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 beginnin...

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...