New Found Love in my Life

Okay, this is going to be a rather wordy post.
I'm so hyped up about this right now, I have to pen it down.



I've been teaching piano in a music school part time for slightly more than a year now.
I started when I was still studying, just after I attained my Grade 8 certificate.
I know it is always better if I've got a Diploma, but I was thinking why not start teaching first, gain some experience. I can always teach and learn at the same time.
So while I was still in uni, I taught piano part time and still had my own piano classes.



After graduation, I continued teaching in the music school.
I was struggling between looking for a proper job (not that I don't consider teaching piano as a proper job) - a job that provides a stable income with some sense of financial stability - and teaching piano full time.
I tried applying for some jobs, mostly environmental jobs, because that is what I'm interested in besides music but I wasn't really active in my job search. Environmental jobs that allow hands-on application are hard to come by.
I was one of the teachers in the school who had more time to spare (basically every day since I wasn't working) so I relieved for the other teachers whenever they're not around.



I love ALL my students and the parents I've met are pretty nice people.



I've got one 71 years old lady learning piano from me.
I'd say she's a pretty slow learner, but she's very hardworking!
She's so passionate about learning, she brings books for me to look at and to show me what she had been learning at home.
SHE LIKES MY TEACHING TOO!
But she prefers learning the keyboard though, because piano keyboards are a little too hard for her. ):
So, she'll be switching to another teacher who teaches the keyboard.



I've got an 8 years old boy who loves playing the piano.
He loves it so much he gets his mum to purchase books for him just so he can practise at home on his own.
He feels the music too!
Like when I play a song that's supposed to be comical, he laughs. He gets what expression the music is supposed to be.
He just told me he wants me to teach him for life. Hahahahah.
And now, he calls me just to chat.



I've another 8 years old girl who's really quiet.
She'll only speak when I ask her question, and I've never seen her smile during class.
After a year of teaching her, she's finally opening up to me.
I'm starting to see her smile more during classes and she'll ask questions when in doubt.
AND SHE'S MORE MOTIVATED!
After her Grade 1 practical, she wants more homework and more pieces to practise at home.
So satisfying. (:



It's really nice to see students understanding what I'm saying and applying the techniques I teach them.
Even more so when they're motivated!
Sometimes, parents would talk to me about their kids - how they're doing etc.
Okay, maybe I just enjoy talking BUT I LOVE TALKING TO ALL OF THEM. Hahaha.
Life has never been as satisfying as now.
I was so excited just now, just thinking about all these.
I think I just found meaning in my life!

Boomwhackers with MacPherson Primary

I've just completed my very first assignment with Town 4 Kids at MacPherson Primary!
Missing the students now. ):

I was there as an assistant teacher and my main job was to assist the lead instructor in class.
It's like training for me, to watch how she teach and handle a class of 40.

The whole course wasn't all about learning music.
It was to use music learning to develop the students' character, especially in terms of their social behaviour.
So whenever a student displays a behaviour that's not accepted, we've got to get them to reflect on their own behaviour.


The class was really rowdy at first.
They came running into the classroom, shouting at the top of their voices.
When we splitted them into groups, the boys and the girls refused to mix.
They only wanted to be grouped with their friends.
Even after we got the groups all settled, the boys and the girls in each group couldn't get along with one another.
They fought over the roles each had to play, quarrelled over little things like group names etc.

But the lead instructor really handled the situation well.

I've learned so much from her in the 3 days I've been with her.


Towards the end of the whole course, we could see the students learning to work with one another.
Some even learning to take care of their group members, giving up the instruments or position they wanted just to maintain the harmony of the group.
The whole experience was really enjoyable.
The students were so amusing with their silly actions and words.


It was so nice seeing them all work together.
I was so proud of them, I video-ed every single performance on the last day.

This was the group I'm always around.
When they first worked together, the boys and the girls all refused to talk to one another.
The girls wanted all the girly names for group names, like "Jelly beans", "Cupcakes", "Gummy bears" etc, and the group finally decided on "Rainbow" because there were 7 people in the group.
Everyone was always fighting over the boomwhackers.


But watch the video!
They came up with one of the better performances towards the end.
The boy on the right was always giving in to his group members, giving up whichever boomwhacker he was holding to the one who wants it.
He was so patient with his classmates, guiding them through the song slowly.
They were so good with it in the video!

Look at them!
They practiced the song over and over just to perfect the performance.

And the students put up their performances in the last hour of the class.

The students in this group talked to one another as though they all hated each other.
The boy on the right was the big bully of the class.
During breaks, he'd just go around cornering the smaller kids or jump out of nowhere to scare the girls.
But he's always asking the class to keep quiet whenever they were too noisy.
I can see him as a discipline master in future.

