Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Choose Which Course now?

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I will NEVER be a Doctor. Do not ask me anymore about that! 

And yes, I've repeated it many times verbally and in Facebook. Imagine this: If every single straight-A scorer is to be a doctor, engineer or lawyer in the future, then what will happen to the other sectors? Agriculture, Fishery, fashion, or the sector which actually engineered our lives-EDUCATION?

I've told you guys that I was not selected into matriculation. I was depressed at first. 9A+ and I did not get matriculation? Is this fair? However, after much research, countless queries from my friends, parents and teachers,  I made a firm decision:

MATRICULATION IS NOT FOR ME!!! (Oh yeah maybe. I don't know)


So here are my choices: (and some additional details)

Form 6 

New syllabus: THREE semesters and school-based assessment! Oh yeah, guaranteed to be easier than the old system! (Sharon, do not be overconfident!)

Get high pointers and I am free to choose any desired course.

STPM certificate is acknowledged in universities abroad and local!

The downside: Dressed in school uniform and have sauna everyday. But hey, reminiscing on school days are cute, isn't it?

Teacher Training

  • Yup, I got TESL for Chinese Vernacular School. I have a strong passion towards English by the way, but of course I['m nowhere up to the mark as a prominent writer who can write like J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins.

  • I am interested in this noble profession since I was a kid. Besides, my aunt who is a "Guru Cemerlang" in English Language has inspired me a lot-she has written several revision books and has taught students to master English well, regardless of their class.

  • Get the chance to meet cute kids during practical! (Unfortunately kids nowadays are devils.) Able to try my brain and hands on teaching (and torturing them!) :P

  • job guaranteed (because being a teacher renders me as a government servant) plus a stable income. 



Diploma in computer Science (Multimedia) at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

  • Hey, that's my first choice when applying UPU man! Plus, a teacher told me that it was rare for Chinese to get admitted into UPU straight after SPM! 3 yays for me!!!

  • My dream subject. I am interested in design and programming. 

  • I LOVE challenges. I love competitions! 

  • The thing is, I will need to study Diploma for THREE years! I would have been eligible to vote for elections by the time I've finished Diploma. Of course, having a Diploma is sufficient to land you into the Job Market!

  • Is it applicable for my JPA Bursary?


Sigh!

***

Okay, about my Interview this time. (And if I have the time, I'll be typing a Chinese version of this post tomorrow. Seriously, I cannot get over my addiction to blogging and designing! )

#IDIOT! YOU NEED TO STUDY! BLOG BLOG BLOG NON STOP.

#If only my blog can earn me big bucks like Lyssa Faizureen's.

Interview? Oh NO! I can write well but a total bard when it comes to conveying ideas orally. Worse, I find it rather difficult to stuff facts into my brain in merely three days! Names of the Ketua Pengarah Pelajaran, Falsafah Pendidikan Negara, KSSR... 

#Gone nuts!

8 May is my much dreaded day. Interview! My goodness. I had thrown in large bucks to purchase book files, a name tag, heels etc just to look fit and formal enough. Spending long hours in front of the computer simply to obtain information about the Ministry of Education, consulting my school counsellor, repeated failed attempts at singing and playing my old recorder... All for but two and a half hours of interview in the Teacher Training Institute in Ipoh!


Upon arriving at the institute, i frantically looked for my centre, A01C. Where was it? Where was it? I was pretty dazed as dad and I went into the wrong road in Chemor and tried to find the Institute in vain! 

The Institute was ginormous and it looked more like a maze than anything else. Let me tell you this: There are only SIX candidates interviewing for TESL for Chinese primary school together! Yes, SIX GIRLS, me included.

It started with the INSAK (Teachers' Attitude Inventory) in which we had to finish 135 questions in 30 minutes. Mind you, some answers were pretty confusing as both options were logical! (Each question has two options) To make matters worse, the room was freezing cold and I was shivering like jelly! (Despite the overabundance of fat cells) Fortunately, my hand did not lose touch; it managed to race at a furious pace, dancing on the Objective Answer Sheet gracefully and wrapped up its not-at-all-spellbinding performance ten minutes before time ran out. Phew!

