I thought wrong

Just came back from Terengganu. 5 day hols with the nieces. Yeay!! Really needed the break. Yesterday, when we entered KL, we just realized something.. giler lengang! All the shops were closed. No matter if it is a Malay, Chinese or Indian shop, everything was closed! Maklumlah, raya cina + awal muharram + hari wilayah. So all races cutilah. Bestnya KL lengang yahoo!! I can have KL all to myself ( perasan hehe).

So, now here I am sitting in front of the PC. Niatnya nak start buat keje. Pathetic kan.. cuti pun kena buat keje. But, that's the reality of it. I never thought that being an academician would be this tough. Well, I guess I just thought wrong. I kept telling my frens who are now academician why didn't they tell me in first place that there are a lot of hard work involve. And some of the replies were "eh bukan dah cakap ke?", and some of it " memanglah..", and some of it " suma keje susah, mana ada senang." And I am like, OK memanglah takde keje senang, but I was hoping and kinda thought it would be easier than working in a private sector whereby I couldn't even see the sun. Yeap, that's the term we usually use to explain how busy we are " matahari pun aku tak sempat tengok" (meaning: kluar rumah early in the morning time kena bukak lampu keta and balik matahari pun dah terbenam and still the headlights are on).

When i ventured out to become an academician, my thoughts were:
1- keje pun 9-5
2- takde class buleh lepak
3- no deadlines
4- no customer calls
5- no urgent matters by the boss

But, NOOO.. I guessed wrong. There is no such thing as work from 9-5. No such thing as takde class can lepak, there are deadlines to meet. Customer calls in academic term would be the students who's non stop sms-ing you, jumpa ntuk tanya soklan and there are urgent matters from the boss (read: last minute punya keje).

Here is a simple calculation of the hours spent per week:

Lecture hours : Let say on avg. 14 hours a week
Preparing for lecture. 1 hour of lecture needs approx. 2 hours of preparation. So, 14 * 2= 28 hours. Now, the total is already 42 hours, MORE than 40 hours a week.

But, there is more. Supervise students for final year project. 1 hour * 3 students = 3 hours
Weekly meeting. This meeting takes ages. Avg. 4 hours a week.

Nie, tak masuk lagi marking exam papers, assignments, quizzed and preparing them. Plus, biler ada conference ke, bengkel ke kena extra workload lagik and nak confirm kena write paper/journals.

Fuhh!! sah2 work terover hours. Confirm, I thought wrong. I thought by being an academician it would be an easier task. But, no.It's either the same or you work more.

This was my conversation with my lecturers when they ask me how is it going so far, me being an academician.

LectA: Wan, camne keje so far. OK?
Me: Banyak kejelah. Tak tahu pun keje banyak camnie :(
Lect A: (senyum sinis) Tahu pun.
Me: Takde siapa pun beritahu banyak keje. Dulu tengok lecturer semua cool jek.
Lect A: Hehe.. biasalah we all.
Me : (sabor je lah lecturer eden nie)

Lect B: Sibuk ?
Me: Yeap. Penat.
Lect B: hehe dulu masa student tgk lecturer best je yek. Sekarang dah jadi lecturer, mesti kata jadi student lagik best.
Me: Memang pun.

But, at the end of the conversation they gave some advices and hopes that thing would be better. Of courselah, baru start, there are lots of things to learn and the time consume most is the preparation for the classes. Lama2 oklah tuh. Mintak2lah yek. But, to tell you the truth, tak pernah I read as much as I am now compared to when I was a student. Dibuatnya, students tanya soklan2 bernas dalam class and I couldn't answer. Kenalah prepare myself. Suddenly, the thoughts of Dzul, Eyanto, Sam, Eddie dulu. Pengsan eden kalo students macam diorang nie, soklan bernas2. Plus Edaureen yang cakap berabuk tu lagik.

Now I realized how much my teachers, lecturers have given to me all these years. Tulah, belajar dulu tak pernah nak celebrate "hari guru". I was never the student who would give roses ke, cards ke to the teachers. Tak nak ampu lah katakan.

Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to give a big shoutout to all my teachers and my lecturers that have taught me. A BIG THANK YOU!! Thank you so much my dear teachers and lecturers. Now I know.. THANX!!