Week 1.

hey..its friday! i've worked for a week! no dramas no nothing. its been rather smooth sailing- but i guess thats cos the practical aspect has yet to set in. still trying to piece together the different theories of dyslexia (awful lot!), and the various issues that tags along...the diagnostician's role and blah.

other than readings, there were discussion sessions, mini lectures by senior psychs. then yesterday i had the opportunity to observe a testing session conducted by one of the senior psychs through a one-way glass. i mean i've seen these kinda stuff on TV, but still the whole concept was rather interesting. a novel experience for me. but the client was a 15 year old child, so it was a rather routine process...just observed how the testing was done, the tasks used, how my senior brought the child through the whole process..and issues that cropped up (well, none yesterday actually). but that was good.

in an hour's time, i'll be heading down with the senior psych to AMK's learning centre. to see what the centre is like, what they actually do..and to observe when she teaches..prob get a gist of how the association works..what actually goes on....know what the child would be doing after the testing sessions. looking forward to that... need to get out of the office. O_o

hmm...week one. gone. just like that. so fast. and i'll be here for at least 3 years. kinda tired + unreal, actually. havent really sorted out my thoughts on work and all... everything jus kinda...happened. rushed back SG after submiting thesis..went for a short break to Korea. then lotsa stuff happened at home...then i hopped onto the first job that accepted me. then back to Perth for a week to pack during CNY, then started work immediately O_o

been blogging abt wat i've been doing at work (as opposed to what's going on in my mind)... i guess this weekend's a good time to do some catching up with myself. i mean...i don't like what's happening. thrusted to do stuffs..make decisions, to just go with the flow... but i don't actually have time to think about how i feel about everything that has been happening. and to 'make sense' of stuffs...owell.....probably cos i've lost my Focus.

day one.

......of my first full paying job! (=

so how was it? as with all other jobs, i guess...day one is just orientation. getting to know the place, the organisation, and the people. had briefing from one of the specialist psychologist abt what the job entails, and the schedule/training for this coming month. then there was a meeting with the director...which was rather interesting. what he said was quite inspiring, and a little assuring.. btw, the director's dyslexic. heheh... interesting. real life portrayal that having dyslexia does not paint a bleak future. people with dyslexia can achieve great things in life.. that is, of cos, with lots of perseverance + hardwork. well ... who doesnt need that 2 qualities to be successful in life.

so anyway, i havent regretted signing the 3year contract...sounds like a really good training ground for me, with a variety of opportunities awaiting me in the future. apparently our specialist psychologists gets sent to UK/States for conferences and stuff. sounds cool huh. of cos...i'll need to put in maximum hardwork. 2 of them are heading to UK to present their paper this coming march~! *wonder whens my turn* heh...

up till now..there are a few things i quite like about this organisation. working pace is comfortable.. no one's rushing around with knitted eye brows and stuff. people generally know their work, or they arent afraid to ask and discuss, set a good pace, ppl seem really helpful...helps each other out on cases. havent sensed any office politics..maybe its too early to say. first impression, i'd say its a very friendly environment...heh... well psychologists are supposed to be nice and understanding ppl....arent they? loL...

hmm wat else....oh, ALL the psychologist in my office are females! no guys. haha. darn! the only guy i saw was the IT personnel who helped me set up my workstation + email. yarps..thats the only guy ard. loL~ hmm...now this part of my future seem bleak to me.. i wanna get married before 30years old leh! okay..out of point. lets get back to talking abt my job...

hmm its a 5 day work week..so if i hav to work on saturdays, i get to choose one weekday off. which is quite cool. makes it really flexible to run watever errands i hav to. basically they dun really mind, as long as u clock 44hrs a week, and ur learning/contributing. theres that option of coming in earlier for work, and leaving office early as well.

