Done with my viva, but all sorts of drama still continuing regarding results reports and graduation. Speaking of graduation, there was this very interesting bit in the description of what we’re allowed to wear, specifically with regards to shirts.
“[Must be] Plain white. off-white or cream are NOT permitted but black shirts are and they can disguise the problems caused by a heavy hood attached to a lightweight blouse.”
It took me a while to finally realize that the “problems” they were referring to, correct me if I’m wrong, is sweat.
I’m nearly done! My oral defense is on Monday, which is a little frightening. May Ball week was amazing and so much fun which helps take the edge off the nervousness for my viva.
I need to learn how to relax. Like properly relax and recuperate, not just sit in front of my laptop and waste time or have frantic baking marathons. Maybe I need to take longer walks and breathe deeper. My body feels all out of whack.
Can’t wait to go home and see everyone
I found this absolutely brilliant website with tips for writing a thesis and doing the subsequent viva for it (Though the thesis tips are probably a little late). My favorite quote is below:
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~jw/thesis.html#style
Man, the thesis must be getting to me because I reflexively went to cite that quote in parenthesis. It’s a really clever, well-organized, insightful guide. It’s for PhD students, but that doesn’t make as much of a difference (except that I haven’t done as much research yet). The survival guide to a viva is dead useful, too.
Here’s another quote:
Keep going—you’re nearly there! Most PhDs will admit that there were times when we thought about reasons for not finishing. But it would be crazy to give up at the writing stage, after years of work on the research, and it would be something to regret for a long time.
Writing a thesis is tough work. One anonymous post doctoral researcher told me: “You should tell everyone that it’s going to be unpleasant, that it will mess up their lives, that they will have to give up their friends and their social lives for a while. It’s a tough period for almost every student.” She’s right: it is certainly hard work, it will probably be stressful and you will have to adapt your rhythm to it. It is also an important rite of passage and the satisfaction you will feel afterwards is wonderful. On behalf of scholars everywhere, I wish you good luck!#style
And check out phdcomics.com for amazing and hilarious comics of grad life. Even an undergraduate can relate to a few of the strips I think. Sometimes though, they are devastatingly true and painful, yet still you have to life at laugh. It’s a good way for coping with the stress!
Thesis stats: Word count: ~17,000 words (excluding figures, graphs, bibliography, and appendix) Pages: 50 (single spaced, A4) + Appendix (another 50-ish)
On Epik High’s latest album, epilogue, there’s this song that is seriously just candy for my ears. It opens with a snare beat that’s bright and driving but sounds like a laid back clap. Throughout the song there’s this off-beat timpani that just evaporates like bubbles popping against my ear drums. Coupled with an amazingly smooth and sweet tenor vocal (not sure which singer was featured) and some almost unnoticeable melody on a synthesizer+bells(? I forget the exact name of the instrument). It doesn’t get over syrupy though because it’s broken up by Tablo and Mithra’s awesome raps and it all just blends in with the whole upbeat yet chilled-out mood of the song.
Seriously, Epik High is just genius. Pure genius. They write this type of ear candy even on songs that are buried at the back of their album.
Almost done now with the dissertation. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And I’ve finally admitted to myself that I write like a FOB.
넌 나를 몰라, 아무도 몰라. 이젠 너무 아프지만 지금 강하됐거든…
안 무수워, 난 지금 다르다.
In this case it’s more like 100 words forward, 100 words back. For every few lines I write, I delete another few crappy lines. Two chapters out of 7 came under fire for not being entirely relevant (and outdated). So today I’ve deleted like almost 25% of what I’ve written so far. One step back. Now I’m working on bringing in more statistics to compare and discuss. The bad thing about statistics is that I have to spend a day learning how to do it all by myself, with nothing to show for my work but a few numbers and the sentence: The results were shown to be significant at 5%/not significant.
On the plus side, the first 3 chapters received positive reviews while the 4th was neutral.
My 7th chapter, the conclusion, is not even outlined yet. But I generally find that the conclusion is not THAT important…it will resolve itself easily in the end and is a bare 2000 words. I’m fairly proud that at this point, most of the chapters have bones (outlines), the most important organs (the major arguments), and are mostly fleshed (mostly explained). All that remains is for a little makeup (formatting touch-ups) and some last minute plastic surgery (reorganization) and padding (expanded analysis).
Current total: 12,428 words
~7,500 words to go!
p.s.
I started this post frustrated but am now much more encouraged. Woot!
I miss Singapore so much. I miss the warmth, the friendly people, and the food. I miss hearing Chinese and English mingled together when I walk down the street. I miss the fashion and the shopping and being able to wear tiny little shorts without anyone looking twice. I miss my spunky short hair that I used to sport. I miss running at night along the West Coast with my friends from hall. I miss Uncle Vincent’s supper. I miss super cheap, super delicious food, any time I want it. I miss bubble tea, jasmine tea flavor with no milk and no ice. I miss my friends and their warmly charming accents. I miss being able to go out with them and going to Sentosa for camp games.
I miss LA too, but not as much. I was always overworked at UCLA and stressed. Singapore was the one place where I finally felt healthy. For that alone, the time there was priceless. What I miss about UCLA are the beaches, my church friends and their eternal support and care, the study groups, the deep talks that would last into the wee hours of the nights. I mis the vibrancy of campus, but I always knew it was a bubble world.
I miss my family too, I miss my brother and my parents. I miss the sound of the sprinklers at the park while watching the stars. I miss my mom’s food. Sometimes I wake up late and hear voices in the hall and I think that I’m home again, that my family’s coming back from an early morning garage sale.
But it’s not as easy for me to go back to Singapore, so I miss Singapore a lot when it rains.
“Hey 잠 정말 고마워, 달아나버릴 따뜻함이 아닌 떠날 수 없는 아픔이라서” 넬 – Thank you
Hey mister, I can hear you snoring from two rooms down the hall while I’m IN MY ROOM. I think you are the reason I haven’t been sleeping well. At least we all know you’re getting your beauty rest.
And whoever bought the new roll of toilet paper, thank you for responding to my passive-aggressive sticky note on the bathroom door. Now I don’t have to hide my toilet rolls in my room so that the rest of you stop sponging off of me.
Yes, I go to Cambridge and have to supply my own toilet paper. Yet we have a cleaner come every day except weekends and holidays. You don’t need to explain to me the irony here.
I can’t wait to have my own apartment. Please please please let me get a single. Just so that I can sleep peacefully at night and not have to pick up someone else’s slack.
Our pride got taken away. We need to look back at our roots and hold our heads high.
I think Apl.de.Ap is going in the right direction. His lyrics vibe with me and I don’t know if that’s because of the similarity in island culture or if I simply like how he’s not leaving his immigrant heritage out of his music. Or maybe I just love music videos shot on the beach.
I sincerely dislike those people who look down on Fobs or complain that it’s Asian night at the club. If we talk shit about our own people, then that justifies the shit that other people say.
No country or culture is perfect but it doesn’t mean we can’t love being a part of both. For those of us who aren’t white, our faces will always betray our roots. So look in the mirror and learn to love what you see. Be proud.
Words that are not universally known:
Ghetto Fasho (for sure) Aiite (alright) Shady (not the kind that you find under a tree) Sketch (not what you do with a pencil and pad of paper) DL (down low, secretive) Hella (California specific)
Anyone got any suggestions to add to the list?
