23. Final Year Thesis: Done and Dusted

Here's a lighter topic than the previous post =) I know I've been away from the blogosphere for the longest time ever - months. I've been busy with an internship and my final year thesis, which is finally and thankfully done with. 10k words later, I am now officially unemployed and a psychology graduate. I'm doing this post to get ya'll up to speed and also, I that free now.

I was interning for 2.5 months at AWARE (the women's organization that NS men dislike haha). The pay was um, well, lets just say it felt like free labour but it was a meaningful internship for I got to learn how a non profit organisation works in the inside. I also got to work on really interesting projects - single parenthood, women rights, rights for single parents in the HDB sphere... etc. It really shows you a side of Singapore you do not get to usually see (single parenthood is after all a really taboo subject, just as homosexuality is).

I ended my internship about half a month earlier because it was getting really stressful to juggle my thesis data collection, meeting up with my supervisor and actually writing the thesis. My supervisor, Patrick is God-sent. He was ever so helpful with anything I needed and would actually reply my cries for help at 9/10pm at night. I hit the jackpot with my supervisor this time! Thesis writing..is so so tiring. I have written so many essays, from as little as 1.5k to 4k words but nothing could have prepared me enough for this daunting task. Some days you look at your work and think, what in the world am have I been writing, this is ALL rubbish. Other days you feel quite good and confident but it is mostly tiring and exhausting. Sometimes you have the motivation to continue but you can't find anymore information that seems relevant. You just end up staring at your document and getting a headache from all the words swimming in your head.

Anywho after about 2.5 months of slugging my guts out, I was finally done. Getting them printed and binded felt numb and surreal. I wanted to be done with the university and its shitty admin staff and poor communications with students but at the same time I wanted to continue studying. HOW DO I ADULT. All a student has to worry about is homework, essays, tests and things like that. In comparison to insurance, bills, marriage and the list goes on. Do you know it takes 1 mill to raise a kid in Singapore? Like, I don't think i can even make a million in a lifetime what more by the time I am ready to have a child?

The weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders and now a different kind of weight has landed on them. I gotta start job searching........stat.

x

22. My first car accident: Reflections

I guess there's a first for everything in life? I got into my first car accident recently and boy was it an experience. I was hit from the back while my car was stationary (will not go into the little details), and the Singapore law states that once that happens, the vehicle from the back is at fault. The impact was huge, and the car's Neck Pro (installed in the head rests) activated immediately. It was so shocking and I was shaking even after many hours passed.

For anyone's sake, here are some ''tips'' for if you ever get into a car accident..

# Do not admit to any fault (even if it may seem like it is yours). I read a post before on DOs and DONTs and the definite DONT is to say 'I'm sorry'

# Exchange identification cards, numbers and insurance agencies.

# Take as many pictures as you can of your vehicle and the other party's in terms of damage inflicted.

# Do not agree to settle the payment 'on your own' or at another workshop. Always leave it to your insurance agent to contact the other party's agent.

# Drive (if your car is still in a state to) to the nearest police station to make a report.

# Call the TP (Traffic police) or Ambulance if the car is not in any drivable state and if anyone is injured. Also your relevant cars' 24 hour hotline for roadside assist.

# See a doctor. You may seem fine but you never know what's going on inside your body (My boyfriend - in the passenger seat and I were diagnosed with mild head contusions and he had a sprained shoulder with dizzy spells and nausea)

# Be thankful. You're okay!!! Your life is more important than the car's aesthetics. Thank God or your lucky stars if you're not religious.

Take it as an experience and learn from it.

Drive carefully everyone!