The University of Warwick.

Salam all,

In my previous post, it may sound that I was not that ecstatic about my experience in the UK so far. That is still true, up to now, but in reality, there are a lot of things to love about the University of Warwick! 

Some basic info about Warwick Uni:

• A relatively new uni in the UK which has just celebrated its 50th birthday this year (thus having no real old-style English buildings). 

• One of the Russell Group Universities in the UK.

• located in Coventry (not Warwick), close to the Warwickshire towns, the very centre of the UK (making it easier for travels).

• 3 miles away from Coventry city centre (yes, all in miles here. Pening!)

• Two biggest cities in the UK, i.e. London & Birmingham, are just 1 hour and 20 minutes train journey away, respectively. 

and based on my experience for the past 1 month, these are particularly the things that I like about the university:

• The Islamic Prayer Hall: Wow, just wow..BIG with HEATED ablution facilities, kitchen and the all-amazing WATER HOSE in the toilets!!! which is also heated!..though the heat can 'take you by surprise' at first! So go easy ya... ;D and it is just next to the Chaplaincy. 

• Rootes Grocery Store: A very convenient university's own supermarket. A tad expensive but ok for you to grab some random snacks or quick lunch/dinner meals with quite an impressive selection of Vegetarian and Halal Indian food and sandwiches. Alhamdulillah.

• Restaurants & Cafes: Yerp, still about food. There is a WIDE selection here. But, of course being Muslims, your choice is a lot more limited than others but I think for a university in a Western country, the options for halal and vegetarian dishes are quite amazing. There are Xananas, Cafe Library, Cafe Social, Le Gusta, Costa Coffee, to name a few. Of course we can't go to these places daily (because of financial limitations), but it's wonderful to have that option on some of the days you forgot to bring some packed lunch/dinner. Another wonderful thing is that we can treat our student card as a prepaid card for food via 'Eating at Warwick' scheme. You just need to topup some money on the card and enjoy 10% discount at all these uni-based cafes/restaurants (except Costa, though). and many Malaysians flock to Cafe Library on Fridays  for its signature Fish & Chips during lunch.

• Study spaces: Warwick surely understands students' diverse learning styles. Some need to study in dead silence, in an acceptable level of quietness, or in a totally casual atmosphere. You can be sure there's a place that suits you best. As for me, I like the Postgraduate Hub which is a little noisy as I am a 'casual' learner who cannot learn in silence. Dead silence is the creepiest for me. Actually I am not a library kinda person. Rarely in the past that I studied in the university. But I need to go to the university now to 'run away' from my kids. hahaha... Can't focus much at home as there will be a couple of skinny and chunky little creatures calling out my name every 10 seconds. But my husband and I are taking turns to go to the university, to be fair and to save up on childcare services. Just make do with what we have. Alhamdulillah. 

Pg Hub

• CAL: I love my department CAL (Centre for Applied Linguistics). Very casual atmosphere! As usual, staff members in a Western university never really care about being called a Prof or a Doc. We call by our first names. CAL is super small. Which turns out to be a good thing! It is just one wing on the first floor of the Social Sciences building. but lectures for MA students may be conducted in other buildings too. and I love its positive attitude. On the first day of Induction, we were happy to be informed that almost 100% of previous PhD students in CAL managed to complete their studies within 3-4 years. Now, that's motivating! and also the fact that I have the awesomest supervisor!!! She's a German and she guides me a lot in reading. She's known for her kindness and full support for her supervisees. and it turns out that we believe in the same thing, that is to WRITE from the beginning. READ & WRITE right away. We meet once a fortnight. I would need to email what I have written with a list of biblio and reflections one day before our meeting. She would respond with detailed comments within a few hours..I would read those comments and we discuss on that during the 1-hour meeting the next day. I am not required to be constantly on campus. One disadvantage at CAL, though, is that we are not even given one room or personal workspace at CAL. It is a small department with very limited rooms. There are only shared research rooms in which you need to share. Seating is on first come first serve basis. I don't really like that (I mean sitting at a table where other people's stuff are all over the places) so I would just go to PG Hub for studying. The good thing is, the supervisor doesn't get a chance to stalk me at all! hahahaha... 

