|
| So I'm back again after a looooooonnnnggggggggg hiatus from xanga! Told ya, have been updating at wordpress.
Anyhoos.
Life has been busy and crazy. I can't believe that this semester is ending in like...TWO WEEKS TIME!! Can you imagine that? It has been another hectic 3 months...endless assignments and more assignments. But it has been really fun. Really enjoyed my friends' company and it makes all the work much more bearable. 
Lectures have been great. For General Psychology we had 3 lecturers in a semester, to teach on three different areas. Social Psychology was really run, but developmental was darn boring...I mean, the lecturer just repeated things over and over and over and there was a serious lack of humor. Boy aren't we glad when it finally came to abnormal psychology. Our abnormal psych lecturer added on a lot of spice and helped us redeem our 4 weeks of boredom of developmental. I mean, she's probably had an overdose (in a good way) with the 'happy pill'...always laughing, full of child-like acts, funny and talks at a super fast pace. We've really learned so much from her. My friends were just saying how tiring her classes were, because she forces us to think A LOT...like she will always pose questions and thoughts. I've learned so much about the various disorders, and why people (me included) react in certain ways. After yesterday's class on BPD, it was really disturbing for me but I came to realize that I did not choose to deliberately act/behave in certain ways and I chose to not be too harsh on myself anymore. It was quite easy for me to understand the lectures even though many find the amount of information overwhelming...because I understand what it's like to be in many of the disorders.
I giggled to myself when I saw the abnormal psych slides...there are BIBLE VERSES!! Seriously la, she's funny. But I like how the lecturer always puts God in the center of it all. I had a chat with her after class yesterday, and it was the first time that I told her I am also a believer. I had got a lot of questions - Did I deliberately CHOOSE to 'backslide'? Did I purposely choose to either get too close to people, or be very hostile and distant? Did I deliberately choose to remain in relationships/friendships that were hurting me so badly, but couldn't let go of them? She was very encouraging, very gentle, especially since she knew why I am asking her this. She reminded me that shutting off even from God when there is a lot of pain is a normal reaction, and even getting back to Him is a process. I like her analogy:
God's hand is so big that you can never run away from it! - Dr. Ng WS
She also refused to tell me about schizoaffective disorder ever since she knew why I asked. Hehe. I think she's a super cool clinical psychologist!
Speaking of which, I am seeing one myself. Not Dr. Ng though, I would have loved to choose her...but I can't. Nevertheless, I'm quite satisfied with my therapist - she's theologically trained (though she doesn't use the word of God during therapy), is from SIBU, SARAWAK, a FOOCHOW, got her doctorate in clinical psychology and MA in Theology from FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY!! I laughed at the coincidence. She's a very prim and proper therapist, really nice but strict in her own ways.
Damn, the abnormal psych lecturer has just made me starting to love clinical psychology. And thankfully I'm not alone, for I just realized that many of my friends feel the same way too! What has she done!
| | |
| Hey peeps!
Sorry for the absence from xanga. Told you d...go to wordpress
It's tiring updating 4 blogs k (wordpress, counseling blog, multiply and xanga) with the exams and assignments pouring in. I can't believe that finals is in 3 weeks! Oh ya I do have a blog solely for the purpose of counseling, which is P&C. I've been seeing one of the many counselors in the uni on a weekly basis and I have to update her on the blog, and also to do some exercises on Cognitive Therapy and write 5 success each day to help focus my thoughts. Yah I'm one of her 'privileged clients' (but I don't pay lah. HELP student mah) who have issues severe enough to see her weekly and update on a blog. And yes she has been commenting on it and I'll see her again tomorrow. Who says counseling doesn't come with homework? Hope I can see her once a fortnight soon.
Anyway please please go to wordpress. I don't want to bore you with my outdated posts.
| | |
| Before I go into the main topic, lets have same laugh.
Lecturer: How do you say 18 in Mandarin?
Class: Shi Ba
Lecturer: What? SAN PAT?
LOL. If you know mandarin you'll know what's the joke's about. Classic la our lecturer.
Anyway where was I?
Yeah charismatic leaders.
Part of our discussion today was on charismatic leadership and the
downside of it. Our lecturer, obviously having not very good
experiences with such leaders, obviously didn't have very good things
to say about charismatic-but-with-no-substance-leaders. And I cannot
agree with him more.
