Empathy

In order to get some extra 'funding' for my PhD, I decided to take up a part-time job. By God's grace, I found one in a sports technology company that manufactures sensors for tracking athletes. Well in fact I interviewed with them once previously but the position required more electronics experience which is beyond me. Anyway, this time they needed someone in a customer support role, preferably someone who had experience using their sensors and study/work in the field of sports science and engineering; and they wanted someone doing it part-time. I fitted all their basic requirements, the job fitted my 'fundings' requirement, plus I was really keen to get some experience in a sports technology company, it was a win-win. So yes, I took the job.

It actually has been over a month since I started this customer support role and it has been quite an interesting experience so far. There are some technical aspects to the job - it requires some basic understanding of how inertial sensors work, a logical troubleshooting mind and mainly how to use the proprietary program to get the relevant data out of the sensors. But knowing the technical stuff is only a minor part of the customer support role. The more important part is connecting with the customer that I am supporting. This means understanding what the customer needs and providing a solution or explanation to their problem. It also goes to the extent of ensuring that the customer is satisfied. This means that even if the customer is wrong, I shouldn't point it out too blatantly, instead I should tactfully highlight that he could be wrong and suggest possible alternative methods to work out his issue.

Unfortunately, I learned that from experiencing it myself. I told a customer the truth, the reality, and that did not sit well with him and his own agenda. To give an analogy of what happened: A customer bought a bicycle and wanted to attach the bicycle to his lawnmower so that he can cycle and mow his lawn. Somehow he got someone to modify his lawnmower and made it to work, but after a while the bicycle stuffed up and he got a replacement from the manufacturer since it was under warranty. He then realised that the replacement bike has some new enhancements because it is a newer model and now it can't work with his lawnmower anymore. He gets annoyed and he calls the bicycle manufacturer demanding that they change the design of the new bicycle so that it can fit onto his lawnmower! Obviously it doesn't make sense for the manufacturer to go back to an older less effective design; moreover the bicycle was designed to be a bicycle and not for fitting onto a lawnmower. If he really wanted to, he should design his own bicycle lawnmower that could look something like this:

http://www.totallyabsurd.com/tricyclelawnmower.htm

But how should the customer support person respond? Well what I learned is that not everyone can handle the truth, and as the customer support person, I should empathise with the customer. Instead of telling him the truth, I should explain in a nice way that the new bicycle design makes it more ergonomic for riding. But if he really wants it to work with the lawnmower I could find him one of the older design bikes in the dumps, oops I mean in the store. Or I could point him to someone who could modify his lawnmower again to fit the new bike design. In essence, the goal of customer support is to please the customer. If customers are unhappy, customer support has to appease them, sugar-coat the truth if necessary so that its easier for them to swallow; although at the end of the day they still may not accept the truth.

Fortunately, there is one truth in this world that I do not have to sugar-coat to tell others. That is: Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). People may or may not like to hear it but it is the truth, and the goal of telling it is not to please the listener but to please God.   

Mentoring support

This is kind of a delayed post. Anyway it's related to the VIS sports science traineeship.

The VIS sports science traineeship began with a three day induction session for all the trainees. That included an orientation of the facilities; an overview of lab and field testings with emphasis on health and safety issues; meeting up with some of the staff; and more importantly, the various sports science staff made sure that we understand what the VIS is all about and what is the purpose of the sports science department. The motto of the VIS (as anyone will see on their website) is: Success in sports and life. There is also a quote from the VIS chairman which says:

Our mission is to provide an environment in which talented Victorian athletes have the opportunity to achieve at the highest level in sport and life.
– Kate Palmer - VIS Chairman

Anyway I gather that the focus of VIS is on the athletes (duh). The athletes are valued because they have the talent and the skills to do well in their sports. So VIS dedicates a whole bunch of people who takes care and keeps track of the athletes to make sure that they are moving forward in their sports career and are on the right track towards the goals that were set for them. Those people can be from sports medicine, nutrition, sports science, psychology, sports coaches and even people who provide guidance and counselling on their career, education, life after sports, time and stress management etc. I will just label them generally as the athlete support group. Then the athletes usually have performance evaluations done on a regular basis and if something is not quite right (maybe their performance is dropping or they are not meeting a target),  a few of the athlete support people will try to find out what went wrong. Could it be the training program is not appropriate? Does the athlete lack motivation or discipline? Is the athlete going through any family or emotional problems? If yes, they will try to rectify the problem and basically, no effort would be spared to give the best support to the elite athletes to ensure that they become the best that they can be.

