Hi, there.
It's almost the end of November, so that means that all the guys out there should be well into their Movember moustaches (preferably beards).
At first, I was contemplating on whether I should really write updates about my personal life here on the blog because I'm already doing much of that on my Twitter.
However, there are some of you that don't have a Twitter account (get with the times, yo) or don't want to follow me (for some reason), so I guess I should just let this entry be for whom it may concern.
Otherwise, it'll just be another one of those entries where I'm the only one who reads it over and over to see how much I've progressed since the last update.
I honestly don't want to make a big deal out of this.
Nowadays, a lot of people get their Bachelor's degree and it isn't as special as it would have been maybe a decade ago.
Not to sound too negative or ungrateful, but I really don't feel any sense of relief.
Moreover, I've even already started my postgraduate degree.
Y'all don't waste time, do ya?
The story of the continuation of my studies is a long, anti-climactic tale.
Since August of last year, I'd started doing all the preparations to continue my studies in the USA.
Basically everyone expected me to further my studies overseas (overachieving first-child's expectations and whatnot), where my projected institutions included MIT, UCLA, Caltech and UC Berkeley (because I'm overachieving and apparently overconfident).
So, I took my GRE exams in KL, GRE Mathematics exam in Penang, my TOEFL in JB, asked for recommendation letters from my professors and supervisors, did my best to write up a convincing statement of purpose, and apply for scholarships.
This went on until December, all the while trying to balance that with finishing up my final year project proposal at the same time.
The application results finally started to come in February this year.
Turns out, I got into none of the universities.
And my heart totally sank.
On the back of that heartbreak, I still had to decide on what to do with my future.
Now, because a Bachelor's degree apparently isn't enough and because I've always had the expectation of going all the way to a PhD linger over me, I went ahead and furthered my studies locally.
And here I am currently doing my Master of Philosophy (Mathematics) in UTM.
I'm anticipating much more strenuous days after this.
Research is not easy and I totally understand that.
In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm already thinking of all the awful consequences that'll come later because of me writing this entry instead of finishing up my proposal.
But, yeah, it's pretty hard to focus on what you have to do when you're always thinking about what you want to do.
Speaking of things I want to do, THE FEAR has now reached more than 106,000 hits!
Despite the fewer entries as of late, I'm extremely surprised (but equally thankful) for all your love.
It's been five years since this blog started and about two years since its transformation into what it is now and it has come so, so far!
Over the past few months, I've been able to not only collaborate with some local representatives of some pretty awesome camera companies, but also been able to cover some pretty cool concerts and produce my very first editorial!
I'm very proud of these last few entries because I really have put in a lot of effort into creating much better content, which is why I have also recently begun producing videos on YouTube!
There's still so much more to improve in the video department but I'm ecstatic to bring to you guys more content and, more importantly, better content.
As much as I know that there's still a long way to go, it really does make me happy that I can go to an event and suddenly have some people come up to me and say,
Not to be shameless, but, I immediately spazzed.
Anyway, I guess that's pretty much all that's happening with me right now.
It all looks so simple when put into words but to actually do everything can be quite taxing.
So, what's next?
Firstly, since I've recently just got out of some financial issues (LOL YOLO), my current top priority is to save up as much as I can.
I've been spending all my money on gear and food (mostly food) so it's not like I'm wasting it but I really do have to start thinking twice about my next big spend.
Besides that, I'd really like to focus all my weekdays on my research.
I've been distracted by classes this semester and it's made it more difficult to be as productive as I should be in terms of my research.
There's still so much more to look into and I've only managed to scrape the surface.
However, that doesn't mean that I'll be abandoning THE FEAR anytime soon.
In fact, I have a family trip coming up in December, where I look to do a lot of stuff with photography, videography and also journaling.
I honestly can't wait for it and I'm trying hard to not let it take over my focus on getting my work done.
But we all know how effective that's been, so far.
Nothing much other than that.
It's kind of boring (?), the way I've compartmentalized my life into two separate things.
I'm either working on my research or working on my blog, with only a few things in between.
I have no other responsibilities besides my family and close friends, nor do I have other things to attend to.
Any project other than my research will be for my blog, and vice versa.
It's been a very eventful year for me, so do watch out for my 2015 recap in the early weeks of next year (I always plan to do this but it never materializes).
Do stay healthy, keep your spirits up, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
It's almost the end of November, so that means that all the guys out there should be well into their Movember moustaches (preferably beards).
At first, I was contemplating on whether I should really write updates about my personal life here on the blog because I'm already doing much of that on my Twitter.
However, there are some of you that don't have a Twitter account (get with the times, yo) or don't want to follow me (for some reason), so I guess I should just let this entry be for whom it may concern.
