisation. i think daniela found it weird that i enjoyed putting together client folder... client folders are really impt to the org as they need a new one for each new client...and it take some time to photocopy and sort it out..and arrange the different forms in the plastic pockets.. although it seems like repeatitive 'brain-less' work.. i do enjoy doing it. cos it takes my mind off things....
anyway, completed 78hours of cpp. so yes, one less requirement i need to fufil before the end of the yr.. but yeah. i realised that i would do cpp if not for the terrible company i had... so i decided (after long deliberation) that i would go back next semester to do some volunteer work. it should be a lot more fun cos this time i dont need to wear all the formal stuff...and i;m not graded on my work.. haha ; )
