Showing posts with label NMAT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NMAT. Show all posts

19 January 2012

Notes and Two Book Reviews

Today, I finished all my tasks in the library and I took the opportunity to take rest and sleep at the sofa. As usual, I'm not feeling well and this time, my body hurts and I have a headache. I wasn't able to dry my hair this morning and so I have to spend the rest of the day with my wet hair tied and tucked inside my veil. And the headache is in. I might only dry it once I come home. I however, like this place since I am let within my own and I finish my tasks without distractions. It's a lot of freeing to know that in this place, I don't feel a lot of pressure. The lessons and letters were already packed in the envelopes, and the envelopes were printed with names and all of them are ready to be checked and be sent soon.

Med. School

I visited AUF last Tuesday and I personally inquired about the requirements. My NMAT score passed in their cut-off and here I am, trying to figure out if I'll proceed to preparing for the requirements. It's an additional headache to think about the tuition fees my parents have to shoulder again if I'm going to proceed to enroll this year. Decisions still have to be weighed over regarding the fees. But I am determined in pursuing to become a doctor. How I wish the tuition fees aren't those expensive!! How I wish there would be no longer the dreaded class reports! Hopefully, there will be open doors so that too much difficulties can be passed through. I am not entirely closing my options

Books




I had already finished reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. As a whole, I found it a lot interesting and psychologically insightful. Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikoff was a personally alienated but intelligent student who broke the bounds of law. In his desperate attempt to prove his theory, he carried out the plan of killing an old woman usurer. I however, disagree with his theory that great people become famous as results of their crimes. He believed that he identified himself as one of those great people which gave him the right to commit a crime. In this case, my view is that, people of renowned achievement and leadership introduce new laws, new concepts and innovations to their society, but the fact and necessity of having to kill human beings are only means when there are people who oppose these leaders who are bringing about these societal changes. Therefore, Rasknolnikoff's reasoning about crime is flawed, since the act of killing precedes the changes he want to see in his society. And in the end of the story, he admits that he has 'failed in his mission.'  



After Crime and Punishment, my next book reading is Heidi by Johanna Spyri. It is a wonderful story for all ages, a very lovely piece with many adventures to see and lessons to learn from. Heidi went to lived with her grandfather on the Swiss Alps and there, she was surrounded with high valleys, verdant meadows, flowers, bright and clear skies with the shining sun, fresh mountain air, and many animals. They lived on a little, but well-kept hut and Heidi had a room on the upper portion of their hut, with a nice bed made of sweet-smelling hay and covered with thick rugs. Her room has a small rounded window where she could see the sky and the valleys, the sun when it's shining, and the moon and stars before she goes to sleep. Everyday, she would play with the grazing goats and she all gave them names. She made friends with Peter the goatherd and his grandmother. Heidi became very sad when she was brought by her aunt to Frankfurt, to be a friend of an invalid girl named Clara. There, she accompanied the girl with her lessons, but Heidi was mistreated by the housekeeper because of her unfamiliarity with city manners. Heidi soon lost her appetite and as the days and weeks went by, she had trouble sleeping and cried almost everyday as she longed to go back home to her grandfather and see the beautiful mountains, be with the animals, and visit Peter's grandmother. She was losing her hope, until Clara's grandmother arrived and taught her to have faith in God and never lose hope. Eventually, Heidi was allowed to go back home. Clara, her father, grandmother, and Clara's doctor visited Heidi and the mountains after which Clara recovered her health and was able to walk. Heidi was happy again, as she learned a lot of new things such as reading, and she helped the people around her regain hope, faith, and happiness.

I read these books before I go to sleep, and I learn a lot of new things through reading them - Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel is set in Russia, while Johanna Spyri's Heidi is set in Switzerland. It's like traveling to very far places and being able to learn a lot about their homelands and ways of life. I am also somehow reminded that though these stories were written so long ago, they still deal with the same lessons and issues of us being humans - emotions, modes of thinking, sadness, hope and renewed faith - which are always universal no matter how long time has passed and the the distant places between. 

12 January 2012

Cross-Processing & Some Thoughts



Lately, I've been experimenting on processing photos to have a vintage effect on them. Cross-processing mixes colors to produce warm-toned and sun-kissed vintage effect which are often qualities of Polaroid shots and retro years. 

What I love in this process is that the photos evoke an atmosphere of warm and nostalgic memories. :) 

 ***

My thoughts are once again adrift with a lot of things. Yesterday, I called my prospective school for my studies. I inquired of their cut-off score for NMAT (which for the past weeks had been one of my serious thoughts since I received the electronic copy of my results), and I was glad to know that my score passed their cut-off score. After that, I tried asking about the other requirements. The list included papers such as recommendation letters, tests, etc, interviews, tests, among others. It was a bit overwhelming, and when I asked about the estimated amount of tuition fees, my heart almost sank…it was a total disappointment. The fees would not even cover other school and classroom activities. It was very sad to know that the idea of pursuing to become a doctor would even be beyond available means.