Otherwise, it'll just be another one of those entries where I'm the only one who reads it over and over to see how much I've progressed since the last update.
Anyway, first of all, and I figure this is the most important of all, I graduated!"The only time we should look back in life is to see how far we've come."- HRH Brigadier General Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Crown Prince of Johor
Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) with Honours
Photo by Ahmad Fariq Yosman
I honestly don't want to make a big deal out of this.
Nowadays, a lot of people get their Bachelor's degree and it isn't as special as it would have been maybe a decade ago.
Not to sound too negative or ungrateful, but I really don't feel any sense of relief.
Moreover, I've even already started my postgraduate degree.
Y'all don't waste time, do ya?
The story of the continuation of my studies is a long, anti-climactic tale.
Since August of last year, I'd started doing all the preparations to continue my studies in the USA.
Basically everyone expected me to further my studies overseas (overachieving first-child's expectations and whatnot), where my projected institutions included MIT, UCLA, Caltech and UC Berkeley (because I'm overachieving and apparently overconfident).
So, I took my GRE exams in KL, GRE Mathematics exam in Penang, my TOEFL in JB, asked for recommendation letters from my professors and supervisors, did my best to write up a convincing statement of purpose, and apply for scholarships.
This went on until December, all the while trying to balance that with finishing up my final year project proposal at the same time.
The application results finally started to come in February this year.
Turns out, I got into none of the universities.
And my heart totally sank.
On the back of that heartbreak, I still had to decide on what to do with my future.
Now, because a Bachelor's degree apparently isn't enough and because I've always had the expectation of going all the way to a PhD linger over me, I went ahead and furthered my studies locally.
And here I am currently doing my Master of Philosophy (Mathematics) in UTM.
I'm anticipating much more strenuous days after this.
Research is not easy and I totally understand that.
In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm already thinking of all the awful consequences that'll come later because of me writing this entry instead of finishing up my proposal.
But, yeah, it's pretty hard to focus on what you have to do when you're always thinking about what you want to do.
Speaking of things I want to do, THE FEAR has now reached more than 106,000 hits!
AWW YISSS!
Despite the fewer entries as of late, I'm extremely surprised (but equally thankful) for all your love.
It's been five years since this blog started and about two years since its transformation into what it is now and it has come so, so far!
Over the past few months, I've been able to not only collaborate with some local representatives of some pretty awesome camera companies, but also been able to cover some pretty cool concerts and produce my very first editorial!
I'm very proud of these last few entries because I really have put in a lot of effort into creating much better content, which is why I have also recently begun producing videos on YouTube!
Vlog - Echosmith in KL
Review - Fujifilm X-T10
First Impressions - Leica SL
There's still so much more to improve in the video department but I'm ecstatic to bring to you guys more content and, more importantly, better content.
As much as I know that there's still a long way to go, it really does make me happy that I can go to an event and suddenly have some people come up to me and say,
"Hey, are you Firdaus?"To think that that actually happened!
Not to be shameless, but, I immediately spazzed.
Anyway, I guess that's pretty much all that's happening with me right now.
It all looks so simple when put into words but to actually do everything can be quite taxing.
So, what's next?
Firstly, since I've recently just got out of some financial issues (LOL YOLO), my current top priority is to save up as much as I can.
I've been spending all my money on gear and food (mostly food) so it's not like I'm wasting it but I really do have to start thinking twice about my next big spend.
Besides that, I'd really like to focus all my weekdays on my research.
I've been distracted by classes this semester and it's made it more difficult to be as productive as I should be in terms of my research.
There's still so much more to look into and I've only managed to scrape the surface.
However, that doesn't mean that I'll be abandoning THE FEAR anytime soon.
In fact, I have a family trip coming up in December, where I look to do a lot of stuff with photography, videography and also journaling.
I honestly can't wait for it and I'm trying hard to not let it take over my focus on getting my work done.
But we all know how effective that's been, so far.
Nothing much other than that.
It's kind of boring (?), the way I've compartmentalized my life into two separate things.
I'm either working on my research or working on my blog, with only a few things in between.
I have no other responsibilities besides my family and close friends, nor do I have other things to attend to.
Any project other than my research will be for my blog, and vice versa.
Trips, vacations, personal projects, collaborative projects, hired work, free work, outings, meetings, gatherings, events, and even everyday mumblings will fall either into the academics category or the blog category.Last words: I hope you all have a great ending to 2015.
It's been a very eventful year for me, so do watch out for my 2015 recap in the early weeks of next year (I always plan to do this but it never materializes).
Do stay healthy, keep your spirits up, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
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