Monday, October 16, 2006

"i'll let you whipppp me if i misbehave... "

now listening to justin timberlake's sexy back.... i think the music is quite nice, good dance beat... just as usual with the pop songs nowadays there ain't any meaning to the lyrics.. lolz.. but it's quite cool how fashion goes a full circle, 80s is back with retro candy colours and disco music.. "get your sexy on.. go ahead be gone with it.." lolz!!

sighz... update abt the following weeks...

i've got like so many deadlines to meet these last weeks of uni... and it's all clumped together.. sighz... next week's the last week of uni, good or bad? haha.. good that hols are so much nearer but bad cos exams are the following week.. my exams commence 4th nov and end on 15th nov.. i get some time in between each paper so it's not so bad.. got time to breathe!! much better than last semesters killer.. haha..

del is coming next week so meetin her for dinner next fri, will take photos and upload..

so in the meantime, dun get too sad if u dun hear from me.. since i'll be home soon..

as for honours, have spoken to dad and he feels that if i can make the cut then it's good to go for it.. now next step, finding a bank to finance my loan.. hmmm..

anywayz, take good care peeps... till next time.. au revoir..

Sunday, October 15, 2006

current thoughts: honours vs grad dip...

okay folks... sorry abt the delayed update.. blame it on assignments etc... lolz..

anywayz, here's the plan.. i complete uni this semester, was gonna head on home and start job-hunting.. to supplement my bachelors', i had intended to apply for the aug 07 intake at SIM to do a graduate diploma in finance from UOL, and i fully intend to pay for it myself.. all post-grad studies will be paid for by yours truly unless some big organization out there wanna subsidise or pay for me?? hehe.. so in the meantime, i've been looking out to start applying for jobs at firms...

however, i got to thinking.. i spoke to my lecturer who is charge of the honours prog for management and during our conversation, she asked if i was gonna do my honours in mgmt and i said no.. she wondered why not since my grades made the mark... i realised that the main reason was cos i felt bad abt gettin dad to pay for anor year of uni.. eh, tertiary education does not come cheap manz.. sighz...

but the more i think about it, the more i wonder.. between a grad dip in finance and an honours in mgmt, which wld be the more strategically viable option?? both fall under post-grad studies but after doing some research, i found out that the grad dip is of a "lower" value compared to the honours. first of all, entry-wise, you need to perform above a certain percentage to be able to apply for honours but grad dip is applicable to anyone who has a prior bachelors' irregardless of results in the bachelor. secondly, honours is like the first year of doing masters so it is of a higher level of post-grad work.. honours is about specialised work, a thesis has to be written about ur selected topic... and you get a professor assigned to you to supervise you, like a private tutor.. a grad dip is like doing a few more units in uni, just of slightly higher difficulty.. thirdly, having honours differentiates you from other people with general bachelors and immediately commands a different wage bracket (higher of course)..

so considering that, i find myself strongly feeling that the honours would place me in a strategically improved position compared to the grad dip.. however, the honours would cost me anor year in international student fees, reapplication of student visa, accommodation fees for the year, which i have calculated, places me in requirement of about AUD$26000.

to get this amount, i have two options. approach dad for an interest-free loan or, worst-case scenario is to take out a bank loan.. should i be able to loan it from dad, i plan repayment starting at 500 a month, that would take me about 4.5 years to repay dad... a grad dip from SIM would set me back only about $9000, taking me 1.5 years to repay it. but the grad dip wouldn't improve my viability as a graduate seeking jobs..

thus, the logical conclusion is to go for the honours.. since the lecturer says judging by the grades i'm getting, i should be able to get into the honours programme but the application cannot be approved till they see my grades for this semester.. so i'm gonna send in the application, results will only be out in jan.. entry requirement into honours is pretty much a distinction average.. *cross fingers*

now... how should i approach dad about it? sighzz.....


anywayz, as for updates.. i have a coupla photos of a recent bbq we had at mathilda bay to celebrate the gorgeous weather we've been having here.. like sunny but airconditioned!! it's called spring.. haha.. =)

and for those reading in singapore, i'm home-bound 22nd Nov, so don't miss me too much!! i'm on my way back!! haha.. huggiez..


- lester and his soccer buds -


- les and gabe: chefs for the bbq?? -


- me and you and you and me =P -


- group photo!! -