Word for the season: Humility.

Other than the idealist aspirations of a newly graduated social work student, armed with whatever that’s been deposited by the lecturers and placements, with the Mighty Mouse jingle looping in my mind (“here I come to save the day…”), there is so much for me to learn about this new phase.  I want to be humble.

I want to change the world, and something that came out of having tazo chai tea with my dear friend was the realisation that this will not happen overnight, and reminded me of the strategy Dr Nair once told me about: to fit in for the first year, and then influence. I think I shall take heed.

Other than that, how exciting is it to wear working clothes! Snigger all you want, it’s something new and I do look forward to it

*beams*

Of course not lah.

In any case, I am excited about work. I’m excited about being an adult, really. Finally! All the daydreaming about what I’ll do “when I grow up…” don’t have to be mere day dreams anymore. I think they can start happening, and that’s the excitement.

That said, I have several ambitions that might not necessarily relate, and I wonder to God if I’ll actually get to do them all in my lifetime. And some seem quite big, which would normally mean that I should have started on getting there some time ago, but I don’t seem to have done so.  How ah? I know that they’re not impossible, plus God’s the one doing the directing, so I can still actually get there at the end. Hm, I suppose this can be fun, the not knowing how I’m going to get to where I want to be. It makes for a good story.

OKAY, so, I’ve been back in Singapore proper now, with the possibility of starting work NEXT MONDAY. Because the boss has said that I can start on 1 July (or earlier), I’m wondering when I should get myself to work. I really want to get there prepared to give it the best shot I can. I wrote down a list of things I should think about wrt work:

1. The Big Picture. I can’t just think about doing just what my portfolio says I’m to do, you know. I know it HAS to be something MUCH greater.

2. My attitude. towards work, especially to remind myself on low days.

3. What to do with the money.

4. What to do with the time after work, the off-days, family time, time for friends, service. I can’t just spend it all on myself!

Not that these are sorted out, nor do I expect them to be even when I start work…still, I want to start thinking about them.

AND. There’s this pretty good article on COMMENCEMENT that I recommend to all who, like me, have just graduated from uni. And yes, it’s from Boundless. Enjoy!

I think I have lots to write about the US trip. It was splendid. Magical. Extravagant. I’ll tell you more when I get back. I have been LAVISHED with great things on this trip and I am still being awed by all that has happened.

So check back here in about two weeks’ time and you’ll have something new to read!. Until then, find something to be thankful about today.

Social Workers’ Day dinner was on 15th April, and 600 people gathered at Meritus Mandarin to celebrate! Our guest-of-honour was our President (WOAH). For all who don’t know, Pres. Nathan was one of the first to be trained as a social worker in Singapore *beams*. Us students were kept to one side/corner of the room to create our own ruckus, which I think we did.

See how cool we were! I had such a deep appreciation of the whole event that night, for all the swkers and people who turned up. It was very inspiring to know that every person in that room must have at some point touched lives, helped families, cared for the greater community, etc. etc. etc., very counter culture in our must-make-all-the-money-while-I-can kind of society. I thought if there was a bomb that killed us all there, Singapore could be in trouble. But that’s me.

And then back in NUS came the last day of school, and my brilliant friends brought everyone together with a game of captains ball! People from year one to four came, braved the scorching heat and maintained kindness and composure even while being competitive. To remain the consistent me, I just turned up to be the ardent supporter of whoever I knew was playing, and let others do the sweating.

clockwise from top: rachoo&lyd, me&del, sporty ky and our head of dept (how funny is it that the top part of his head is erm, cut off. Sorry I don’t know how to fit it in perfectly.)

lyd catches the ball, rachrach and cindy, ling, lexy and yan, ren’s determination.

It’s really SUCH a privilege to be part of all these. I think the SW dept rawks.

ps. if you thought some of the pictures are really well taken, someone else took them. :p

I found Joyce Meyer on video AND audio. Woah this lady can really preach! I’ve never heard her preach, and I only knew how she looked like because almost every book written by her would have her face on the cover. This week, she’s been preaching about Power Thoughts. She’s so right when she said we need to have more positive thoughts in a day.

How many times a day do we think, “This is too hard, I’m so tired,” ? When I seriously try to answer that, I think it’s about five times the moment my alarm rings, another five times when I try to get out of bed, and that’s only the first ten minutes of my day! :/ And then I travel to school, and walk to class, and sit in class, and hear the lecturer. And even if it’s about three of this thought each hour, I’d have said that to myself 24 times already! And then I’ll sometimes manage a feeble “No, no, I can do this, God said His grace is sufficient for me,” after the onslaught of negativity. That’s one positive thought every five hours.

