I just did a mental assessment of the things I have scheduled for the week ahead, and I'm so taken aback any how much activities I have planned for the week. By the way, when I mean activities, I don't mean leisure. I mean, activities revolving around work/school. And just one or two social events planned. But somehow, the busier I am, the more alive I feel because it gets my juices running and I hate the feeling of not doing anything productive. So here's a list of some of the stuff that's happening in my life I need to get done, or just going through the motions of:

1. URECA

I officially have a little over a month left before URECA finally ends and then I can stop worrying data collection and data analysis. I'd have to say URECA has been pretty okay. It's pretty much like Major Project back in TP, only this one is much more independent. Data collection is a nightmare. I'm in the middle of a dry spell and only have a little over 40 participants when the initial plan was to hit 100 participants! I was agonizing over what my professor would have to say about it but luckily my she is major nice and she says 50-60 participants would be okay. I always imagined university professors to be unbending and unapproachable but my supervisor is sort of like an aunt. She takes things as they come and is quite a jolly woman.


Shall start data analysis by the end of next week, since my professor will be away most of June so I've got to consult her on the results before she leaves. And yes, I am having a major brain aneurysm over it. How the hell am I going to do this? Where do I even begin?! Yes, I've done SPSS in the past, but only with major guidance, and using simple tests, like t-test and a maximum of 3 variables. I have like 10 variables here! What do I even do?! Serene, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?! I foresee a few endless nights down the road reading up on SPSS.

Is there a free website that I can go that will help me analyze my data? I can pay in chocolates!

Crud.

2. Booooooooooks. 

Sad to say, I have been shamelessly neglecting stimulating my brain with new material other than the ones prescribed by the school. Its so incredibly difficult to find a book that I can immerse myself into and not want to get away from, like Dan Brown (oh my god his new book will be in stores soon!) and Jodi Picoult (who's work is sadly starting to become mediocre. She publishing more books in shorter periods and the quality of the storyline is simply lackluster and just sends chills of disappointment) and Lisa See.

I borrowed this book yesterday:

Finished this book earlier this evening and it explains how traditional parenting techniques to nurture children are surprisingly counter-intuitive and instead, putting children at risk for more behavioral and academic difficulties. For instance, the authors found that parents typically discourage talk of racial issues when the child is between 5 to 7 years old, because they perceive it to be an inappropriate and difficult issue for children to grasp. However, it turns out that 5-7 years is the age where children are actually beginning to draw their conclusions about racial issues, such as discrimination and the like. So while children are at a developmental period where they are cognitively learning and understanding race, parents aren't providing the platform to help them learn about it and risk having their children form negative conclusions about race. 

It also talks of intelligence, aggression and teen rebellion, and how parents' techniques in dealing with these developmental issues are actually counterproductive despite their best intentions. It makes for an interesting read, really because it completely challenges your idea of how parents should communicate and interact with their children to nurture them in the best way possible.

Though I was slightly disappointed in the authors' failure to provide sufficient implications of the findings and how the findings can be appropriated by parents who have long stuck to conventional parenting methods, or how parents can be convinced to adopt methods incorporating these findings. 

Am currently reading:

This book promises to teach women skills and advice about how to deal with setbacks in life, and how to do things that will earn you the respect that you want and deserve, for instance:

"Send back a meal that isn't prepared the way you ordered it"

"Politely decline when a friend asks you to do an unreasonably large favor"

"Convince a salesperson to reduce a fee"

If this book really promises what it says to deliver, then I definitely should read it because I am way too much of a pushover and lack assertiveness. I need to woman up. 

Guess this is enough for a long post. More next time!