Saturday, April 7, 2012
11:48 PM
It seems like uni has started to pick up its pace since then. I am currently lost in Probability for Statistics, behind in the Vector Calculus problem sheet, behind in the Project Management readings, and just so confused with C programming. To be fair, we only started learning C last week, yet in the workshops, they have already expected us to be able to code programs which I think are fairly complicated. Clearly 2nd year is much more difficult, and I have my work cut out for me this semester. Easter break is just a time for me to breathe and catch up now.
I've also reached another milestone in my life and updated my Facebook profile to reflect this, but apparently nobody has noticed it yet. (Note to self: nobody stalks your Facebook page)
Well, I am working now. Part-time, that is. It was a spur of the moment kind of decision. The uni emails us a career bulletin every week which has job advertisements. For some reason, a lot of them are of jobs in the IT/Software field, which you might think is good for me, but unfortunately my software skills are not there yet and just fall short of their requirements. I'm just a fresh 2nd year, and I think most of them want final year students. But! I came across this advertisement on the bulletin one Friday: the job title was Web Developer and their requirements were simple: experience in web design, ability to use Photoshop, creativity, and preferably someone who lives locally. Guess where their office is? Just right down my street. I immediately got interested. All these years of blogging and web designing are finally gonna be put to good use. It's not that I've never thought of finding a job this year, it's just that I can't reach the requirements of most of the software jobs, and I'm worried about putting my studies on jeopardy. But the requirements for this job were easily within my reach, and being so close to where I live is just icing on the cake. I wasn't sure about it at first, but mum and dad, 堂主 at 佛堂, Ah Boy (who is also working) and my friends were very supportive. But where to start? This will technically be the first time that I work, and I have no idea how to work out my application. I did a lot of research and reading to produce what I think is a high quality résumé. My dad even "supervised" me, giving me feedback and design ideas.
Later on I found out that all those hard work were probably unnecessary because I got the job quite easily. My employer replied my email within a day and gave me a call to set up a meeting. He was pleasantly surprised with my English because I've only been here for a year. He told me later that he interviewed two other people but it was hard to communicate with them. He introduced me to his other friend who coincidentally also needs help with his website. His friend is also located in Brunswick, and long story short, I'm working part-time for two companies now. It's fun sometimes, but it adds a lot of stress when you have uni work piling up. But I guess this is part of growing up, isn't it? Learning to manage things, prioritization, stress management etc.? I'm working because I want to be already equipped with the experience when I graduate, but oh, the thrill that I got when I got my first pay! Who doesn't like extra pocket money?
Speaking of managing things... mum and dad just notified me today that I'm gonna have my citizenship exam in June. There will also be a briefing session in May. I missed my chance last year so I can't wait anymore. It's now or never! My exams are in June and classes are as normal in May, so I'm expecting a lot of work and stress management then... I'll have to do it for mum and dad. I'll also take this as an opportunity to challenge myself to manage my work and time properly. Don't worry, be happy :)