• Tesco & a small shopping place: Uuh yeah, Tesco hypermarket is just 10 mins walk away from my department. It is located within Cannon Park Shopping Centre which is quite a pathetic looking small mall, but oklaaaah. Actually, it is practically within the university area. Tesco is where our family does our grocery up to now...but we heard Aldi and Lidl are cheaper. So, we'll see! But Tesco's location is super convenient!

• Beautiful views along the way to/from the university: And personally, I think you can only truly feel it when you are walking or cycling to the university. It is worth the 40-mins walk journey from home.
  

Warwick university is slowly finding its way to my heart.. but UK, hrmmm...a long way to go. What to do, NZ has set quite high standards in my expectations of life on a foreign land in a Western country. ;)

Will share more later, Insya Allah.

Salam. Ciao.

First post: From Coventry with Love (or NOT!)

Hi all,

Greetings from the land of the...English??

I am writing this in between doing my readings so I expect this is going to take forever... But at least I managed to move my lazy fingers to type out something on this platform.

It has been 1 month and 13 days since our whole family was "sent to Coventry". 

There are a lot of things to share actually because surely a 43-day experience on a foreign land offers new insights at all sorts of levels imaginable. 

Even a mere blank stare at the streets can make you feel, "Damn what have I done to my life??"

I will TRY to make this post as short as possible (by MY standards). Other intricate details will be shared in the subsequent posts, insya Allah. 

Maybe I should just do bullet points:

• I'm glad that my family members and I survive this challenging journey. Moving to a foreign country with a family consisting of 2 small kids has proven to be quite an ordeal. But there's a deep ambivalence about this perception as the source of the ordeal is also your source of SUPPORT. You get what I mean? In simpler words, Yes, kids are not easy; even to bring 'em to the nearest 7 Eleven store in Malaysia can take a careful 1-hour planning. and a husband who is also doing his PhD TOGETHER WITH you is another thick different chapter in my autobiography; BUT they are also the people that you turn to in order to make things right, they will make you feel that all the sacrifice made is all worth it, insya Allah. 
• Ok, so bullet points have proven to be a failure. Coz that was practically a paragraph, huh?

Ok fine. No bullet points. 

Hrm basically you get an idea that my first 1 and a half months here have not been exactly easy. First because of different family factors, and second is -- because the house we are renting is UNFURNISHED. Totally togel like that, you know! But things are better now, and I will share how we cope with this issue later.

AND I have been dealing with lots of self-related issues here too:

1. Am I fit enough for a PhD programme?
2. Why the heck can't I drive here? What are you so afraid about, Azrin???
3. and basically, what the fudge am I doing here? I miss Shah Alam!!! Bring me home!!!

Ok enough of all the negative sides. I will write more on that later. 

Essentially, the positive ones for now are TWO:

1. I have AWESOME supervisors! 
2. My kids are free from any respiratory problems (for now). Fresh clean air and water!!!

Alhamdulillah.

Which I will explain more later too. 

Yes, in the midst of getting to know the UK culture and all, sadly it seems at the moment that the cons outweigh the pros. 

and my 43 days experience so far seems to indicate that New Zealand is a lot better in many sorts of ways. Biased, invalid, and misleading, I know. 

So I will try my best not to make any conclusive judgments first. Let's wait and see. 

In the meantime I will keep on praying (and pray for us too please) that I will fall in love with Coventry as much as I have fallen in love with Gombak, Wellington, and Shah Alam.

Talk more soon. Ciao. 

Salam 

Do You See Me?

Holding stories to be unfold, 
Disentangling hair in a hurry,
Worldly matters must not be put on hold,
Do you see me?

