Life and Letters

Moving on...

That's what I'm trying to do. Just move on in life and be happy for the people around me - to treasure them cos they won't be around forever...

Speaking about moving on, I've just been for a UKGrad training course which is called 'Moving Ahead' and it was really useful cos it brought out things in me that i never knew I was capable of. I completed a presentation without once looking at my notes, or even being prompted by my team members. And the feedback was that I gave a very convincing presentation and I obviously was passionate about the subject. That made me quite happy. I wasn't scared to fail at any task during this training cos i knew that my team members would back me up

At this point, i realised that i have a very good PhD supervisor. K is such a sweetie pie. Some people in the department might say he's a charmer and he's always flying all over the globe (he's a concert pianist too) but it doesn't matter where he is in the world, he replies to all my emails almost within 12 hours of my own email. Recently I had some personal issues which needed attending to (lack of office space etc etc) and K went all the way out to help me! Even when I asked him if I should start publishing papers, he gave me very sound advice which was useful and sincere.

In a similar way, I have family and friends who will push me all the way to make sure I attain my goals. I've recently gotten in contact with an 'aunty' who lives in Austria now (she's my mummy's childhood friend) and she always encourages me to pursue my dreams. She gives me good advice and I really appreciate it.

My mummy didn't think I was crazy when i said I would like to do a second degree. She said that if I can cope with it, then go ahead - but don't jeopardise my PhD and health. And after seeing that I can probably cope, she said she would give me all the help she can (Cos she has studied some of the subjects that I am going to study).

There's also R who will help me to cope with my life - anything from relaxing, going for runs, even doing my laundry for me :P

I have so many people to thank around me.
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On a separate issue, my flatmates have all moved in (minus poot). Besides Vicki, poot and myself, there are two muslim girls staying with us. One is a medic from Mauritius (cool place!) and the other, a 4th year computer science student from Algeria ( i think...) It's quite a nice change and I'm looking forward to the year ahead.

I've also been mentoring students as part of one of my jobs and it's been a great experience. I've built up my confidence much more - I have to go round ringing doorbells and speaking to people I never met! But it's been wonderful so far. I really love this job and can forsee myself being part of the student mentor team till I graduate :)

Ok.. time to do some work now. I must aim to publish one paper this year.