this is eminem back to his best. i like the way he said:
let's be honest, that last relapse cd was "ehhhh" perhaps i ran them accents into the ground
which is exactly what i thought of last year's relapse album too.
last year. what a strange concept last year is to me now, oddly. last year seems to be such an awfully long time ago, looking from the other side of graduation. i always used to feel that time is all squashed together while i was studying, and last year, or 2 semesters ago seemed like mere months. but now, when i think last year, last year feels like a long, long time ago.
and last year, oh my, what a year it had been.
i've been playing a little bit of football with the cls team, and on monday, baoren announced that trainings would be reduced to accommodate the poly 50 trainings that would take place twice a week and my first thought was, poly 50? it felt like such a long time ago when i was the one training my guts out, when we were strategizing and decided that yiliang, joseph and i would run, run , and run. and then run somemore.
going back a little further, i remember a chat that i had with reuben and emu near the end of year 2 when they raved about just how fit they felt during the poly 50 times, the intensity of the trainings, and the high that one experiences after the run, and i remarked that i would love to experience poly 50 for myself, so when the chance came about to participate in my third year, i jumped at that chance.
and then i thought, wahlau, it's just poly 50 training. is there really a need to reduce football? i remember coming back to school on sundays just to train for poly 50 in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of reports and presentations and projects and then going to play football with the cls team stiff like a rod from the ache that my whole body was experiencing as much so that walking hurts, and i've never asked for trainings to be canceled. worse was when i was in year 1 and 2, when i was training with the sp team on mondays, wednesdays and fridays/saturdays, and thursdays with the cls team, and no one bothered about how i would 'cope' with my school work.
apparently emu thought the same as me and wondered aloud how come we could do fine juggling all the different trainings last year (the year that we won the championship incidentally).
ah, poly 50, ah, the football inter-cons, ah.
like i said, what a year, and what a beginning to that year - a trip to jakarta - almost a life-changing trip, one could argue. i was rather disenchanted with optometry, which i thought was dull and repetitive, but the trip really opened my eyes to this whole other aspect of optometry - an aspect which i enjoy so thoroughly, feeling that i could really use what i learnt to benefit others, to the joys of serving without asking for anything in return, just, returning to society what, by grace, i have been bestowed were the words that i used i believe.
later last year, i would go to india, and come june this year, i'll be going to cambodia, all because the trip to jakarta awoke this passion in me, to help and also to travel, and really live a country for what it is, not just taking in the sights and having fun, but to have a real chance to experience a country and its people.
and so these were my thoughts, upon my return from jakarta, a wonderful year ago.
p.s. i think i did say that i would repost entries that were written from about 6 months back, but it was a drier spell than i had initially thought (i had spent a lot of time writing a 147 page report i call my fyp - a distinction project - if i may boast a little here), there is almost nothing reasonably decent to choose from, and so i thought i'd just go on ahead and repost anything that i fancy.
i've been back in singapore for over 2 weeks now, but i haven't had the time nor will power to really take the time out to put my thoughts into words till now, firstly, because i was ill for the entire week after my return, and then it was a equally hectic week in clinic.
my trip was thoroughly enjoyable, despite my initial misgivings about my teammates. my first impressions of the team setting out to kota serang was that we're such a motley crew. while i had no qualms about the undoubted ability of the team to get things done, i was really unsure about the dynamics of the team, about how the team was going to function.
and how i was to be proven mistaken.
i chose to go to kota serang despite most of my classmates and friends choosing to head to batam, simply because jakarta was where i could really make a difference with what i had learnt (we'd be screening patients of all ages, and it is generally a less well-off area whereas the batam team primarily screen children. also, i don't quite fancy kids.), and i was prepared to go alone if i had to. to me, where my friends were going, who the lecturer(s) in charge was, how much i'd have to pay, they were not an issue. i wanted to help, i wanted to do, feel, experience something that i had not yet done, felt, experienced and that was it. if my friends were with me, fine, great - in fact - but i was prepared to go my own way, to find my own way, the way that i knew that i could.
so right from the start i was taken right out of my comfort zone, and placed into a group of people whom i'm not familiar with, which could explain my initial misgivings.