This leads me to think: what about regular people? I reckon everyone should have some form of support in their life. It could be from school or work or church or family or even friends. Most people will probably talk to people around them and get advise at different points of their lives, especially when they are at crossroads. But I also reckon there are people who don't bother and they simply cruise through life and end up not fulfilling their potential in life, which is kind of sad. I believe God made everyone for a specific purpose and more often than not, we need mentors who we can talk to, consult, pick their brains and from there we learn to identify our strengths and weaknesses,  be inspired, and become more like the person God designed us to be.  

Removing gunk

With a new person in my life now, a huge part of my time is spent feeding him, changing his nappies, changing his clothes, winding him, carrying him and the list goes on. One thing that I can't get used to, is his crying. His crying can be a few short bursts of grunting and wailing or wailing continuously or wailing continuously with bouts of high pitched screams. The third one can bring intense pain to my head especially if his mouth is within half a metre from my ear.

Most of his cries and whimpering are because of hunger, a wet or poopy nappy or wind in his tummy. But sometimes its because of the stuff that I am doing to him. I don't intentionally make him cry, it's just that the things I do bring some discomfort to him. Those things include:

1. Changing his nappy - especially when I am wiping his bottom with a wet wipe after he has had a poop; and because he sometimes has such a big one that there's poop everywhere! So the cleaning takes slightly longer to make sure all the 'cracks and crevices' are poop free. This longer cleaning annoys him and he will either start crying or give me more work by 'spraying' on me.

2. Removing dried milk bits on his face - when I have the opportunity to feed him with the bottle, I will spend at least 30 minutes staring into his little face. During that time, I will notice dried milk bits around his eyes or nose. Usually I will make a mental note to myself that I have to clean his face with a wet towel later or give him a bath if he hasn't had one the day before. But sometimes after 20 minutes of feeding him and noticing those dried milk bits, I can't help but try to pick them off with my fingers. This clearly annoys him and he wails for a couple of seconds till I stop doing it.

3. Trying to pick up his boogers - also happens usually when I am feeding him with the bottle. I can see up his nose and in his nostrils are humongous dried chunks of boogers. If they are close to the edge of his nostril, I will use my pinky nail to pick it out. Again, this usually results in him wailing for a couple of seconds to express his annoyance.

From my point of view, I am cleaning his bottom so that he will not develop a nappy rash; I am cleaning his face so that he will look fresher (and cuter :D); and I am clearing his nostrils so that he can breathe better. For him, its just discomfort that he doesn't like to go through.

This sort of reminded me of a clip that one of my pastors showed during our prayer meeting a while back. It's called God's chisel. God's chisel can often make us feel uncomfortable but it's only when He removes the gunk in our life that we become the masterpiece that He has designed us to be.

 

Exciting times

June 2011 marks the start of an exciting period for me; cos many new things are happening (or happened) at the same time. Even though I did plan for them to happen, I definitely didn't plan for them to happen at the same time, it just... happened that way. It would be nice if each thing happened at least two months apart of the other so that I could ease into things better, but then where would the challenge be??

Early arrival of baby Gideon

His actual due date (as calculated by the doctors) was supposed to be the 24th of June. His grandma even planned to fly in to Melbourne on the 21st so that she could help out here and there prior to his arrival. But baby Gideon (or Prince Gideon as the Missus prefers to call him now) couldn't wait till the 24th and 'decided' he has to pop-out 15 days earlier! What's more exciting is that I actually had my PhD confirmation presentation scheduled on that exact day! By God's grace, I was given a window of opportunity to scoot off from the hospital to Uni to give my presentation, nail it (thank God!), and rush back to the hospital to hold the Missus' hand while she went through her contractions and finally push out the baby 7 hours later. So now we have this little bundle of joy (and cries and pee and poo) keeping us occupied pretty much 24/7.

