Psycho

I was reprimanded the other day - very subtly, but not really - on the way I dressed.

This semester was going to be the first time I had classes with my mentor in the Faculty of Education.
We were doing Psycholinguistics, the combination of psychology and linguistics (which she mentioned in her lecture I think more than 3 times >.<) When I met her during our sessions (I'm using the plural here only cos I've gone to her like, twice), she seemed rather nice. I genuinely believed she was nice. She asked me about myself during our first session, and then subsequently asked me to write an introduction essay on myself and to hand it in to her (macam real assignment jer). I had this belief that it would be good to have someone to confide in while I'm here. Someone I can really come to for advice and help should I need anything. I guess, I thought it would not hurt to have someone on my side, you know?

So I guess you could say that I poured my heart and soul into the essay I sent her. I told her about my family, telling her about both my parents being teachers. I told her about being the eldest in the family with two younger brothers. I told her about the teachers who inspired me to be a teacher as well. I expressed how grateful I felt for the teachers who have been in my life, why that led to me finally choosing to do Arts instead of Science even after going through torture under Form 6 Science Stream (Biology is a killer!!! And Maths T! OMG). I talked about my passion for English, my little experience in teaching, my love for writing short stories and some of my published ones. I wrote about why I love the piano, and playing music. And other stuff.

I wrote three pages. >.< 


Anyway. I did not expect it at all, but she send me an SMS a while after I handed the essay in to her. She basically told me that she thought I was a very unique person (I am not making this up) and that she could see that I had a passion for teaching (betul ke tak, saya tak tau).

I could not help it. My heart swelled. Rasa happy jugak kan, bila kena puji?

The next time I made an appointment with her to let her know my second semester's results.
When I was at her door, she looked up at me and asked, "Yes, my dear. Who are you?"

Zhadao. >.<  Ouch. Talk about injured heart (literal translation from Mandarin, but I guess you can tell the meaning). 


Anyway. I haven't even started my real story yet. In her class this sem, I was rather nervous. Will she remember me? Doubt it. But will my actions in class affect how she will evaluate me? I stood up in the front of the class, as was her request, to introduce ourselves and let her get to know us all better. When I did, she looked me up and down and said, "Erm, we have a dress code in UKM, you know?" *imagine my eyes widening here* 


Totally unexpected; I was practically speechless. I was wearing jeans, sandals and a blouse. Okay, I reckon I should not be wearing round-necked blouses to class, but it wasn't that bad, was it? I was decent, that's for sure. No exposed cleavage, or even exposed knees or calves. "As future educators, you should dress like one. Maybe once in a while you can wear baju kurung."

HAH.

Has she tried wearing baju kurung and walking for 15 minutes to the Fac?
Obviously NOT.

If she has, she would know how terribly IMPRACTICAL a baju kurung is when it comes to walking long distances. And mind you, it's not nice, flat ground meant for walking. It's up slopes and rocky pavements with holes and uneven tiles that can just as easily cause you to sprain your ankle.

Wearing a baju kurung would just increase the chances of injuring yourself.
Not to mention you'd probably have to walk in smaller steps, what with the length of the skirt and all, and take almost double the time to reach the destination.

Argh.

She might be funny, and her lectures good, but I foresee her critical eyes watching me in everything I do.

Thank God there's no Psycholinguictics class next week.