What a week!
I was supposed to go for 2 interviews... one at NTU (for the Chemistry course), and one at the MOE Podium (for application of teaching vocation). The one at NTU was more of a dialogue with the professor, who gave me some information about the already famous "Direct Honours Programme".
Of course, Mom and Dad would like me to go to NUS (merely for the prestige), but I'm not really sure which one would be the best way to go, for my case... each type of course has its pros and cons...
The second interview at MOE was, like what DotA people would say, "GG". Back at the office before I left for the interview, some of my colleagues already highlighted to me my problem about my being hesitant when answering questions... and my interviewers later also said that I had to "show more enthusiasm" in my response...
GG.
OK... I mean, I'm not actually thinking of getting Bachelor of Education for my degree (I plan to get a Chemistry degree before doing Diploma of Education), but when the time comes when I finally decide to venture into teaching, my answer for "Why do you decide to become a teacher?" should definitely not be a one-liner. I mean... it's my lifelong dream, so I should have more to say about it!
On Wednesday, I went for blood donation with a few of my colleagues since there was a blood donation drive in my unit. As it was my 3rd time donating blood, it was not much of a problem for me... after the thing was over, I was bandaged at the arm to stop blood flow (as usual), and this time the nurse chose green bandage for me since I was in my No.4... ALso, I finally realized what the blue solution (into which blood was dripped during some test for the donor's eligibility) was for... it was to test the iron level in the blood.
This week has also been a very busy week for me, especially when I'm not very good at doing my job yet. Also, I tend to panic easily... more than I imagined.
My new car (the Imprezza) was finally "combat fit" (the tuning was completed), and I went for a run at the Tsuchisaka pass, whose later part was full of fairly sharp curves... I managed to negotiate quite a smooth path, but later when some guy challenged me (my first battle in this car) in the same course, I panicked big time (especially when he actually waited until I was 500m ahead before he started off -- it showed how confident he was) and rubbed against the side walls quite a few times... he was so fast that he actually overtook me near the end of the course.
The irony was that the above battle was the first time I tried the "Heel and toe" downshifting technique and I managed to do it smoothly... I could tell from the smooth acceleration which resulted form it. I lost to the guy in the series of sharp corners simply because I was too fast in my entry into corners -- at that speed, my level of skill didn't allow me to negotiate the smooth path I did previously.
So now I'm trying to practise my control of the accelerator and my confidence. And the "Heel and toe" technique, of course. The Tsuchisaka pass was a good place to learn this skill, because there was a straight path (a tunnel, actually) before the meandering section of the pass, in which I could take some time to get into position with part of my right foot on the accelerator and part of it on the brake.