PhD
So it seems like the PhD didn't have a fantastic start with my first presentation not going well and my second presentation clashing with the birth of Gideon. Still, it has officially started. Now, although I have a rough idea of what I am working towards, it really is murky waters I am swimming into, unexplored grounds I am entering, and new insights I am hoping to gain; and that I guess is the whole point of doing this PhD. But to really put things into perspective, what I might achieve at the end would probably be like contributing a small drop of water into a whole ocean of knowledge in engineering and science. Nevertheless, it will be hard work and it will take up every ounce of brain juice I can muster up. I am hoping to complete this within a year though I have no idea if it is actually possible.

Sports science traineeship
The Victorian Institute of Sport runs a Sports science traineeship program every year that lasts for twelve months and it is usually open to students doing a exercise and sports science degree. However this year they decided to open this traineeship to students from other disciplines such as statistics, nutrition and engineering. Needless to say, I applied for it and with only ten spots available in the traineeship, it is definitely a miracle that I managed to get on it. From a discussion with one of the resident sports scientist, I was told that I would probably be given work on a project basis, to resolve technical or engineering issues pertaining to performance analysis of athletes. However I still put my hand up to be involved in the traditional sports science stuff; so I might have opportunities to do some physiological or field testing of athletes down the road. Interesting stuff I reckon.

Anyway, as I was saying, it's going to be exciting times ahead... exciting times.

Being prepared

A couple of months ago, I have decided that I would convert my Masters project to a PhD. It wasn't what I had in mind when I started out doing the Masters but somehow things just panned out differently - I was supposed to develop a suitable sensor for measuring performance in wheelchair sports and after that was done, it led on to the possibility of using non-linear methods for performance analysis (that's where the PhD will come in). Anyway, in order for me to do that, I need to convince a school panel that I know what I am doing and what I am hoping to achieve has real value and contributions to science and engineering.

A day was set for me to present to the school panel. I presented the work and findings that I did in the first 2 years; how those were published in various conferences and journals, and a summary of what I am planning to achieve if allowed to do the PhD. Following that were tonnes of questions about what I am trying to achieve and where is the real value of the research. Filled with apprehension and anxiety, I either answered the questions haphazardly or I took too long to come out with an appropriate answer. The outcome was disastrous. The feedback from the panel - I didn't appear to have a clear grasp of my research topic!

So how did I stuff up that presentation? Well firstly, I only put together the power point slides 2 days before the actual presentation, then after I showed it to my primary supervisor, I was given some additional new ideas, which I had not fully internalised, and most importantly, I did not rehearse through the slides. So even though I blurted out everything I had in mind to the panel, it didn't come out the way it should, it didn't make sense to the school panel, and I panicked and fumbled when the questions kept coming. Honestly it was quite embarrassing and disappointing but thank God they decided to let me present my case again a couple of weeks later.

For my second attempt, I made sure I was prepared (and my primary supervisor made sure I did). I re-did my presentation slides - removed as much text as possible, made the graphs bigger and clearer, made sure the slides (and argument) flowed in a clear and concise manner, removed unnecessary details so that I wouldn't lose focus. Then I practised. I gathered most of the peeps from the sports engineering group, went through my presentation with them - not once but twice. Each time I did it, they  gave me feedback on what I should be emphasising on and what needs to be improved and I incorporated their input into my presentation. I even made the Missus listen to my presentation several times - I wonder if that caused the early arrival of the Bub (but I will leave that for another post). The result - the school panel were finally convinced after my second presentation and gave me the go ahead with the PhD.

Fractal dimensions, here I come!

On hindsight, I realised that I stuffed up the first time not because I didn't know what I was doing nor that I do not have enough knowledge on the subject matter. Rather I was simply not prepared adequately to argue my case, I became intimidated by the professors, and appeared unsure of my work. On my second attempt, I was much more prepared and more confident and any doubts that the school panel had were all cleared.

