Today was MedEntry workshop day 1. The instructor graduated from Monash in 2001, is young, charismatic, and probably rich. He graduated from high school with a ENTER score of 99.95 (equivalent to 100 uai) and gained a scholarship to study in Monash. He seemed like one of those people who treats everyone equally and serves without judgment. Basically, I added him to my respected people's list, just under Steven. He made me realise that I really need to train and do well in the UMAT because besides increasing my chances of studying Medicine, it will also give me some life skills that I lack and am in dire need of. Section 1 requires critical thinking and the ability to do it quickly.
Section 2 requires an open, honest mind, with no judgmental views. I am supposed to empathise with others and come up with sincere solutions. One of the things he said when talking about this section was: 'Honest people can see honesty in others.' He also told us about Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is a term that covers gigantic concepts, most of which is summarised in Wiki. To cut a long story short, the next time you try to figure out how 'smart' someone is, check out their EQ, instead of IQ.
Section 3 is just convoluted, but fun, and it gives me a sense of satisfaction when I can correctly answer the questions. The preparation for the interview increases communication skills and again, forces a person to think before they talk. I think this process is excellent, because it separates purest from the rest. I really, really want to be part of the purest, but I am afraid I might not be.
I think the course itself will also grind out any alloys in the pure substance. If I can survive, I think I can become the person I always wanted to become. I think I am way too excited and jittery to write down exactly what I meant to say. This happens when I feel like the light at the end of the tunnel just got a bit brighter. Basically, I feel like there is hope. I know that sounds really corny, but corny thoughts work for me. They pull me out of the depression in my imagination, and plonk me back in reality, where you can't keep wallowing, thinking that life sucks because this this this this happened, but you actually try to fix it so that the reality gets a little bit better.
I read a beautiful verse this morning from Surah Nur. The more I am reading the Surah, the more I am loving it, because it is so full of wisdom. But the best verse so far is verse 35: Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like niche within which is a lamp; the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly white star lit from the oil of a blessed olive tree, neither of the east not the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.
The first time I read it, I simply admired the beauty of the words. If the translation is so beautiful, imagine what the real words would be like! But then I realised, I did not understand the meaning at all. And so I realised the importance of reading Tafseers, again. From what I understand of it now, it means something like this: Light is the purest thing humans know, so Allah describes himself as the Light. But since He is unlimited in all of His attributes, He is beyond our understanding. So the way humans see Him is like a seeing a lamp through glass. The idea of olive oil is used here because apparently vegetable oil is the most efficient in providing light, above fossil fuels and others. And the olive tree is neither from the east or the west because Allah is Omnipresent. I want to research this verse more when I have time because I am sure there is more to it than my limited understanding can hold right now. It is so beautiful, I should do it as much justice as I can!
My thoughts are rushing from here to there today, so I just wanted to make someone else's thoughts rush too, in a good way. It is a wonderful feeling when you don't get stuck in the same thought, or explore a thought too deep, especially when that thought is not very pleasant. In any case, I think thinking too deeply about problems is a waste of time. Why not just fix it?
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