My Life, My Story, My Testimony

I came across an article on LinkedIn by Kara Woods Hamilton, entitled Don’t Aim for Work-Life Balance. Aim for Work-Life Fulfillment , which pierced my heart. In my reflection, I sought work-life balance, but allocating hours equally across both would not guarantee their fulfillments. I may have the hours to give myself to my family, friends, interests, and hobbies, but I only have a limited amount of energy. I have the feeling that I am compromising my ‘personal life’ for my ‘work life’. I am not sure whether my job play to my passions. To put it aside, I am not even certain what passion is. I can do the job well, but I leave the office drained. When I looked back over my life, I chose engineering as my career path because it might pay me well. That’s the only reason I can remember. Luckily, I could manage to do it. I was in the science class during my high school, continued in chemistry for my bachelor, got scholarship for master’s degree in chemical engineering, and now, here I

On Friday afternoon, May 17th, 2019, ‘Here is the result of the practical exam.  You scored 136 out of 150, giving you a Distinction. Congratulations on this great result!’ That was an email from Valentina, an administrator for ABRSM Examination in Sweden. I felt extremely happy hearing this news. I almost felt as if I was high in a way. I need another strong word for ‘happy’. Euphoric! Yes, until I forget when the last time I felt this euphoria. I performed a violin ABRSM examination for level 1 on the 1st of May 2019. I registered for the exam on my own, though it is not an obligatory for me. A month before the exam, I was worried, even though it was not my first time performing in front of judges. I was feeling self-conscious if my hands trembled, I would play out of tune. Please, bear in mind that there are no frets on the violin, and I need to hold and move the bow. Too much tension! I am a newbie, after all! Haha. I started learning violin at the beginning of

Two years has passed since I came to Stockholm. For those who follow me on social medias, you may see me having so much fun and lots of laughter. The truth is … Yes, I have fun and laugh a lot. Haha. The best thing being a PhD researcher is having a time flexibility. I can work from home, even though I have my own working space in the campus. I can start to work at 6.00 and finish at 14.00 or start at 12.00 and finish at 20.00. I can work 8 hours a day for 5 days a week or take the whole week for working. In fact, there is no rules on working hours for a PhD. I only set myself 8 hours a day for working as if I am a full-time employee. After all, I am getting paid as a PhD. This sounds like a perfect life, doesn’t it?! Only until I realize that I have a supervisor who is complicated and difficult to understand. To start with, I am not here to give a lecture or tips and trick on how to deal with difficult person. Lots of materials about it can be easily found on the internet. Ho