Week Beginning 1 September 2008

What’s happening…
We wish there was more than just this week to take a breather before the heavy schedule of the semester sets in on Tuesday.

Because of various things, we are behind in completing the second examination of the Adolescent Psychology. We spent most of the week studying for the 3rd and final examination. We are behind on this.

Friday afternoon, the Family Life Department did a presentation at the Student Admission Office. Professor Freudenburg and Professor Doyle turned ‘salespersons’ for an hour when they pitched their talk on how students could benefit from studying with the department. We discovered that the department was breaking new grounds on cutting edge courses, such as those for Child Life Specialist focus. We were enthralled by the potential impacts these courses could have on the lives of the children who are going through critical illness, as well as their family members.

We are beginning to discover more and more of the mission of this university in making deep impacts on the world through the graduates.

At 3p.m. on Saturday, a special Matriculation Ceremony was held on campus for parents and new students and staff. It was such an emotional scene as parents openly declared their trust in the university community and ‘handed over’ their children to their care.

That evening, we attended our first American wedding of a couple who are graduates of the Family Life Department here.

After that, we had the privilege of doing our weekly shopping with Professor Doyle. We were so honoured to have the Professor with us for a simple Malaysian dinner at our apartment – fried mee hoon cooked by a rare Malaysian ‘chef’ on campus…Rose.

Just Pondering…..
The gathering thoughts of recent weeks prompted Matthew to take three mornings off at the beginning of this week to think and reflect about several matters, knowing that this would be hard to do in the next few months with term work.

Solitude, being on your own for a period of time, is not an easy thing to do. When I (Matthew) first started doing this a number of years ago, I struggled quite a bit, even though I knew in my head from the research on the subject and hearing the accounts of others who practiced it, that it was very refreshing for a man who is constantly on the treadmill of life. Now, for me, I begin to get a fair bit of pleasure out of this. In fact, I kind of look forward to it.

The opportunity of having a pause from the daily dash and to recalibrate the things of life is indeed great. We all do have occasional respites that prompt us to look away from the unending struggles of life for a while and focus on the big questions of life such as ‘what is the meaning of doing what I am doing?’, ‘why am I here on earth?’, ‘does how I live matter at all?’, etc. We do ask these during human crisis situations, such as at funerals, when visiting a loved one or friend who is dying, in major breakdowns of key life relationships (in marriage and in parenting), and so on.

The time to think and pray through what is ahead of us here, what to do after our return (in the not so distant future), the people who are close to us who are going through a rough patch of their lives, has been very good for me. So much has happened with us here since we arrived. So much has happened back home as well. I have not given much thought to what the winning of Anwar Ibrahim in the by-election this week means to our nation. This must be a main thing that grips the hearts of the people of the nation right now.

Maybe you would like to try this thing called solitude, some day. Who knows, you might discover something new there.

I am not asking you to become like a monk or nun in the monastery. You know what! On the issue of monastery life, it is an increasingly popular practice in the western world nowadays for busy people to have ‘silent retreats’ at a real monastery.

Word of Wisdom
An ancient saying: ‘Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.’ Looking up to the clear night sky, marvel at the beauty of the surrounding and things, help us to ‘size’ ourselves up. We are really not as central as we would like to think we are. Yet, what we do matters to many lives. Pause this week for a short while, look around you, think of those big questions of life again. You might find real rest in your soul from such times!

What’s ahead!
We just do not know how to describe accurately the time ahead of us. On the one hand, it will be very hectic with course works and serving at the department office (for Rose). On the other hand, it will be the time when the main bulk of our learning, the reason of this U.S. attachment, takes place. We will be taking 6 courses in total. Matthew will be assisting Professor Freudenburg in teaching the course, ‘Family Life Education Methodology’ and Professor Doyle in ‘Parent Education and Guidance’ course. On top of his, we will be mentored by Professor Freudenburg in the Family Friendly Partnership Network programme which involves travelling to various parts of the United States.

Tuesday is the opening day of the semester. There will be a grand opening ceremony for faculty members and students at around 11 a.m. that morning. We’ll keep you posted next week on how it’s like in the first week of the university year.

A Week In Passing

Acknowledgement…This blog is updated with the creative input of Miss Trish Wong, an incredibly talented multi-media IT savvy young lady. She may be contacted at <blueshores86@yahoo.com>