Middle Ages Tech Support

But what do I do when I finish?

Yay

Wahaha my exams are over. I shall gloat while I can.

But I think I've mugged too much. You know that when you realise you :

1. try to use risk management concepts for anything that could go wrong
   
2. apply strategic objectives to your personal life
3. could use personal selling concepts for picking up girls
   
4. find investment textbooks exciting
5. know your professor has made some mistakes in class
   
6. see the value of anything in terms of customer equity, brand equity and relationship equity
   
7. hear tiny voices in your head telling you to mug
   
8. read textbooks for subjects that you are not taking
   
9. could actually tell what the textbook is trying to get at
10. suddenly feel empty for a moment when the exams are over and you don't have to mug anymore

By the way, Heroes is back!

Look Ma, no bowls!

When people tabao laksa without thinking, hilarity and ingenuity prevail.

personality tests

Aside from the intensive mugging these days, I have just started surfing those damned time-wasting websites on personality types. I realised I'm an ISTP after taking a couple of those tests. Apparently, the type is also called The Mechanic. Crap, that's so low status.

But I've also found a "universal" type :)

You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

Does the above apply to you? If so, you have just provided evidence for the Forer Effect. Be careful which tests you believe in - some are no better than horoscopes.

to the point

Oh no... I'm going to be relegated to Division 2.

And so I bombed my presentation

Business school is just chock full of endless presentations to prepare for. Sometimes I'm glad it's this way, sometimes I'm just tired of it all.

I glad because I love creating Powerpoint slides (really!). I'm also glad because presenting so often really builds up one's confidence. One almost becomes immune to the jitters. Almost. And because I feel like an actor performing on stage.

When a presentation goes really well, you get a natural "high". That's really the reward for the preparation. And many a times, it's worth it. But where there are much rewards, there's a similar amount of risk.

My worst fear came true today when I forgot what I wanted to say. Think of a stage actor saying his lines and then suddenly forgets what to say next. This increases his anxiety before he realised he could actually improvise.

Imagine looking at the audience anticipating the next word that comes out of your mouth, only to realise that your mind is blank all of a sudden. This must be the second time it happened in this semester. Both at the important presentations.

For now, I'm blaming my lack of preparation and my inflexible way of presenting. I guess missing sleep and preparing it overnight wasn't the best thing I could do. Especially when I aimed to do away with any reference to bullet points. If any lesson can be learnt here, it is to get a good night's sleep before the presentation. Things never worked well when I missed sleep.

I truly admire those who can stand up and do impromptu presentations. You can pretty much rank presentations according to difficulty

1. Presenting about something you know is easy.
2. Presenting about something you know and making it interesting is harder.
3. Presenting about something you don't know and making it seem like you do gets even harder. (I don't mean just bullshit. Impromptu bullshit that makes sense)
   
4. Presenting about something you don't know, making it seem like you do, and making it interesting all at the same time is GODLIKE!
   

Yeah, number 4 is pretty much where I want to be.

There's still one presentation left now. This time I'm preparing to save my own ass in case I venture into lala-land in the middle of the presentation. How? I don't know. Maybe I'd insert some self-deprecating humour about having a memory of an ant or something.