but like i said, i was to be astounded.
not only were we incredibly able, the team was astonishingly balanced and gelled from the very moment we touched down in indonesia.
let me explain: when i said that i enjoyed myself thoroughly during the trip, i meant that i enjoyed that company of the people on the trip, as well as the Indonesian students whom we collaborated with for the screenings. everything else that could go wrong, went wrong.
after touching down in jakarta airport, and on our way to our would be accommodation for the next 9 days, the bus broke down. and we were left stranded on the side a of a road, in the middle of nowhere for about an hour. later in the night, we experienced the first of many blackouts in the next 9 days.
the government officials there were not cooperative and seemed more interested in lining their own pockets then the well being of the people who they were elected to serve, and the facilities and resources available to us were limited at best.
and there were a lot more patients then we had expected turning up (we had a what-we-thought-ambitious target of 200 patients a day, and we ended up screening on average approximately 300 patients a day, with the patient count peaking on thursday at about 370), with a lot less manpower then what we were led to expect. (the indonesian students were "requested" by the local authorities to screen at 8 other locations)
these are but a few of the numerous obstacles that we were posed with, and i'm proud to say that the very team that i had so much reservations about came through so competently and much more impressively, and predominantly, we came through as a team through and through, with the sense of camaraderie tangible.
also, the indonesian students were responsible for shaping the trip into what it was, both categorically delightful, successful, and thus, rewarding. they were an intrinsic part of the team throughout the entire 9 days, helping us especially with the communication with the locals, and above that, delighting us with their sense of responsibility, initiative, with their friendship, and their hospitality, albeit in a different way that we were accustomed to.
we were worked hard in kota serang, and the food was different to what we were used to in singapore - everything's fried - and the was a perpetual burnt smell in the air - the indonesians burn almost everything, from their fields to their rubbish, and we were in a unfamiliar environment, and many of my teammates gradually felt the strain and felt unwell.
but i was well, and always ready for action - so to speak - despite operating on 2 to 3 hours of sleep a day, eating from the roadside stalls, working hard, and eating almost everything that was given to me (i'm not too fussy about food - rice to me, be it soft, clumped together, o hard, is still rice,and will be devoured accordingly.) that is, until i returned to singapore.
and all of a sudden, my body gave way. i just felt unwell, and the doctors too were puzzled. and i still had to drag myself to school to deal with the things that i had to.
and herein lies the lesson that i've learnt: do not be too quick to judge. the every things that may seem dubious, may yet prove to be the only thing to hold on to (as in the case of my teammates) , the very things that appear so different, may yet be endearing, precisely because of their dissemblance (as in the case with the indonesian students), and too, the things that signifies comfort and luxury and familiarity and goodness, can very well be the things that you do not quite need, and can do very well without.
Write an essay of ~1000 to 2000 words (minimum of 100 words is required) describing how each aspect of this ITP has helped you in your learning in this course of optometry.
Right from the start, from our very first team meeting, the tone of this ITP experience was set: first and foremost, it would not be like a field trip during my secondary school days where all I had to do was to show up. Instead, I was appointed logistics head, and by the end of the hour-long meeting, I had a list of to-dos and at the top of the list, I had to obtain quotations of vaccinations and insurance from our team. So right from the outset it was made clear to me that I, and everyone in the team for the matter, had to earn our keep, and contribute for this trip to be successful. The lecturers will guide us along the way, but it will be up to us to complete the tasks set for us. Such confidence, independence and initiative to execute an assignment will be intrinsic, I reckon, in year 3 whereby I have to manage patients in clinic. Sure, my clinicians will be there to counsel me, but it will be I, by myself, performing and dealing with the patients.
Furthermore, I knew few of my teammates since most of my friends and classmates opted for the Batam trip. As such, I had to learn to work with course mates, many of whom I did not know well, and even more challengingly, I had to assign these people who were effectively strangers quotations to seek out, items to purchase and equipments to prepare and pack. I soon settled in, and got to know a few more people and made several friends whom I would otherwise not get a chance to be acquainted with. This chance to mingle and work with some of my other course mates would soon prove to be invaluable with the shuffling of classes in year 3.
