A master’s degree does not supersede a bachelor’s degree

Logically speaking, once you have a master’s degree in a certain field you would be qualified to teach even if your first degree is not in the same field. Or at least that’s what I thought. WRONG! MQA doesn’t work that way. I found this out when I went for an interview for a promotion late last year. As usual, the most popular question the panel would ask was “would you be willing to transfer to another course center?” Being a mother of 5 growing children between the ages of 5 and 15, my answer was a definite no. I do not wish to see my children being split just for the sake of me getting a higher grade and a few extra hundreds. Since I just finished a master’s degree in TESL I offered myself to teach English at my current workplace instead of being transferred to another center as an administrator. The panel said they would look into the matter. When they consulted the MQA, they were told that a person has to have the first degree in the same field in order to be qualified to teach. I guess it’s not my luck!

No Pain No Gain

I have been going to the gymnasium in Sg Isap since the beginning of the year. There are a few regulars whom I always meet whenever I go. They are definitely serious about building up muscles on their bodies and I also noticed that they like to look at themselves in the mirror. I guess they are quite please with their accomplishment. I guess that’s natural.

Majority of them lift weights with proper care and technique. They also wear appropriate attire except for a few guys who like to exercise barefooted. That is really dangerous because there are so many weights around and freak accidents do happen. I did mention the safety issue with them but their answer was “it’s more comfortable without shoes”. Well, I have done my social duty and the rest is up to them. I just hope that I won’t be there when the weights rip their toes!

Another thing that I feel a bit frustrated with them is their belief in the old philosophy of No Pain No Gain. From what I have read about weight lifting (at least the safer way), the current philosophy is Slow and Controlled. That’s why we have to keep up with the current researches and publications. Ignorance is not an excuse especially when it involves our health and safety.

Revival

This blog has been dormant for many months after I finished my master’s program. Rather than letting it go to waste, I better start writing and publishing something. Since I have another blog dedicated specifically to my family events, I will use this blog to write topics which are not directly related to my family. As a start I will write about what happened at work yesterday (Friday 3 April 2009).

I have been under a bit of pressure at work lately. I guess it’s due to the fact that I can not really concentrate on my main duty which is processing new applicants for this May 2009 session because I have been busy with matters pertaining to students’ loans. As usual when it’s close to final exams, many students will come to get my verification whether they have received their loan or other wise. It’s not a difficult task but very time consuming plus I have to entertain telephone inquiries from candidates or parents who want to know about programs offered at our college. Worse, I have to deal with frustrated and angry parents who blame me or my unit for the failure of their children’s loan applications. On top of that I had to attend meetings which take up a lot of my time which could have been used to process all the new applications.

I guess I should have discussed the matter with my bosses but I thought that would reflect on my incapability of dealing with my own problems. Boy, was I wrong! I should have asked for help instead of keeping the problems to myself and I finally burst! I guess I am only human.