one thing really strange is....i don't even hav the option of working OT even if i want to! haha. everyone leaves ON THE DOT! omgosh...loL..i wanted to stay abit longer to browse thru articles n print out some stuffs...but then...everyone jus started leaving one by one from 530pm...and practically no one was left in the office by 6.10pm (yea...even the admin people disappeared~ like *ppoooof* all gone)! one of the senior psychologist who was the last...said...oh hey..lets go, last one to leave hav to switch off ALL the lights in the office. i was like..oh oh..okay okay. dun leave me aloneee. lets go." i thought that was quite funny...in comparison to all my good friends who keep complaining abt working till late and stuffs.......heh.... *yah tps...talking abt u*

well..theres nothing much to do on the first day....actually..nothing to do at all. haha...jus ALOT ALOT ALOT of readings. piles and piles and piles of reading. hmm... im abit stressed though, cos 2 others also started work with me today. one of them holds a masters and the other postgrad in counselling or sth...and they hav like tonnes of experience working elsewhere... kinda stress i'll lag behind during training. haha. im gg to piah all my readings...and make sure i dun fall back. i think readings-wise im okay...its jus that i dun hav the practical knowledge and experience...one of them worked as a school counsellor before this..and the other at MINDS as ermz...some therapist or something.....so when it comes to practicing the assessments with the tools and stuff...i'll probably be sloooower...well, we'll see.... i do hav that bit of experience dealing with 78 kids last year! i think i think too much la...haha. too much pride..dun like to lag behind other ppl.

and ermz...i jus like to bop around too much...sitting at my desk from 830am - 6pm....seems too much for me to bear at the moment. haha....i dun want a big butt and potruding tummyyy! oh and funny part...everyone's really skinny and small sized~ haha. im like the tallest there O_o....hmm and theres the talk abt professionalism when they were briefing abt dress code and stuffs...i gotta cultivate that professionalism thingy... haha...dun hav that at all now, dun hav the feeling also. plus i look young (well i am young.. )...i guess i'll hav abit of difficulty convincing the parents. hmm...i guess first and foremost...take pride in wat i do, put in my best...and all the professionalism thingy will come.....loL~ Jing ah Jing....work harderrrr~!! at least gain a sound understanding of ur job first. GANBATTE!

ooh and a special shout out to Mr Alvin Soong! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to youuuuuuuu!!! :)

at walters.

Alright folks, I'm back in Perth. Packing up before I head back Singapore again- to start work. If I haven't told you...I've got myself a job at the Dyslexia Association of Singapore. Whoooopeee dooo~ got myself a job working with kids (and abit of interaction with their parents....*woe*)..then there's the usual report writing, and research, which is i guess inevitable in psych. I've signed a 3yr contract with them..no, theres no scholarship involved... there was just alot of mention from them that its a heavy investment on their part, takes alot to train up a new psychologist, it'll take 1/2yr to at least get the hang of the work there... so we'll see. i was abit hesitant at first, but owells..i thought why not. to gain a full understanding and be good at something, i guess 3years seems fair enough. anyway this will probably make me go all out and do my very best...not that i wldnt if there isnt a contract, but i guess i dont have a choice now. =)

the 2 senior psychologists who interviewed me seemed really nice...so im hoping it'll be a good working environment.. and... that i'll receive the training that i've been promised. i wonder wat working life is gonna be like.. hopefully i'll develop a passion for this job...if not..it'll be quite tragic. so its mostly assessments on our part...but not much of interventions, which means helping the child cope with dyslexia and stuffs..they have specialist teachers for that. which is rather disappointing i felt. assessments would probably take 1 or 2 sessions the most? i don't reckon there'll be any followups from there....anyway this would all come in much later.

i guess for now, i need to have a thorough understanding of wat dyslexia is...know everything there is to know abt dyslexia. honestly, i think during this four years in uni, i've only had ONE lecture on dyslexia...oh wait a min, not a whole session dedicated to dyslexia..jus a mini little portion of that ONE lecture. so anyway, i've been doin abit of research on my own..reading up online..got 2 books from Murdoch library as well...hopefully i'll start work with enough knowledge (for the time being) to not portray myself as an airhead. -_-"

so wat else.....lets see..back in perth, and its really hot. alright, i dun really wanna start complaining anyway. my last time back in perth, some stuffs im really gonna miss...and some, not at all. *ops*...walters has closed~ omgosh...din even realise everyone's gone. until Adrian came and sit by me~ O_o ... okay, gotta go now.