I am still in the process of thinking heavily about my future plans, of my options.

16 December 2011

47th Update

A lot of things had been troubling my mind for the past few days, and I had been reflecting on some priorities and decisions to be made. I got an extremely low grade on my recent exams, though disappointing, I felt not totally saddened by it. I was anticipating this long beforehand as I didn’t totally focused on reviewing for the major subjects. It was a kick in the teeth, or perhaps, a sign for me to reconsider my plans or start evaluating what priorities must be given the foremost attention. Probably, my grade would still be within the cut-off for AUF requirements, and in case it wouldn’t qualify, there are two options: either an exam retake or a decision shift. This would call for a thorough weighing of situations, in order to take a path that leads to a proper direction.

My life and my time are passing me by and still, here I am, unable to move, or perhaps, I really don’t want to move. There are barriers and obstacles, of course, but I understand that these things are becoming excuses to not move forward, to simply stick to what is familiar, and to let myself be controlled by them because I believe that I’m trying to avoid responsibility. But time passes by so quickly. I cannot sit here waiting all day, dreaming, hoping, and getting frustrated, blaming myself, blaming others, why my goals are not met or being put into action. My life has to go somewhere because a heavy responsibility lies on my shoulders because Allah entrusted me with this knowledge and learning which must be utilized for the service of Islam. I wish to live in a productive manner and to contribute to society, and I am afraid that as time passes by, I might forget what I have learned, I might forget that I have a responsibility to undertake, and that my life would be lived in an aimless and a useless manner. I want to become a doctor, because of many reasons. I hope that Allah will guide me as to where my life is heading to, how I will live it according to the purpose He created me, and to be of service to humanity.

04 December 2011

46th Update

Today is the day of my exams. I am taking the National Medical Admissions Test at University of Sto. Tomas, Manila. The NMAT is one of the first steps towards entering my new journey— to become a doctor, inshaAllah.

I woke up at 1:20 am and hurriedly sharpened my pencils and arranged my papers and reviewers on my file folder. I prepared my clothes and read some books before taking a bath. My parents, siblings, and me prepared our snacks the night before. My parents rented a car, and around 4:20 am, we headed off to UST. It was a chilly morning and I’m quite hungry but had the least appetite. I had a cup of coffee and some sandwiches for breakfast, and while on travel, I dozed off asleep, but I managed to offer the Fajr Prayer. We arrived at UST before 6:00am and it was still dark, and there were a very handful of examinees that already arrived. We didn’t recognize the Albertus Magnus building at first, and we had to go back to the entrance until we found the location of the building. The name lists of examinees were posted on front of the building’s entrance, and my father saw my name, including my number and room assignment. We waited for about an hour as we observed the other examinees arrived bit by bit. Some of them arrived together with their parents and siblings, while some arrived alone, and others with their schoolmates. 


Around 7:00am, the examinees formed a line at the entrance of the building, and after a few minutes, we went to our respective exam room assignments. It was after 8:00am when the proctor finally arrived. After distributing the answer sheets and the test booklets, I proceeded to answer the first part, the Verbal portion. I was very anxious and worried that I might be totally blank, but happily, I finished the Verbal portion ahead of time, after which I answered and finished the Inductive Reasoning portion ahead of time, but I wasn’t very confident of my answers, especially on the number and letter series. The Quantitative portion totally contorted my mind because there were a lot of solving on percentages, number sentences, and algebraic expressions, but thankfully, I finished this portion just in time. The final portion for the morning set is the Perceptual Acuity which included a series of patterns, which is to identify the correct mirror image of the given image per item, and the rest included a series of book titles and addresses and to identify the correct wordings and punctuations among the rest of the choices— I chose to answer this part first and then I proceeded to answer the mirror images. When the proctor announced the final remaining minutes of the test, I was also on my way on answering the final items, and thankfully, I finished it just in time. I even managed to double check some of my answers on the previous portions.

My neck was aching by lunch time and my palms were sweaty. I had my bottled juice and sandwich for lunch and I ate while standing, waiting outside the room. I also offered my Dhuhr Prayer standing, as there was not a convenient place where I could pray. The afternoon set of the exams started at 12:50 pm, and by the start of the test, I was beginning to feel dizzy and I wanted to just go on and finish it as soon as possible. It was difficult working while being on two conflicting forces—I was extremely dizzy, my neck was aching, and at the same time, I had to be totally focused on answering the items. For Biology, there were easy and extremely difficult items, and afterwards, Physics and Chemistry were both extremely difficult, and I must say that I just guessed most of my answers. Even though I felt a bit at ease for the Social Sciences portion, I also guessed some of the items. Thankfully, despite of my uneasy situation, I managed to finish the afternoon set ahead of time, and I spent the few minutes in stretching my neck and resting my head, and relaxing a bit.