The first week of ITP was overwhelming and daunting initially. I recall waking up on Monday morning not knowing quite what to expect from ‘Clinic Orientation Week’, and the first thing that we were briefed about was the demerit point system. I was immediately put-off by the seemingly countless dos and ‘don’ts, but worse was to come as we proceeded to the revision of our clinical skills where we had to go about a full general examination under 90 minutes. I was overwhelmed as I had not performed these examinations for a considerable amount of time and now, I was expected to complete all of these tests (many of which I was still unsure about) under 90 minutes. On hindsight, it was a great refresher course of sorts that was to be of immense assistance for the screening in Indonesia, the week in clinic later in week 5 and will be, irrefutably, for clinic come the new semester. The preliminary uncertainties notwithstanding, I soon grew in assurance and competence as the testing week went on.
Week two was preparation for the departure to Jakarta proper and it was the first real chance for me to get to know my teammates better. There were items to be borrowed, arranged and packed, sure, there were modified clinical skills to acquire, learn and master, yes, and there was a unfamiliar language to pick up, but it was overall, a much less hectic and grueling week than the previous one and thus, we had more time to mix around and ‘hang out’. Additionally, I gained insight to the screening aspect of optometry, learning to provide the best possible care to a patient despite being under constrains of resources, to improvise, a useful aspect of optometry undoubtedly, but one that I would not have been exposed to had I not chosen to go on an OITP.
The third week spent in Indonesia can be considered the highlight of the entire ITP. It was in Kota Serang that I was exposed many of the different pathologies and conditions that prior to the trip were just a picture or a paragraph of words in the textbook to me. I came across cataract, macular degeneration and pterygium cases, among others, conditions that I would not have much chance to be exposed to in Singapore. Also, the sheer amount of patients ensured plenty of practice for clinical skills like opthalmoscopy and retinoscopy and we had to be swift, yet precise. This extra practice and experience gained would put me in good stead when it comes to clinic in year 3, where speed and above all, accuracy are required. Moreover, the 9 days spent in Indonesia allowed me to experience a whole new aspect of optometry. In Singapore, the emphasis is on me, as a professional and optometry as a profession, a job on what I can do to manage MY patients better, on how I can be a better optometrist, ME, or how I can earn more money for MYSELF. Yet in Indonesia, I was volunteering, as a more privileged member of the society, with nothing whatsoever to gain for myself, to put to use what I had been given, by grace, and to return in what ways that I can to the society and enhance the quality of life of others. This was the whole new side of optometry that I had the privilege to experience: optometry as a vehicle for service, whereby the fundamentals of optometry do not revolve around me and what I can do for myself. Curiously, it was from such service that the joy and the delight of the course emanates.
Coming back to Singapore, I was down with food poisoning, together with several of my other teammates, but still, work had to be completed and I dragged myself to school to work on the presentation and the video of the trip, but it was a fulfilling experience nonetheless, as looking through the pictures, the videos taken and describing to the SJI students what we did in Indonesia really brought home and reinforced the gratification and the relish that we tasted in Indonesia - the fulfillment derived from the recognition of the good that can be done through our vocation, and I staunchly believe that it is this fulfillment that will help me through the storms that are to come, as I continue my voyage in optometry.
Finally, there was the week in clinic seeing patients as we would when school re-opens, except that we worked in pairs and this helped greatly to lessen the step adapting curve of being left to our own devices and dealing with real patients as we would at least have someone to prompt and assist us whenever we were lost. Moreover, this week in clinic gave me a taste of what to expect in clinic and helped me familiarise with the modus operandi of SPOC.
All in all, I am certainly glad and grateful to have been presented this privilege to go on this trip and experience all that I did, from the initial feeling of being inundated, to the subsequent confidence that I gained, the new friends that I’ve made, the joy, the frustrations, the sense of achievement and so much more. I would not claim that this ITP has helped me merely in my learning of optometry; doing so would not do it any justice. Instead this ITP has been a life lesson, impacting many areas of my life, not least, my study of optometry.
a little over the top with the hyperbole me thinks, but hell, it's consider a literary style too - hyperbole.
and i discovered just how uncomfortable i am writing narratives as i had to for certain parts.