Saturday, April 17, 2010
Everything has an end
Have some emo thoughts, but too late to type them into words.
Shall do so soon.
lowtide blogged @
2:48 am
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
In between
In between apprehension and excitment about leaving school and joining the workforce.
Having been in NUS for the past 4 years, I had enough. Enough of the struggle to strive for excellence in every single module, having to study things in precision which the details does not benefit me much - it's all academic and paper talk. Now it's time to put this academic talk to real output - crafting policies which will benefit people, I hope.
As I told Evelyn, what I will miss is the clubroom and surrounding it, the friends I've made and the activities Ive done with these friends. They make leaving much harder, but in the first place, they made school much easier =)
And of course the free schedule of being a student. No limited 2-day weekend. (Almost) Free to wake up whatever time you want. Can watch Champions League / Rovers cup matches in the middle of the night without worrying about the next day. Can wear t-shirt, shorts and slippers and roam around school rather carefreely. I'll miss those, indeed.
It's almost confirmed that I'll be starting work on 1st July. Happy for myself that at least for another part of my life, it's again 'planned' for me. Honestly, even though I think I want big money, I do not know how to achieve it, and I lack the innovation and drive to really strive for it. So, it's good that I'll be joining a place with (hopefully) a nice working culture, and at least I don't have this uncertainly in front of me. I won't earn big bucks, but at least I will live a fairly comfortable above-the-average life, I hope.
Mentally pysching myself to gradually tune in to the life of a working adult. But of course at this last stretch, let me enjoy the perks of being a student, for this last time =)
lowtide blogged @
11:32 am
Friday, April 09, 2010
Error term
In any regression analysis, there are always the 'observed' variables which could be used to be the explanatory variables.
On the other hand, there exist these 'unobserved' variables which could affect the explained variable as well, but since we can't really observe it, it's hard to control for them in our analysis.
Finally, there is this mystical creature called the 'error term'. The error term refers to random effects that are almost impossible to account for, such as luck, inspiration, opportunities, fate etc.
Assuming what you care is the log wage.
Don't ever pray for to achieve certain values for the 'observed' variables as you can hardly control them, e.g. age, race and gender.
Don't ever pray for the 'unobserved' variables as well. Even though other people can't see it, you know it yourself. It's all inside you, and your're the only one who can determine if these variables come to fruition. Don't ever shift to responsibility to some higher being. He has already planted them in you, and u should dig them out on your own accord. These variables include determination, charisma, ability to do things well, personal relationships etc.
Pray only for the 'error term', are these are the only things that are out of your control, e.g. luck, inspiration, opportunities, fate etc.
As a saying goes, God only help those who help themselves. If you can't even bother to work hard at the 'observed' and 'unobserved' variables, can you ever expect God to help you with the 'error term'?
Having said that, even though I've done my part in creating the former two types of variables, at this stage I would need the 'error term' to be positive. For that, I pray. I might or might not get it, but in the end, at least I know that I've done my part to my very best, and I can safely blame the error term more than anything else.
lowtide blogged @
11:45 am
