Just 2 months ago, I was really excited for my 2 first days of work. One as an office boy, the other as a Kumon assistant. My main purpose, which was to earn some pocket money (coz I was really broke that time) turned out to be only secondary after the first week. I found myself wanting to go to work everyday for some reason unknown to myself but I'm sure it wasn't the $$$. Perhaps, it was the environment there and the little bits of experience that I've gained.
Office boy job (1pm - 6pm; Monday, Wednesday & Thursday)
- Weekly pay (covers all my costs for that week)
- Stapling, photocopying, filing, typing, etc.
- Testing of some games
- On average, I work 2 out of 5 hours while the free time is used for Facebooking and Urban Rivals (some card game)
Kumon assistant job (1pm - 9m; Tuesday and Friday)
- Monthly pay (umm to add into my bank balance?)
- Marking maths papers (70%), help little kids recite timestable (25%) and teaching (5%)
- On average, I work 6 out of 8 hours while the free time is used to get something to eat
On the surface, both jobs may look simple and not do me any good besides getting that extra dollar. But crack that surface, rip it apart and look what's inside, that's the real deal. I realized that patience is a must when doing repetitive things. Take the office job for example. Imagine keying in data from almost a thousand contest forms in Microsoft Excel with 4 to 5 columns. That may still seem ok but what if the writings are unreadable? Not just some but many. Also, one of the ways to get things done fast is to always time yourself. Keep telling yourself that you can do it faster and better than before. Develop your own way of getting the task completed faster by self-specializing, you'll be surprised at how efficient you can actually be using your own techniques.
As for my Kumon job, I've been thinking about this. I mark the homeworks of the students, whether complete/incomplete and correct/erroneous. Have you ever thought about how one's actions influences another's reactions? No matter what you do, give it your best shot and you'll be rewarded in some kind of way. For example, finish all your homework on time and carefully (not simply doing) and you're likely to give your teacher a good impression of yourself. In return, your teacher will be ever so willing to help you out for he/she knows you're worthy. Help me, help you.
Today (Thursday) marks the end of my first job. Everything felt normal, I had my lunch at 12pm while reading the Comics section of TheStar newspaper. I left for work at 12.40pm. I brought along my loyal umbrella and opened it up like I always do (even when there's no sun) while walking to work. I took the lift up, rang the bell and got welcomed by a colleague there. That's when everyone asked if it's my last day working there. Used up my first 2 hours playing Urban Rivals, then I had work to do. Couldn't finish it on time coz I had to leave early for a dinner with my friends. Then, the "Take care" and "All the best" words, one last touch to the computer (log out on every website that I logged in using that computer), one last look at the office and there goes me. Tomorrow (Friday) is another farewell, to Kumon that is. No more cute little kids, fun colleagues and nice Ms. Chan. I'm sincerely grateful for all the help and companionship from all of you! It's a really hard thing to accept but you and I know that all things just "come and go" ...
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