A Teacher By Any Other Name...

It was time to say goodbye to one of the most unforgettable professors at the university. He taught us how to be a good consultant in the most innovative manner. Instead of just quoting real life examples and discussing case studies, he took us out of class to experience cases hands-on. His contacts were incredible; from fast food franchises to global organizations that were willing to provide opportunities for collaboration and experimentation. He threw us in the deep end, providing sporadic, minimal instructions. But lo and behold, we survived and some of us even surpass our own expectations.

It can be described as a love-hate relationship. Some of us LOVE what he has made us achieve, but most of us HATE his methods. He has mastered “The Art of Insulting” my pal Amani, said but she admitted to benefitting from the course tremendously. People were dropping like flies from the class… “The university might not like it,” the professor confessed, “but my conscience is clear.” he continued. What he meant to achieve was to ensure only people who are deserving of the credentials, the truly committed, the resilient, the tough-minded and those who would not be defeated by his brand of brutal teaching (if you can call it that?) tactics can be worthy of qualifying from this module. He promotes the Master in Managerial Psychology (MMP) as a top notch Masters program - a first in Asia; if not in the world in regard its approach and modules.

I am just glad it is all over, it was stressful, yes; though I have experienced the trials and tribulations of working with worse superiors in the past. However, I would not want a repeat of those six weeks of tension. As it is, working eight to nine hours a day is challenging enough to contend with at my age. For the next three hours at the night classes, I hope and pray for lecturers, with the personalities of Dr Goh and Franklyn who are able to bring the best out of us without the verbal confrontation and the diatribe. I guess I subscribe to "Paula Abdul’s" style rather than "Simon Cowell’s methods. I believe in accentuating the strengths and building on the positive to coach people to be better. Although there is always a place for constructive criticisms and working on eliminating the negatives, otherwise how can we ever hope to improve or excel?

Bits & Pieces of My Life

When I reflect upon the fifty something years of my life, sometimes I wonder if it was real or just a peep at someone else’s, called “Harison”. If I am just a peeping tom, who is that person who stares back at me in the mirror? Or is that another convoluted tool created by someone meant to fool the real me? Take that for multiple perplexity - psychobabble at its worst!

Truth be told, my life is far less complicated than that. I consider myself first and foremost a Muslim, a daughter, wife, mother (to my own and siblings’ children), sister, and friend and in each role hope and pray that I bring my own special value to the relationships. Relationships mean a lot to me. Although I appreciate my privacy and love to have time on my own, I am happiest and most fulfilled when I am with interesting and exciting people. I am what psychologists might call a “dominating sanguine”. I am an extrovert; personified – simply love to be the centre of attention and believe that fun is almost as essential as oxygen. I thrive on change and excitement and cringe when I am in dull, staid environments and honestly, find rules and procedures stifling.

I have had a wonderful life, I feel blessed – have a lovely husband, smart and beautiful kids, warm relationships with all my thirteen siblings and mother and I have reached a peak in my career which I am fully satisfied with. I could not ask for more. Except that, a little bit more savings would be great. On a more serious note, I sometimes wonder about the meaning of life – why we exist and what are we supposed to be really doing to fulfill the reason for our being here. I wonder if I have learned enough of how to be a good human, thought enough about things which should matter, done enough to make a difference, and justify my existence. Have I been truly helping my fellow humans or making efforts to preserve God’s creations, and done all I could or should?

The thing is, I find myself progressing one step forward, rejoice and celebrate, and at the next turn, find myself digressing two steps backwards. I discover that, to continually grow and strive to be a better human being is hard work. I suppose it is kind of a journey for me and I hope by 2011 when I would be performing the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, I would have covered more bases. That’s what I relentlessly pray for.

This might sound morbid, but I do sometimes visualize what people especially peers, colleagues, and friends and loved ones and all those whose lives I have touched will talk about at my funeral. I would not want them to mourn or miss me too much, but rather to attest that I have made a difference in their lives in meaningful ways – helped, empowered, shared, provided opportunities, guided, showed them ways of how to live with love, truth, integrity, kindness, generousity without expecting anything back in return and has truly fulfilled my responsibilities as a human.

Wow, if I can really hear all that and if all of them are true, I would not be so afraid to face my Maker right?

You Can Teach Old Dogs New Tricks

It was painful...not really. How I love to exaggerate. It was just a bit problematic in the beginning bcos I forgot my gmail password and got lost for a while, but managed to get back on track thanks to my beloved boys...Mel & Eldy. Thanks sweeties!

That just proved that you can learn about anything. Whoever said you can't teach old dogs new tricks didn't know what he was talking about. I don't mind being called an old dog at all just don't make it a female one.

Anyway, it feels good to accomplish something I thought I could never do it on my own. I nearly had to send an SOS to my baby girl in Sydney. I didn't need to afterall , haha!

Gosh...that feels GREAT!