One hurdle passed, to face another fork in the road

 

If anybody’s wondering why I’ve been so quiet for the past couple of weeks, it’s because I have been focusing on my proposal presentation. As part of my Masters degree, I had to present my proposal and had it assessed by three panel members. I did it today and although it was considered good generally, a large part of me wishes I had done more and elaborated more. Technically, I could be waiting until Tuesday before I got my results whether the proposal was passed in its current format, passed with some revisions, or rejected. I wrote in my Facebook profile that it was akin to delivering a baby that I had been carrying for six months and had it delivered, only to be told that I had to wait for a couple more days before I got the all clear. 🙂 Rather than waiting until Tuesday to receive the input, the panel members kindly gave me the feedback roughly two hours after I finished my presentation. There are some changes that need to be made to my proposal – which I don’t mind, really – as I do need to finalise my Literature Review by the end of August so it is part of what I plan to do. All of the comments and questions that were given were all fair and relevant to the research and I do appreciate them. Of course it is much nicer for my self-esteem if the proposal was passed as-is without any changes, but then again, it’s nice to be reminded to be humble and be open to changes and input from time to time! 🙂

So, at least I wouldn’t need to feel too fidgety during the weekend, wondering whether I would pass or not. I can relax a bit and then work on the proposal revisions. I have until August 13 to complete them but I want to tackle it as soon as possible. So the baby’s delivered well, but it needs some corrective surgery. The surgeons will need to check it by August 13 before giving me the all clear! 😀

There’s also a question that I will need to resolve in the near future whether I still want to upgrade to a Doctorate level or finish the Masters level first before I tackle something meatier. Although I have worked in a Marketing environment throughout my career, I have not been sufficiently exposed to theories and academic activities. I haven’t written enough journals and I have to build my reputation before I can tackle it. I believe I have the capacity, but it is a bigger battle to fight. It’s like putting myself into a blender – should I pulp myself using a ‘Medium’ setting or just pulverise myself using ‘High’?

The whole process does teach me that academia is really a different environment to the business environment that I was in. It’s like migrating to a foreign country – you can’t insist on doing things the way that you usually did in your ‘home country’. I have to adapt and adhere by the written and spoken rules and build my life in the new environment. Different customs, different etiquette, different way of life. Like any changes, it takes a lot of mental effort and energy to stick to the new customs and routines.

Life is a big adventure!

Published by fuzz

I've finally relented to the lures of blogging - and for those who care, well, I'm a self-confessed geek who's a wanderer at heart, who thinks and analyses too much, and who's trying hard to hold on to his 7-year old inner persona.

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