Hahaha the boy with the sunglasses is the funny one.
He brings a different cap to class every single day and he never fails to bring his sunglasses.
He goes around shouting "Oppa gangnam style" and doing all the hip hop moves.


This oppa gangnam style thing is really getting on my nerves.
It's not even funny.

Rainbow!
They were so well prepared for the performance.


The boy on the left is from China and it seems like he doesn't really understand English.
Whenever we speak to him in English, he replies in Mandarin.


"Would you like to be the MC for the day?"
"What's an MC?" (In Chinese of course)
"It means you'll be standing in front with the microphone, hosting the whole performance."
"What MC? I'm not even sick."


HAHAHAHAHAHA
It was so hilarious the lead instructor and I couldn't stop laughing.

The boy on the right's the vocal one in class.
And he's really cheeky too.


"Teacher, can I use shakers for my performance?"
"Oh, you brought your own musical instrument?"
"Yup, I have it in my bag"
"Okay, since you brought it"


And he took out his pack of shaker fries from his bag.


That made my day too. Hahahahha.
It's so funny to talk to them.

Look at the boy doing the "go to sleep" action!
Soooooo cute.
And he's really good at shuffling and moon walk.

This group lovessssss to use anything and everything they can find in the classroom as props.
Most cooperative group ever when it comes to group work.

The most adorable class ever.

Cross roads

It has been 5 months since my last examination, and 4 months since graduation.

All these while, I've been teaching piano part time in a private music school and looking for a full time job that I'd enjoy, something related to Geography and preferably field work, just like what I did in Thailand.
I started out applying for various positions for Research Assistant, but I've never gotten a reply from any of the professors.


I've thought it through and have decided this may not be the best choice for a career because most research assistant would one day attain their Ph.D. and continue doing their field work.
I'm not going towards the direction of getting a Ph.D. so there isn't really a reason for me to become a research assistant, except that I'd be satisfying my interest in field work.


And so, I started looking for other options.
I've looked through all the job openings on Careers@gov. and applied for positions in various companies - NParks (my main interest), HDB, Sports Council, MCYS, Ministry of Environment and more.
Again, not a single reply.


Because Geography and Music are still my main interest, I've considered applying for MOE.
The only thing that was holding me back was the public speaking part.
Speaking in front of a class of 40 can be pretty daunting.
I actually applied for a teaching position but got rejected.


Now, I've decided.
Since I'm into teaching and can't speak in front of a large group, I should go into private tutoring.
I've been giving private piano classes part time for about a year now and I'm never tired of going to work. It doesn't even feel like work.
It's quite satisfying whenever the student understands whatever concepts I'm trying to put across. Better still, the students gets motivated and wants to learn more.


My mind is pretty much set on piano lessons.
I've done up my calendar for 2013, chose the designs for name cards and have printed my flyers!
All I need is my pool of students now.

I was soooo happy when I got my flyers yesterday night.


If anyone knows people who would like to have piano classes, call me!

Most productive weekend for this semester.

Woke up early in the morning to travel to Yio Chu Kang to take a ride to Chinatown for Pai Fan.
Helped out with the preparation of the food, like cracking the eggs, washing the vegetables and DIVIDING THE FOOD INTO EQUAL PORTIONS!
I love packing the food into their containers.
And because there were more people helping out today, preparation of food was much faster than usual.
By 11.15am, we were all done packing and have all been grouped accordingly. Bee and I followed Liying and her mum to Kukop area to give out the packages.


Lunched at Chinatown and met Mum & Dad to get our toiletries.
Got a few facial masks to try too!


Came home and did a little packing to keep the place tidy.


And, I've send in my resumes to NParks for 2 positions.
Tried to do some work after that, but have decided to visit NParks's website for more job openings.
AND I SAW THE POSITION I'VE BEEN LOOKING OUT FOR SINCE THE START OF THE SEMESTER!
Conservation of Central Nature Reserve.
PLAY A ROLE IN NATURE CONSERVATION and maintenance for the areas.


I'm so excited I can't get back to work.
Have been spending the past hour looking at the various environmental groups and am tempted to sign up for TeamSeagrass. The things they do are pretty interesting and meaningful.


I hope I get a call soon!

The Future of an Arts Student

This song truly depicts the predicament of all Arts students.
When you tell someone you're from Arts and Social Sciences, they'd be wondering if you really are studying. It's like our degree isn't worth as much as other degrees because we're not really studying.

When I tell people I'm studying Geography, people see rocks, volcanoes and plants.
My family sees me as jobless but I see myself working in a conservation.


Why do people get so skeptical about what you're really studying?
They generalize the subject you're studying but they don't exactly know what you're learning in school. Geography isn't just about nature.


Gah. Hate it when people put Geography majors down.