Post NaNo

Salaam'alaik.

Putting the print-screened picture of NaNoWriMo committees saying 'Congratulations, novelist! You won!' on facebook had definitely sparked some huge misunderstandings among my friends. That is, those who do not know what NaNoWriMo is, and the ones who thought that I actually won an INTERNATIONAL novel writing competition. You know, that I really won the competition by submitting my novel? In other words, winning by talents? LOL.

In class, one of them asked

"What did you get? Did you get money?"

Me: No laaa...

During break at the cafe, when I went to the cashier to get several tissues, another friend approached me, asking

Friend: Where are those prizes? What did you get?

Me: Just a certificate, and other stuffs,"

Friend: It's a national level?

Me: International. But no big deal. Everyone could win it, even you!

Friend: Mantaplah Sarah!

Me: *grinned* (if only you know :P)

Friend: Bila nak keluar buku tu (when is your novel gonna get published?)

Me: WHAT? Tak siap lagi la! (I haven't finished it)

You see, 90% of them thought that I won a REAL writing competition. HAHA.

I could imagine the looks on their faces when they finally figured out what NaNoWriMo actually is. :P

I told this to my friend Syau, who is one of the few who knows about NaNoWriMo.

"Everyone could win this thing, but it is hard to win," and she agreed.

Anyway, it's a nice feeling, haha. This further spurs my determination to FINISH the third part and epilogue! 

Whether it will get published or not, well it depends.

You see, I'm starting to have doubts on my own novel. The so-called novel. I could not imagine anyone else besides me that would be interested in reading it. Sometimes I think that this novel is just a collection of bad ideas. And maybe, I do have good ideas, but I'm just not good in constructing sentences. So I need to read more! 

On the other hand, I think almost everyone around me had undergone sudden behavioural changes that include; being moody, easily getting angry, over-sensitive and other negative behaviours. And that includes me as well. :P But never mind, I know that all these are temporary, that their behaviours (and mine) are mostly attributed towards the hectic timetable and assignments' deadlines (and premenstrual syndrome :P) 

 Oh yes, another bad (or is it not?) characteristic that I realized I have and kind of hated that I have is:

"I feel guilty easily and I don't like it when someone is not pleased with me. I tend to love pleasing everybody around me. I often think that everything bad that happened is actually due to my faults'. 

Something happened and my friends assured me that it is not my fault. Haha. I'm just overreacting. 

Right now we're kind of struggling with our research project, which Dr.Shazia (our supervisor) said that she will get it published (our research article). I don't put high hopes on this. And we're required to present our research project at an international conference held in IMU next year. My groupmates voted for me to be the oral presenter. Again, I'm not sure. Later la, the event is next year (and we're still not sure whether we're going to go there or not) but the thing is, I must get this research article complete because this subject : Biostatistics and Pharmacoepidemiology carries THREE credit hours! *deskpalm*. The topic of our pilot study is : Self Medication among Final Year Allied Health Students (and the comparison with First Year Pharmacy Students). Sort of. 

Another project that I have long abandoned and feel guilty for abandoning it is my beloved Literature Search. It's about the 'Antimicrobial drugs and Cordyline terminalis combination for Treatments of Bacterial Infection'. Sort of. LOL. I'm going to focus on this after we have finished our biostatistics research project. 

I realized that I love research projects that involved working in a laboratory. Research that involves handing out questionnnaires and analyzing them using the complicated software of SPSS is not my cup of tea. If I were to pursue my postgraduate studies, I would choose to further my studies in pharmacology or any other subjects that require me to work in a laboratory. I dream to have my OWN laboratory one day, insya-Allah. :)

Till then, that's all from me. I have so many things to do and I pray that Allah will grant me strength and patience to deal with all these.

"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger".

I miss home SOOO much!