The session was proceeded with the Group Interview. Te topic is given in the Malay Language but we were supposed to answer it in English Language. Please do not laugh when I reveal the topics:

TOPIC 1: Factors causing Disciplinary Problems

TOPIC 2: measures and Actions Taken by the School To Curb Disciplinary Problems among Students.

That's damn freaking easy! Oh wait, not when you had to speak it spontaneously and grab your chance from 5 other fellow candidates fighting for the golden place in Teachers' Training! Worse, there are only 2 minutes for you to prepare your points without jotting them down. 

Thus, yes, I began the discussion for both topics, and added some what-the-hell points such as "Loser of the Month" Award, "punishments by washing the toilet", etc. Frankly, I did not know what did I muttered out!

Instead of fluent, information packed, powerful sentences, we ended up chalking up a string of Manglish words along with some simple, colloquial English words such as "gonna". What a joke for English teachers!

#Forgive us please. :P

MY ADVICE: Brush up your speaking skills at home and speak only on ideas, not about Lady Gaga's tea cup auction or Rihanna and Chris Brown or Bersih 3.0 or whatsoever. For those taking up language subjects, do speak in correct language!

***

Individual Interview up next! As the clock ticked by, my heart pounded faster and faster. No "lah"s, "ma"s, "hor"s, "loh"s please! It would be embarrassing! Can I actually dish out the required answers? Oh please, I HAVE NOT MEMORIZED ANYTHING AT ALL!!! I mean, just a lil' bit.

I was trembling with fear as my fellow comrades were called into the freeze chamber, one by one, to get bombarded by endless questions by the interviewer. Every second added to my fear. Please, I MUST answer fluently! 

"Sharon." a solemn voice dropped. I knocked the door gently and inched into the cubicle.

"Good morning Sirs." I spoke softly. They burst out in laughter and it beats me. 

Fear was clearly written all over my face until it was unmistakably read by the Indian interviewee. He told me at the face that I was nervous! Gosh, I blushed!

The interview began with all the repeated-way-too-frequently stuff such as about me and the reason for me to choose this course. Interviews were just too schematic, I mean, can't they have a twist? Oh well, good for me too to remember every single detail in my life. 

"Where did you came from?"

"I came from Taiping, err... north from here, 1 hour and 30 minutes journey...." 

"Why did you choose this course?"

YOU DON'T SAY?

Of course I have to be passionate towards a course to make every effort pursuing it worthwhile! My goodness. I harbour such an ambition to be a teacher since I was a kid. Plus, my aunt's a successful English Language teacher too. Her roaring success in becoming a "Guru Cemerlang" and publishing several revision books has inspired me a lot to pursue this noble career. 

What did I told them again?

I intended to pursue Multimedia, but pursuing it will only result in only a single Multimedia Engineer, that's me. By being a teacher, I can actually educate many aspiring professionals! 

The Chinese interviewer then questioned me on the current issues in education. Gosh, I could hardly remember any thanks to my fear! Using the Kirkby Approach to teach English-that's what I remembered the most since it was relevant to my course. Besides, I got asked on my foresight on the education in the future, particularly in the field of teaching English Language towards Chinese School Students.

Thank goodness I managed to answer the questions eloquently despite with words as elementary as ABC! I was ready home after obtaining the necessary documents. I gave a heavy sigh of relief as I stepped out of the freezing lecture hall.


Ehem. Time to pen off now as I have to return to school once again tomorrow! Hopefully, I will have time to return with more essays, materials and Chinese posts! 

Sweet dreams everyone!




3 comments:

  1. Whooooaaaa Congrates Sharon !! :))

    ReplyDelete
  2. Woah! Thanks a lot Kak Lyssa! :D

    #Thanks for stopping at my blog! Saya dapat banyak tips dari blog Kak L:yssa, masuk juga dalam blogroll.

    ReplyDelete