Finally, I went through NMAT and I finished it! I’ll be waiting for the results next year. Allah knows that I gave my best and I am hoping for the best—to have high scores to enroll for Medical School next year, inshaAllah.

01 December 2011

44th Update


Today, I went to my school library so I can have the last rounds of review. I picked up a book on physics and it really drove me nuts just flipping through its pages. Honestly, I just read some of the book articles, but with regards to the basic formulas, constants and computations ― I have no idea on how to handle them. The review is really very difficult in Physics, and what more of Chemistry and Algebra? I can't possibly have all of them within the next two days of review...

23 November 2011

43rd Update

http://www.theurbanroamer.com/manilas-pontifical-and-royal-campus-part-2/

The Facade of Albertus Magnus Building

I'm counting the days for the upcoming NMAT, and last Monday, I received my Notice of Admission. I'll be taking the exams at the Albertus Magnus Building, University of Sto. Tomas on December 4. I am very excited to take the test, though I can say that I'm not totally prepared.

I'm doing a bit of reading for Biology and Social Sciences, but haven't had any practice on solving Mathematics and reviewing on Physics and Chemistry. I'm also a bit of apprehensive on the Inductive Reasoning portions because it takes a lot of time for me to fully analyze the figures and sequences. I can say that I'll take the exams as it is and to rely on my stocked knowledge in answering the test questions.

It's going to be my first time to visit the University of Sto. Tomas campus in EspaƄa Boulevard, Manila. Hopefully, I can take photos in the campus after the exam. We frequently pass by the facade and its hospital whenever we go to Manila. UST is actually the oldest university in Asia and it is the leading school in the Philippines when it comes to the Medical Profession. Back in college, I wanted to study in UST when I planned of taking up Medical School, but its proximity with regards to location made me decide to choose Angeles University Foundation, which is nearer to where I live.

http://sta.sh/0xfyl184g1a

This is a new chapter in my life journey, and I am excited to embark on this new horizon— to become a doctor.

10 November 2011

41st Update

It's been quite a while since I last had my essay update. I'm on our shop right now, working and arranging records and monitoring our sales. I'm also busy preparing for other activities. I have to set aside painting for this time because I have to start reviewing for my upcoming exams next month. The last piece which I finished just in time for the start of my reviews is the Rose Cottage Garden and it is a bit smaller in size compared to my other previous paintings. I bought it home two days ago, as soon as it was finished and now it is set to dry on my study table. I sleep and wake up looking at it and it really makes me happy to see it everyday in my room. I was able to finish four paintings within four months and I am glad to observe my progress in terms of refining my subject matter, efficiency in using the oil medium, handling of materials, refining techniques, and the time frame with which i am able to finish the artworks. Among the skills that I found necessary were patience, determination, visual perception in space and color harmony, composition of painting's elements and forms, and enhancing rich imagination.

The process of painting is a wonderful journey of self-discovery and improvement for the artist. It starts with a quirky idea until the idea is being put into action from start to finish. Along with the idea, I choose the materials which I need so I could start the painting. I measure the dimensions of the brace frames, although most of the time in inexact proportions (I leave the final and exact measurements when the painting is to be framed). Afterwards, I apply the base coats of white primer, let it dry, then start with the process of painting. Sometimes, I do a pre-planned sketch, but most of the time, I end up with a slightly or totally different finished piece - mostly through imagination and analysis.

But by this week, I am bringing my paintings back home to be stored up temporarily. I have to start and take focus in reviewing for the NMAT. When I started answering the reviewers, I realized that I forgot most of the topics covered on the test. That's why I have to do a lot of reading, especially in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics, and practice solving equations in Algebra. It's been three years since I graduated from college, which means that there should be digging up of old books and notes. Gladly, I didn't stopped reading books about Psychology, the Social Sciences, Arts, and English. I still keep on reading books, improving my writing, vocabulary, and behavioral analysis, and developing insights. So I hope that these activities will be of great help for the preparations.

I'm overwhelmed, excited and a bit nervous, because I barely have an idea on where to start basing the topics per subject. For that matter, faith and prayers are very important so I can be properly focused and at ease for the exams. I have to make a little outline for the lessons to be reviewed to organize and determine the starting point per subject. Schedules must also be arranged within the course of the following weeks to avoid mental cramming.
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