Charismatic leaders are good in that they drive motivation, ignite
the flame and get things going. They have a lot of internal locus of
control and appear to be very confident. But without substance, and
when pressure comes, they can turn to be nasty hypocrites. Worst, they
can adopt a authoritarian attitude and they tend to command and demand
respect. But with substance, they make the best leaders ever.
Sounds familiar?
Learning about leadership has taught me a lot, and helped me to see
and evaluate the leaders that I've had before. And I came to understand
why some made such good leaders all the way, and others fail miserably
and cause a lot of pain. It comes down to core values and behaviour
traits. If all a leader wants is to exalt himself and appear good so
that he gains support..let me promise you this: I can guarantee his
downfall one fine day. But if a leader has the charisma and substance
at the same time, i.e he trains his followers on core stuff, things
that will last...with intelligence...then it will be priceless.
I've seen this far too often. So often leaders gear their members
towards things that won't last. They may appear good at first, but when
you really look into it...it's losing its substance. For example in a
church, what's the point of having the best programme or seminars or
speakers or worship or anything...if people walk into your church and
don't feel the love of God? Now in KL when I walk into a church, I
don't care how good they are...because the core that is going to
sustain a church and its members is the love of God. The leaders in the
church may have a lot of charisma and the worship can be really
good...but if there is no love and no grounding the the Word of
God...just empty stuff..I'm sorry, I know what is going to happen one
fine day.
Tell me, without substance which is the foundation of every group or
organisation...can the building withstand pressure? Sure, the building
can look really good..but can it still look just as good when the
strong wind blows? I've come across leaders who put on disguises and
looked so good...but when pressure comes...boy boy, I can't believe
what I saw. Suddenly all the empty tins and rubbish in the foundation
began to surface. They cannot accept the fact that they did wrong, even
though it is so obvious.
Charisma is one thing. Substance and intelligence is much more important. Think about it. | | |
| Hey peeps!
Wow life has been quite happening! In fact so many things have come by i can't believe I'm here for less than two weeks! Seems like it has been ages...
The highlights so far are the starting of classes and also the freshman lunch last Saturday. Classes are really fun, Mr Franklin has been a superb lecturer, he had actually made us interested in learning! He is always funny, classes are always lively...though PMG can get pretty boring. No wait...it IS boring. But I love the way lecturers made us feel comfortable and we find the courage to voice our questions and opinions. Last Wednesday we had a session with the faculty where we got to meet some of the lecturers.
Freshman Lunch.
Wow...can we go again next semester?
We had so much fun. We got to wear the long academic gowns and felt really important leh! They really know how to welcome us into the programme! We took lots of pictures the moment we stepped into the hall with the gowns, until we left...and we were one of the last to leave! Our gang made so much noise we caught the attention of quite a lot of people. Heheh. Oh and the food was awesome! The lambbbbbbbb..........our seniors were right when they told us to "wallop the LAMB!!!"
Anyway, I've posted up my pics in my multiply. There are still plenty which I'm waiting from my friend. And anyways if you don't know, I'm no longer blogging at blogspot but have moved to wordpress. So find my updates there!
| | |
| So I arrived here in KL on Tuesday afternoon.
Seriously, was it just *counts fingers* four days ago?
I think time flew because they have been keeping us busy during our two-day orientation on Wednesday and Thursday. People here are so far so good and I've made friends like all (?) my other coursemates. My roomie is nice, so is our housemate downstairs who is also the VP for our Psych student council.
One thing I like about being here is the organisation of the whole department. The Psychology department is like a college within HUC itself. WE have our own clubs and societies, our own student council, own Peer Support Group (PSG), and next week we are even setting up our own Counseling Clinic which is opened to the public! I don't know how much they charge the public (they are even planning to charge us students who go for counseling a minimal RM1-RM2) but they are really earning a lot already with all their corporate trainings and all. So much for having top lecturers here.
Yes we have been kept rather busy that two days and next week we are having some more briefings and meeting the Faculty and next Saturday is Freshmen Lunch, and not forgetting CLASSES are starting next week too! Psychology Dept is very very lively here and it can be good and bad thing. Plenty of exciting activities but we still have reports to write! And from what I hear the Health and Bio and Abnormal Psych lecturers like to give doctorate questions during exams...but we won't be seeing them till Year 2 I think. Our seniors aren't very encouraging when it comes to stress Psych students face. No wonder they keep telling us that if we face stress in our studies we can go for counseling! =/
OK gtg now for lunch. Ciao!
| | |
|
|