Folding papers into planes, 
And drawing dinosaurs for mummy, 
She is too engrossed in worldly pains,
Do you see me?

I am saying new words,
You are focused on worldly music,
I walk, smile and stumble, 
Do you see me?

Putting a smiling facade all too often,
Masking dissatisfaction, eluding responsibilities,
Worldly expectations, oh yes we are governed, 
Do you see me?

Physical lights illuminating the senses,
Worldly conformation clouding the deen,
You mention My name, at the tip of tongue and fingers, 
Do you even "see" Me?

The last day of POT course

Salam peeps.

Sorry for the delay. Here are some more reminders given from the course last week.

• LIMITATIONs of study: Things that are beyond your control. (e.g. time, money)

• DELIMITATIONs of study: Things within your control. Things you can set. (E,g. area of study,  type of sample).

• Make detailed plans, preferably weekly plans once you start your PhD journey.

• You are who you believe you are. So have positive thoughts, please?

• Find a friend who is also serious in completing his or her PhD. Motivate one another! 

• Be positive!

Yes, I am still that positive and composed owl on the left:

Start finding you potential examiner and know him/her well:

• 
  
  
  
  Syukur. Always.
  
  
  
  
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  Ciao. Salam.

PhD Tips: Day 3 POT course.

These are are the titbits of Day 3 & 4 of the 'PhD on Time' course:

General:

• PhD should be the MOST FUN part of your study journey. 
• You must have the THIRST for KNOWLEDGE.
• You can get the BIGGER PICTURE by browsing through online theses databases such as MYTO and ADT.
• In citations, prioritise TIER 1 and TIER 2 journals. 
• Must find literature that both SUPPORTS and CONTRADICTS your ideas and expectations.
• The terms THEORETICAL and CONCEPTUAL framework are many times used interchangeably. But for those who use them differently, theoretical framework usually refers to  the framework that has more depth, i.e. more complicated and of course includes theories, not just variables. However, different schools and supervisors have different definitions of the terms, so better clarify with our own supervisors. 

Introduction:

• Chapter 1: Introduction --> Background to study [BS] --> Statement of the Problem [SP]--> Research questions [RQ] (should work like a funnel, i.e. from the most general (with laymen terms) to more specific ones: 
• BS is like a MINI LITERATURE REVIEW [LR] where you must cite the GURUS of your field of interest to form the SP
• SP is like a mini LR to form your specific RQs.
• RQs will guide your whole research.
• In the SP, do not overclaim by saying that there have been NO studies done yet in the area you want to work on. Check via all sorts of DATABASES first and even so, use 'softer' terms, NOT 'NO'. 
• RQs: There can be sub RQs as well 

Research Methodology:

• Research DESIGN is NOT the same as research METHODS. But your research methodology chapter should start with your research design. 
• RESEARCH DESIGN examples: Descriptive, Experimental, Correlational, etc
• There are many TYPES of TRIANGULATION, not just methodical. 
• Instrumentation: ADOPT, ADAPT or CONSTRUCT
• Don't forget RELIABILITY & VALIDITY. 

All in all:

• Write a REFLECTION each  time after reading. PEN YOUR THOUGHTS! 
• Have several BACKUPS.
• REWARD yourself when you have done some substantial work. 
• READ, READ & READ

A couple of snaps that may be useful to you and me:

Criteria for adequacy in quantitative and qualitative study.

'

If you want to publish according to the different parts of your thesis:

These are NOT my ideas. Simply what I have jotted down during the course. 

I believe this is just a recall for many of you, especially those who have started and graduated.

You may read more on these if you are keen to know more.

All the best peeps!

Salam & Ciao!

Phd On Time Course

Ok so I registered for the above-mentioned course in UiTM. 

Some may wonder:

• Am I going to embark on a PhD study journey?
• Am I already a PhD student?
• If not,  then aren't you currently going to weekly classes in UPM?

Hrmmn, the answer is YES for all three. 

Confusing, I know. 