So Joyce Meyer challenged me when she said something like, “What’s the harm in thinking a positive thought 15 times an hour?” I tried that yesterday, and I tell you, it really changed my day.

One of the power thoughts she preached about was “I can do everything I need to do in my life” – it’s from Phil 3:14 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

So I thought about it. When I was walking to the train station, “I can do everything I need to do in my life”. When I was on the train, “I can do everything I need to do in my life”. While walking to class, “I can do everything I…well you get the idea.

And all that before the negative thoughts could get to me. It’s amazing. The more I let myself think that, the more I knew I was counting on God and actually believed (as opposed to telling myself to believe it) that He was strengthening me for everything I had to do yesterday. I want to do more of this every day now. It’s life-changing!

So two things:

1. Download Joyce Meyer TV Podcast (or Audio) from itunes store or here.

2. Think more positive thoughts today.

For all who don’t know, the paper is entitled, “the Adjustment Experience of Immigrant Mothers from Southeast Asia in Singapore and its Influence on their Parenting”. Such a mouthful hor? :p

And since writing an ISM, unlike a thesis, means that I don’t get to have that acknowledgment page, I’m gonna put it here anyways!

Thank you all, without you I wouldn’t have been able to do it:

Jesus my Jesus, my God who is bigger than everything else that tried to discourage me from completing this leg of the race. For challenging me right at the start and for telling me constantly that You are the Provider, and that Your grace is always sufficient for me. For being that model social worker when You first poured out Your love and compassion on mankind.

Mum for being mum, to nurture me with your love and patience and understanding and giving me the chance at all to be educated. You’ve set such an example in caring for the people who need help, who are hurting, who you don’t even know(!).

Dr Choo my supervisor who was always ready with an affirming word even when I thought my work was pretty bad. For your patience when I wasn’t forthcoming with getting the work done; your concern about my coping with the workload; your helpfulness and commitment in checking my work and bouncing off ideas with me; for even taking this up when I wasn’t sure if I’d end up writing a thesis. In my opinion, you’re the best supervisor one can have.

Queen for your regular prayers, understanding and encouragement throughout the 6 months. They have definitely made a lot of difference, especially when I thought I’d just hand in a ‘whatever’ instead of pushing myself a little more. AND your crisis-intervention-esque editing all the way to the final hours before I had to hand it in. You’re a friend to the end. *beam*

Stace for that very dedicated editing and comments to help me beef up the paper in the wee hours of the morning. I’m so surprised and very touched

Grace for helping me with the format and readying yourself to read it through for me (although the draft never arrived). And just for having gone through the honours year before me and still keep the commitments you had to church. You’ve been and example to me!

Ian and the rest of teens cell leaders for being understanding and patient with me when I couldn’t be there for the cell and the meetings in the final weeks before submission.

Cheryl Lee my darling who cared to listen to my verbal processes and gave me helpful ideas when I started thinking about the topic. For always being that sweet friend to give me a hug and kind words.

Jia Lin for the regular smses and the you-can-do-its that keeps me going with a smile.

Liren for being so generous with the resources you had. I am so touched that you’d let me ‘kope’ your readings without reservations, just like that!

Rachel for encouraging me right from the start when I played with the idea of attempting a thesis. Even though that didn’t come to fruition, I’m glad I got to give it a go, and how much that probably lightened my load this semester! So thankful to have you to walk through the whole of honours year together.

Kai Yin for coming to my rescue in the discussion segment at 3am in the morning, and all the happy times, loud laughters that you’ve given me *grin!*

Alexis, Rachoo, Shi Hui, Cindy for being those very important people I approached hours before submission and directed me to the right person to help me hand it in. What you’ve done made me all the more thankful to be in social work! I won’t be able to find this much kindness in any other department.

Siang Meng for being so so so kind and helpful to submit the completed piece when asked at the last minute. Huat liao man.

Dawn Yee, Anais, Cindy T. and the FSC for linking me to the foreign mothers that I needed. I appreciate it!

The foreign mothers who gave their time and shared their stories with me, the glad and the sad. In my listening to you I learned about resilience, selflessness and courage.

There. So many people to thank, so blessed.

So, I allow myself to rest, because having enough sleep actually puts you in a good mood for work! When you’re not sleep deprived, you’ll be able to work more efficiently, and  especially because you’re at least more present (awake), you can enjoy the process!

Lydia and I reminded ourselves today that life is more than this. This – ISM, pressing deadlines, presentations, lectures, work, work, work, work, work. They are part of a bigger picture, like graduation, like friends, like dreams of setting up an orphanage, like wanting to influence society with godly principles, like worship.

So breathe, and smile before you get going again.