This incident led me to think about how prepared am I when it comes to sharing the gospel with friends or acquaintances or even strangers. I do know about the gospel, I have read and studied the bible for a big part of my life, but am I always prepared to share it with someone who hasn't heard about it? It might be a good idea to practise sharing the gospel so that I can share it more effectively; and I should probably start soon because unlike school presentations that have a specific date, opportunities to share the gospel can come at any time.

  

Never give up

Came across this clip recently of Heather Kampf (formerly Dorniden) running a collegiate race in 2008. It is a really good portrayal of never giving up:

In her interview after the race, she said this:

"I try to tell myself before the start of every race that all things are possible through Christ, and first and foremost I have to send the credit his way, because I certainly didn't feel like I did that all by myself. Immediately after the fall, I told myself, you have to get up to at least get a time that will score-- the team points were very close and I know everyone was counting on some points in that event."

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me - Philippians 4:13. Hallelujah!

What also struck me was what she said about scoring for the team. She saw that her finishing the race was more important for the team than for herself, and that was possibly one of the things that helped keep her going. She ran for something bigger than herself. In the end she not only scored one for the team, she also scored a big one for herself.

Time and again I find myself falling off in my walk with God. Sometimes its hard to pick myself up and keep going. When I am down, I sometimes feel dejected and ashamed of myself; I become inward looking and even to the extent that I feel like giving up. Fortunately the Holy Spirit rebukes me and reminds me of what Christ has done for me, that there is no condemnation in Him (Rom 8:1), that I already have the victory through Him and He has already overcome the world (John 16:33). It also helps to have fellow brothers and sisters-in-Christ who encourages me, keeps me in check, and gently nudging me forward in their different ways. So when the going gets tough, it is really God and the body of Christ that keeps me going and not give up.

Adjusting

The weather is starting to get cold in Melbourne, winter is coming. This also means the sun rises a little bit later in the morning and sets much earlier in the evening which leaves less time for 'day-time' activities. Just the past week when I went canoeing, I started at 5pm and by 545pm there wasn't much light left and I had to hurry back to the boathouse, otherwise it gets a bit creepy paddling in the dark and I can't see what animal is moving on the river. But back to the weather being colder. It has made a casual everyday action much harder to do or should I say requiring more time for 'adjustments'. This very simple everyday action is none other than getting in and out of bed. At night when I climb into bed, I find that the bed is colder than the room. Even when I am under the down blanket and huddled next to the wife, it still takes a couple of minutes before I feel comfortable enough and fall asleep. During that couple of minutes, my body is frantically generating more heat to fight the coldness of the bed and to warm up my immediate surroundings - which is the small amount of air between me and the down blanket. In the morning, getting out of the bed and blanket requires my body to go through a bigger adjustment, this is done with the aid of: washing my face with warm water, blowing the hair dryer on my head even though my hair is not wet then having a warm mug of milo. Yes, I am starting to do this almost everyday.

On a bigger scale, we have to adjust to changes everyday, every week, every month and every year. New job, new project or assignment at work, or new responsibilities in general; new boss, new colleagues, new neighbours, or forming new relationships in general; new policies at work, new legislations or standards, or simply new rules of how things should be done; new tools, new equipment, new programs, new gadgets that are supposed to make your life 'easier. With every new 'thing' comes a period of getting used to, a period of adjusting.

I think getting in and out of bed when it gets colder should be probably one of the easier adjustments I need to go through this year. The other slightly tougher one would be getting papers piled higher and deeper. I have no idea how I am going to get through that but somehow I have been 'highly recommended' to do it. Then there is an even more challenging adjustment which I (and the wife) have to go through in a couple of months. It has been highly professed that nothing in this world can prepare a person (or couple) to go through this change - having your first bub. How comforting. Although I must say it does make life more exciting.

Nevertheless, with all the changes that will be happening for me this year, I take comfort in knowing that God never changes - He is always the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; His word never changes and He is always faithful. Amen!

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2