And I can only give a clear answer by the end of September, insy Allah.

For now, things are very much fuzzy, so there's no point sharing them. 

So I attended the course more for preparation, recall sessions and the motivating words. I need all these.

I went to the same course in November but I think I have forgotten like 80% of it already.

Yes, I am THAT forgetful. 

So, if you are not a genius, don't act like one. 

So since it is FREE and I am very attracted to free knowledge, I registered for this course and am still in the midst of digesting all the important details. 

I just want to share the gist of what I have learnt:

Day 1: 

• Have a clear aim to finish PhD on time from the beginning. If you think you will procrastinate, you WILL procrastinate.
• PhD is ultimately for knowledge advancement. Other things like career advancement and the 'Dr' title are just bonuses.  
• Always justify with literature, literature, literature. 

Day 2: 

• Look at the BIG picture first, then only you can solve the puzzle. Meaning, look at sample theses in your fields of interest first, then only you will have a clearer picture of the thesis writing conventions and how to start off. 
• Be balanced. PhD is tough but maintain sanity. How? By:
• socialising with others (many people go cuckoo during PhD studies. true.story).
• taking good care of our family (they are the motivation, NOT burden).
• most importantly, improving the quality of our relationship with The Almighty (After all, all these so-called novel ideas and ilham do come from Him).

That's all up to Day 2. 

Tomorrow will be a new day with hopefully more helpful tips and reminders to help accelerate my sluggish pace. 

Here are some snaps from the course (sorry, I wish they are brighter). 

If you need any notes that I have from this talk, just email me ya (norazrin@hotmail.com).

Literature Review is like telling a story:

The main parts of a literature review:

The activities of successful PhD students:

Knowledge-seeking is ibadah. It never ends and insya Allah

it will bring positive things in our lives. Aminnn...

I'm Far, You're Near

I'm Far, You're Near

Glimmer of hope
Questions about life
Unconditional love
Unearthed, blunt unlike a knife

The joyful noise
That you know you love
But every so often, despise
Turning the journey into one that is rough.

Those priceless moments
Of humanising beings
Seize them
Share them

The Almighty
Gives the opportunity
Letting love blossom
From outside and inside the womb

Children are beautiful
So do the guardians
Don't give way to evil
That curses loneliness upon blessed souls

Contentment
Gets fuzzy
Loneliness envelops
When you are most busy

Distance makes the heart grow fonder
Don't let that be the measure
For distance is just a figment
When far and near get entangled

And it makes no difference.

NZ

*Taken from my IG

I Will Leave

I Will Leave

One day I will leave
This world of uncertainties

Pretence and expectations collide
Within the heart of the weak
The heart blackens
Into a clot of greed

A greed for mortality
Of love, wealth and happiness
Insignificant and incomparable
To the promises of the All-able

Rely on humans and things
They will disappoint you
Trust upon The One
And He will guide you

NZ

*Taken from my IG

Azrin Dhazzy

My most common name used by friends = Azrin

My favourite nickname created by my Indian pen pal back in the secondary school years = Azzy

Darwish + Harith + Azzy = Dhazzy

Azrin Dhazzy ;)

Ciao Salam

Again

So I decided to be reborn on a spanking new blog.

After alllmmooosssttt 2 years of having the blogger's block syndrome.

Not much to say (soooo NOT Azrin!!). A little awkward huh?



But yes, basically I realise that memories often ebb away a little too fast.

And sometimes, words are more powerful than images.



The long absence from writing, frankly, has taken a piece of my identity away.

And I'm not going to let that happen again.



So here it is.



The old blog is still available, but only to selected people.

Not because of any poyo reasons.

Simply because of my awrah issues in my past ranggi life.



Whoops!



So my dear female friends can gimme your emails if you wish to be given exclusive tickets to read about my life from Welly years up to 2013.

Weks.



Till then. Please support my new blog.

and pray that I will be given enough fortitude and time to keep this going.



Ciao. Salam.