Settling In

Work hours: 7am to 3:50pm. (So early!)
Project: collecting mud samples from various points of the process and determining their purity. (Meh)
Housemates: one really cute guy and one rather nerdy and super quiet guy.
Town: might as well be nothing, at least I don't have to try and decide whether to "explore" the town or not.
People in general: very very nice and extremely knowledgeable in the sugar industry.
Connection to the outside world: phone has no reception but the housemates do have wifi here. (Hence why I'm here.)

Verdict: I don't really see myself staying here in the long term scheme of things. Actually I'm kinda glad this is only for 3 weeks and not 3 months so I dunno how I would've handled it if I actually took their grad offer and stayed here for 3 years.

Ready? Maybe

I have officially been finished with exams for 10 days now! And incredulously I've been out and about for all 10 days. This is definitely the most productive holiday (in terms of socialising) I've had since... well since probably year 10. I'm glad I decided to take advantage of everyone wanting to go out because I'll be working for the next 3 weeks up in whoop whoop. By whoop whoop, I really mean Pioneer/Brandon. That is a whole 14 hour drive away from my home! There's no internet but I certainly hope there is air con.

I'll be working on a sugar mill (in case you don't know what that does, it's the whole process whereby sugar canes grown on farms are converted into edible sugar we see in our supermarkets). Sugar milling is a seasonal process so I think I'll be doing a lot of maintenance work Sugar milling is definitely not an industry I even gave half a thought about throughout my 4 years of study. It's probably not something I'll be thinking of much after I finish my vac work either. Alas, such is life. My path is destined to cross with the history of Queensland sugar milling. This is probably not the ideal start but it's definitely a start. I hope all goes well.

** I think I'll have a lot of spare time once I start working so I can finally start blogging about the last 2 years of my life in more detail... (yes I know I've been slack).

Finding Inner Peace

I can't believe uni starts tomorrow! I have nothing ready, in fact I still don't know what classes I am taking! (Well I do but I have a backup plan which I'd prefer over this hell-is-coming-for-you semester that is currently is.) Academic life is chaotic. Career life is still non-existent. Personal life is a mess. Oh, and I am so broke. Don't even talk to me about money right now, I can't believe Vodafone is so lame. But according to Shi Fu, all you need to do is to find your inner peace and all will be well again. Okay inner peace, come to me!

Flip of a Coin?

Due to forseen circumstances I have now come to a point where a new set of decisions will need to be made. Simply the 2 options are:

1. Study part-time for 1.5 years and work part-time at the same time.
Pros: $$$. I will have a much higher chance of actually passing and doing well on my courses. More time off to develop other skills which I am obviously missing because I still have no grad job!
Cons: Extending my degree by another year.

2. Suck it up for one more semester and graduate in December. Provided I haven't failed anything this semester.
Pros: Degree is not dragged for longer.
Cons: No sleep. High probability of failing. No job. No money.

As of this moment, I am going with option 1. Of course, that would depend on whether I failed anything this semester and also if I can find a job fairly quickly. I have another month to decide so definitely sleeping on this.

Inputs? Opinions?

If life hands you lemons, make lemonade. If people throw at you sticks and stones, play a new version of scissors, paper, rock. If something gets in your way, go around it.

Judgement Day

Big day tomorrow. But I shall definitely not let fear and nervousness get in the way. So far I've managed to maintain a good mentality over this. Actually, I must say I'm really excited for what's in store. Whatever the outcome, it's going to be a step forward. Wish me luck! Or more importantly, wish that I'll be on time -_-

"Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage and confidence in doing."

Cool Stuff!

Ever since that bio class back in high school about genetically modified mice that glow in the dark, I have been fascinated by the idea of bioengineering and biotechnology (plus at the time I had a particular obsession with glow-in-the-dark things). I even spent the last 3 years doing chemical/biological engineering. But the shitty degree offered at UQ (which they have recently improved for future students. Jealous!), my lack of time and money plus the fact that biotech although prominent within the academic circle is not really at the forefront of the general society means I've dropped the double major.

This morning as I was researching for my prac report, I came across an article titled "Biological removal of cationic fission products from nuclear wastewater". I thought this is such a brilliant idea. And it just makes me wish that UQ had a better degree when I started. Yes, I know I complained about working in a lab in the US but I was on exchange, who wants to work when you can play (well, that is my defence anyway). Though I must say that if I wasn't on exchange, and that I had better background knowledge in the stuff we did, I probably would have complained a lot less.

Oh well, maybe sometime in the future when I have more money I might actually do a PhD. Maybe. Otherwise it's part of my Plan B2 if my Plan A doesn't pan out.

~~~
* NB. I have come to realise that cool concepts don't always work out as nicely in reality, at least not without many, many more years of research. And cool concepts always turn out to be super expensive which doesn't help. (Unless I'm doing my project completely wrong.)

Complex, Vast but Beautiful

I have a midterm in 1 day. I have procrastinated my entire 2 days away. As much as I try to focus on the imminent task, my heart and my mind is just not here. Firstly, it is incredibly frustrating that it's taking me so long to understand these concepts and all the equations I need. Secondly, I am so over studying these days. I am not interested in what we are learning, full stop. And right now it really is not a top priority of mine, as weird as that sounds.

I'm graduating at the end of this year. That means it's time to really contemplate what I should do once I graduate (provided I don't fail anything). I have given so much thought into this over the past year and even more so the last few months. There are just so many options out there: work, travel, volunteer, more study, start my own business? After rationally (fine, sometime irrationally) going through each option I have finally come to the conclusion that the only practical option I have at this point is to work. Which brings me back to my procrastination. Because I am always worrying about hearing back from companies, I am always thinking of back up plans in case I can't find a job. The problem is that I can't do anything about this anymore because I have finished sending in all my applications so now all I can do is worry. I know I really shouldn't let this get in my head but I really think the rest of my life depends on finding this first job. (Okay, a tad exaggeration but it feels like it does.)

But that is not what this post is supposed to be about. So during one of my (many) procrastination bouts, I decided to dust off the cobwebs on my blogging world. I caught up on some of the new posts that friends have posted during my absence. I have had a blog for many years now, I have always enjoyed writing blog posts. I have always loved reading other people's blog posts because I think it's such a great avenue to get to know that person on a different level. Some people express a sense of humour that they never show in person, others take the mickey out of everything, some contemplate life in a more serious way, and some use their blog as a way to raise awareness of issues they feel are important in the world. Whatever the purpose is, it is fascinating to see the thoughts that go on in each person's head. 

Today, reading all these blog posts, it made me realise (even though it's such an obvious thing) and appreciate just how different every person is, yet how we all have the same thoughts and go through the same emotions. I like that everyone has the same vulnerable thoughts about themselves, I like that we all appreciate the same small things in life and I like that we all have the same big (but different) futures we have painted for ourselves. I realised that we are all just trying to survive, trying to make our life that much better and that much more unique. It gives me life to see there is so much life out there. Nobody told us life was going to be cruisy, nobody said it will be sunshine everyday, and certainly nobody put in a definition of life that is has to predictable. So whatever you do (or don't do), just never forget to live.