Our Career Seminar today, particularly the one on fashion and media design was a great success, judging by the number of students who stayed behind and plied our guest speakers with so many questions that they missed their lunch reception and Mei Lian had to take them out to lunch herself. It helps that Melvin and Peng Kiat (sorry, I can't remember the exotic name you introduced yourself with) are a couple of shuai ge and living proof that even if you look like a total dweeb in your class photo, a couple of years in professional training can do wonders for your image.
UPDATE: I remember now! He introduced himself as Calaeo Tan... wonder what his friends in college called him back then?

As speakers, they weren't exactly captivating but their passion for their art was inspirational. Despite their work in the glam industry, it really is more about work and less about glam than people imagine. They talked about their long hours, days on end without sleep; and their constant contact with people in order to raise sponsorship and to keep their ideas fresh. And yet they believe in what they are doing and that's really what counts.

Considering that they didn't take art as a subject in college but rather the more "practical" math, economics combo, the artwork they showed us is really quite amazing. And they said some nice things about economics and gp as well -- how their other classmates struggled with research and essay writing because they lacked the analytical rigour of the humble general paper, and how economics is helping them understand market forces better and so be able to strategize and position their work to their full advantage. Maybe they just had to say it, but it's good to hear the truth from an alumnus. It just sounds more credible.

Despite my initial misgivings, I'm glad to have hosted this career talk. I have hope in the students who simply won't stop asking questions. I see many talented students who draw so well, but due to practical reasons they feel they can't focus their attention on what they are good at. So I hope this session will help them raise the value of their talents and abilities in their own minds and see that there is an avenue for developing themselves this way.

My CT abandoned me to play badminton alone with 3A1 and 3A3. I had 1 good game before being too worn out to continue. Lost the match but it's good to know that my reflexes are still as good as they were 12+ years ago. I was never a good badminton player anyway. Kenneth did something nasty to his shoulder while playing. We thought he had a cramp at first so we left him to suffer while we continued the game thinking that cramps usually sort themselves out very quickly. When the pain didn't dissapate however, we got worried. Vince tried to sort of immobilize his arm with a long piece of fabric and a towel and then drove him to TTSH. Kenneth's got some good friends who helped him carry his stuff, bag, racket, shuttles, from the hall into Vince's car. Duds supported him all the way and Gid and Adam accompanied him to the hossie. What a way to begin summer vacation.

And yeah, it is the start of summer hols. We bade goodbye to Sheena who's going to the US on an internship, and Kevin who gave Pegasus an impressive start in Wednesday's Staff race. Don't know if Mun Yee is staying on, but we've received a new bunch of staff into the English Department as well. Don't know them just yet, but soon, perhaps. Oh, did I mention it was the summer hols? Yes, we still have lots of work to do and to catch up with, but hey, it's the SUMMER HOLS! Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh!