What Major Is Right For You?

You scored as Psychology/Sociology, You should strongly consider majoring (or minoring) in Psychology, Sociology, or related majors (e.g., Counseling, Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology, Social Work, or other social science majors). It is possible that the best major for you is your 2nd, 3rd, or even 5th listed category, so be sure to consider ALL majors in your OTHER high scoring categories (below). You may score high in a category you didnt think you would--it is possible that a great major for you is something you once dismissed as not for you. The right major for you will be something 1) you love and enjoy and 2) are really great at it. Consider adding a minor or double majoring to make yourself standout and to combine your interests. Psychology and Sociology are both great minors to add to any major. Psychology/Sociology 94% Nursing/AthleticTraining/Health 88% Religion/Theology 63% History/Anthropology/LiberalArts 56% Education/Counseling 56% English/Journalism/Comm 56% HR/BusinessManagement 50% Physics/Engineering/Computer 50% PoliticalScience/Philosophy 50% French/Spanish/OtherLanguage 44% Biology/Chemistry/Geology 38% Visual&PerformingArts 31% Accounting/Finance/Marketing 25% Mathematics/Statistics 0% WHAT MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU? created with QuizFarm.com

It seems that the courses that I'm taking now matches all top 3 fields that is best for me;

Diploma in Social Science(Counselling) under Education/Counselling is ranked 5th, but Diploma in Counselling is just one of the pathways I choosed to achieve my Degree in Psychology, which is top of my list.

Certificate in Buddhist Studies under Religion/Theology ranked 3rd while ISSA Personal Trainer Certification under Nursing/Athletic Training/Health ranked 2nd.

Did I mention that I ticked on Diploma in Sport and Exercise Science as my second choice after Diploma in Social Science(Counselling) while filling up my college's application form?

Private Institutions That Offers Undergraduate Psychology Course - via American Degree Programme

Let's go for American Degree Program!
Warning: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DO SUCH ARTWORK WITH JALUR GEMILANG

In my previous write up, I was focusing more on private institutions that offers undergraduate Psychology course based on UK and Australian education system. Whereas In the United States, they adapt a totally different system. They adapt the system of Liberal Arts.

Unlike UK based education system where the syllabus has been set since from Pre-University year until students finally graduate, Liberal Arts give students a considerable amount of freedom to choose their subjects, which consist of;

General Papers

• Compulsory to be taken

• Consist of papers from various fields such as Communication,Computer,Mathematic,Social Science, Arts and Humanities, Natural Science, English etc

• Certain amount of subjects are set by institution that has to be taken by students, on the other hand students are allowed to choose certain subjects related from the fields mentioned above that interest them. [ eg: In the field of Humanities, the institution requires student to choose 2 subjects out of the offered 5 subjects. ]
  

Major Related

• The name says it all. It's also known as the Core Requirements or Requirements for Specialization.

• A certain amount of subjects are being set by institution that has to be taken by students, another certain amount are to be chosen by students. In another words, students choose their Elective of the Major.
  

Elective

• The widest range of subjects are available in this slot. Some might not be related to your major at all.

How the actual system works might vary from different institutions to another. So i'll just write roughly about it.

The minimum requirement for Malaysian students to enroll into ADP is SPM or it's equilavent.
It will be a 4 years duration of study years and the indication used on students to indicate the level of advancement are Freshmen(1st year), Sophomore(2nd year), Junior(3rd year) and finally Senior(4th year).

By Junior year(3rd year), students are required to declare their Major, and to graduate with a major, students are required to have a good amount of courses for them to be an expert in the field chosen. For example, a student who choses Psychology major, but only done two courses on Psychology, sounds unrealistic isn't it? That student has to take courses that makes him/her familiar with the basics of the different fields in Psychology.

And finally, to graduate, student has to fulfill a certain amount of credit hours. 100 credit hours for instance. You've accumulated 50 credit hours from your Core subjects, and you'll have to accumulated another 50 credit hours combined from both Minor and Electives paper. If student thinks that it's useless for them to study unrelated subjects to their major, they can still choose elective of their major. It's up to students to be narrow or broad.

*credits to Lowyat.Net forumers for sharing information that contributes to the write up above.



Usually private institutions in Malaysia offers student 2+2, where 2 years program are completed locally, and the remainder of 2 years will be completed in their respective Universities overseas. So basically Freshmen and Sophomore years are done locally, while Junior and Senior years are done overseas.

• Taylor's University College - American Degree Transfer Program
• Sunway University College - American Degree Transfer Program
• HELP University College - Department of American Degree Program
• Inti International University College - American Degree Transfer Program
• Nilai International University College - American Degree Transfer Program
• Stamford College - North American Degree Program
• SEGi College - Faculty of American Degree Program ( 4+0 programme with Upper Iowa University )

The number of institutions offering American Degree Transfer Program is not limited to the list above. Those that are not listed above means their institution doesn't offer Psychology in their American Degree Program list. This could be due to the institutions lacking on resources.

Private Institutions That Offers Undergraduate Psychology Course

As far as we know there isn't many Private Institutions offering undergraduate Psychology course in Malaysia. Being a student who is interested to pursue a degree in Psychology myself, I used to face difficulty on getting information that I wanted/needed after I completed my SPM(equivalent to GCE "O" Levels). When I was at college, I was quite surprise to find that most of my course mates doesn't know WHERE and HOW to acquire for such information. They just enroll and study without knowing what's their next direction?

I'm doing this writeup hoping that it will be useful to prospect students of Psychology. Take note that I'm not endorsing any of the institutions mentioned nor being affiliated to them. This will just serve as a shallow platform of information and It's based on my personal survey with limited resources, therefore I do not guarantee full accuracy of information provided as institutions mentioned might alter them from time to time.


To date, there are 5 private institutions that offers Undergraduate Psychology course;


HELP University College

• Offers their own 3+0 HELP University College Bachelor of Psychology(Hons) Program under the Faculty of Behavioral Sciences
  

• Students may also opt to transfer credits to leading universities in Australia, United Kingdom or New Zealand

Sunway University College

• Offers Bachelor of Psychology(Hons), a joint Honours Degree with Lancaster University under the Department of Psychology
  
  

University College Sedaya International

• Offers a 3+0 Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Psychology under the School of Social Science & Liberal Arts.

• Student may opt for UCSI's International Degree Pathway with Universties in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom or USA

Monash University, Malaysia Campus

• Offers 3+0 Bachelor of Arts with a few major to choose from, Communication, International Studies, Writing and Psychology. Offered under the School of Arts and Sciences.

• Under the School of Business Bachelor of Psychology & Business is being offered as well.
  

University Tunku Abdul Rahman

• Offers 3+0 Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) Psychology program under the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences(FAS)

All 5 institutions requires student to go through a Pre-University programme before being allowed to enroll into their undergraduate programme. It could be the generally accepted GCE 'A' Levels, STPM, AUSMAT, SAM, CIMP to name a few, or the institution's very own foundation programme. However, due to the fact that there is no 1 standardized foundation programme in Malaysia, every institution sets their own standard for their offered foundation programme. Students who opt for Institution's own foundation program may need to resit certain subject papers if they were to transfer to another institution.


My next writeup would be Private Institutions That Offers Undergraduate Psychology Course - via American Degree Programme.

Tunku Abdul Rahman College UK Collaboratives

I can't help but to post this information up just in case if there is any TARC-ian who might be facing dilemma on their progression route after Diploma. This writeup would just serve as a very shallow information based on my limited resources.

Based on my batch's prospectus (2006/2007), students who are interested in studying at United Kingdom for a Honours Degree will have to complete TARC's Advance Diploma, then they are entitled to proceed for a 3 months summer programme with either Liverpool Johns Moores University or Sheffield Hallam University depending on the course they are studying.

BUT, that's not the only choice. There are certain route that wasn't mentioned in the prospectus. Something that I just found out last night while surfing for information about UK Universities that offers Post Graduate studies in Sport Psychology.



Sheffield Hallam University actually has 3 special tailored programmes for TARC students. Not only the mentioned 3 months summer programme, but also Two Years Progression Degree Programmes for Diploma graduates and Continuation Masters Programme for those who graduate with Sheffield Hallam University degrees on the Summer Semester Programme or Progression Degree programme.


On the other hand, to pursue a Liverpool Johns Moores University degree, only Summer Programme is offered. Postgraduate Masters Courses are also offered, but totally different to what Sheffield Hallam University has to offer. Sheffield Hallam University's Postgraduate programmes are said to be specially tailored for TAR College students only. While Liverpool John Moores University are chosen ones deemed to be most suitable to students on the Malaysian Summer Programme.

If you still need any information with regards to the issue mentioned above, wait for the periodic visits of academic staffs from the respective University to TAR College.

Making Orders with Binabadan.com

Binabadan.com , one of the link shown on my sidebar, and a site which I got to know recently from Chrisdaanimal's recommendation.

Among those websites available on my sidebar links, I found that Binabadan.com has the cheapest pricing among all. ONS 100% WHEY Gold 5lbs is only being sold at RM165, that's RM15 cheaper compared to my tub of WHEY that I purchased from EGOnutritions back last month.

I was talking about me not getting proper Pre-Workout and Post-Workout meals in here, so I made an inquiry to Bidabadan.com regarding Pre-Workout supplement that they have in store.

The store owner, Dave, recommended anything that contain caffeine, synephrine and mahuang or testosterone can boost your workout by 50 to 60%. At the time of correspondence, he only has two items in store available, M1T-Rx and BSN N.O.-Xplode. I never heard of M1T-Rx before, so I made my own research with limited sources via the internet about M1T-Rx and found this;

Is there any side-effects?

M1T-Rx contains actual androgen hormone characteristics, therefore may yield side-effects if taken more than the recommended dosage.

Headache may occur if user has never taken pro-hormone before.

WARNING!

THIS IS A SUPER STRONG STUFF. Please read the label carefully. DO NOT INCREASE THE DOSAGE. USE AS RECOMMENDED. PLEASE DO CYCLE THE PRODUCT IF YOU WANT YOUR LIVER! Take milk thistle daily. Drink plenty of water.

Not intended for use by individuals under the age of 18 or women. This product contains steroid hormones. If taken in the excessive dosage it may cause breast enlargement, testicle shrinkage, and infertility in males and increase facial and body hair, voice deepening, and clitoral enlargement in females. If you are at risk for prostate or breast cancer you should not use this product. Do not use this product if you have pre-existing medical condition such as prostate enlargement, heart disease or hormone abnormalities. Do not exceed the recommended serving. Exceeding recommended serving may cause serious adverse health effects. Possible side effects include hair loss, acne, hair growth on the face (in women), aggressiveness, irritability, and increased levels of estrogens. Discontinue use and call a physician or licensed qualified health care professional immediately if you experience rapid heartbeat, dizziness, blurred vision, or other similar symptoms. Use of this product may be banned by some athletic associations. Anyone subject to drug-testing or doping procedures (e.g. IOC, USOC, NCAA, IPC, IFBB) should consult their governing organization before using this product.

After reading the statement above, my testicles shrunk before I even started consuming M1T-Rx and I told myself not to be exposed to all the risks mentioned above even if it could bring the visible different in growth in just 7 days with M1T-Rx.

I've read alot about BSN's N.O.-Xplode from various sources about how good they are to get us pumped up for a workout, no matter what sports you are doing, they just work great. So I decided to order a tub of N.O.-Xplode 1.81lbs for myself to test how great it is considering Binabadan.com is only selling it for RM190 + RM10 for shipping ( EGOnutritions are selling them at RM253 for the same item ). But only Grape flavor was available at the time of buying and also was the last tub before the next batch arrives.

Banked in RM200 into Binabadan Enterprise's account on Thursday 11am. Item was shipped on Friday, and arrived to my house via Skynet at 11:30am Saturday. But, I wasn't at home.


But Skynet gave me a call this morning at 9am informing me about their delivery, and at 1:30pm, I got my hands on my 1st tub of BSN N.O.-Xplode. Thumbs up to Binabadan.com for a smooth transaction.


I'm really excited to get a taste of XPLODE from it. But I'll still have to be patient for the time being to treat my back injury. I hope to write up my personal review on my current Pre-Workout(BSN N.O.-Xplode) and Post-Workout(ONS 100% WHEY Gold) meal soon.





P/s: My dad is a bit paranoid about me consuming supplements. He believes in getting nutrition from natural sources from daily balance diet only, but for me, it should be a balance between natural sources from our balance diet WITH supplements. What more when it comes to bodybuilding supplements, where the first thing that comes into his mind when I mention "Sport Supplement" is Steroids.

So, I have to hide my tub of N.O.-Xplode inside my cupboard.

Chiropractic Treatment

I hurt my back on Tuesday, on Wednesday, out of curiosity, I googled about Chiropractor, and found www.chiropracticmalaysia.com.my. The nearest clinic to my home is at Taman Maluri, Cheras.

On Friday, my back did not get better, called up my regular orthopaedic doctor at 3pm but the nurse told me he was in the Operation Theater performing operation. Decided to try my luck to find Chiropractic Healthcare Associates with the only keyword I remember "Kompleks Maluri". Thankfully that a friend of mine was with me and she was familiar with the area I mentioned. Managed to find it easily.

At 4pm, stepped into the clinic and to my suprise the number of patients waiting for their turn for treatment/consultation. The receptionist told me to wait till 6pm, which then I went to a nearby shopping mall to have a meal and went back there at 6pm. Even if they told me to wait till 10pm, I would, cos the sore on my back was bad that almost every bit of body movement caused pain.

To cut the long story short, I was introduced to Dr Moira Robertson.

She did assessments on my back and then explained VERY clearly to me what had happen to me and did some adjustment on my back. After going for just one session, All I can say is, I STRONGLY recommend Chiropractic treatment for back problems instead of taking pain killers. As I've mentioned before in my previous post, taking pain killer just "covers up" the pain, but the root of the problem is not fixed yet, which Dr Moira too do not agree with her patients taking pain killers.

Went for my second treatment after lunch today and again, it just got better after today's adjustment.

My next treatment will be on Tuesday.

Lower Back Pain

In the past 2 years, I've strained my lower back a few times because lifting things that are heavy with a wrong posture. Instead of bending my knees and squat to pick the items up, I bend over and lift instead. Besides that, If I can recall clearly, sometimes I even twist my body to look behind or talk to friends while lifting the heavy item.

Two days ago, I strained my back again while playing a game where we had to build a human pyramid structure. I was one of the few guys who act as the base of the pyramid, lifting our friends up. All of sudden I can feel my lower back 'gave way' or the feeling of being PULLED.

I try not to take any muscle relaxer or pain killers because it only 'covers' up the pain with the underlying problem still there. Whatever body movement that will strain the back more will cause pain, While taking drugs to 'cover' the pain, we tend to move our body over the limit that causes strain, but not being aware of it. So it's damaging it more without knowing it. Another way of saying this is It's important to know that the pain is there to know the limit of my body movement and posture.

Went to google-ed about "Lower Back Pain" and there are hundread over websites providing information on Lower Back Pain.

I personally found these two sites very beneficial to me.

What You Need to Know about Back Pain
Low Back Pain: Tips on Pain Relief and Prevention

Trainers conduct workshop for fitness professionals

This article was published in the Metro Section of the Star newspaper on (28 July 2007) so I thought I'd put a copy up here before its lost to the archives.

By NG WEI LOON
Photos by SAMUEL ONG

weiloon@thestar.com.my

LOCAL fitness professionals and buffs were given the opportunity to learn the tricks of the trade from two master fitness trainers - Robert Sherman and Abbie Appel - from the Reebok University based in the United States recently.

They were in town for the two-day Reebok Resolution Asia Premier Fitness Certification Tour.

Sherman said their role was to impart knowledge on the latest techniques and equipment to boost the local instructors' level of fitness education and arm the professionals with the skills to train their clients better.

“We are impressed with the high level of energy displayed by the participants. And they certainly have the desire to improve. Their willingness to learn indicates that they are passionate about their profession,” he added.

Energetic: Participants in action during the training programme using resistance bands.

Sherman, who has been in the industry for more than 20 years said the growth segments in the trade were on personal, yoga and strength training.

Meanwhile, Appel said she was delighted with the participants' excitement in accepting new ideas in her debut appearance here.

“I specialise in stability ball workouts that engage the core muscles to work inside out. I also choreograph dance movements and incorporate sports drills in my fitness programmes,” she said.

Malaysia's master trainer Irene Lee was also present.

The three led the eager participants through various vigorous physical regimes.

Besides Malaysia, the workshop was also held in Hong Kong, Korea, India, Indonesia and Thailand this season.

Show of strength: Appel (front) and Sherman at the workshop.

“The workshop has been a regular feature in our calendar. We have been hosting this event in Malaysia for about 10 years,” said RSH (M) Sdn Bhd advertising and promotions manager Jay Mee Chuah, adding that the event drew about 50 participants.

As the climax to the two-day event, the participants took part in the Reebok Rhythm Challenge conducted by Lee.

The contestants were evaluated based on their flair, speed, endurance, physical condition, control, execution, energy and attire throughout the one-hour Hi/Low aerobic master class.

The top three winners received prizes worth RM2,300.

The best dressed female and male participants also took home RM500 worth of prizes each.

The event's co-sponsor included 100-Plus, Aster Spring, Brand's, Dermalogica, GNC, Gym and Care, Nestle, Pathlab and TruDtox.

Other partners were Maskulin, Nona, Rapi and Shape.

From Left: Irene Lee, Robert Sherman, Abbie Appel and finally, me! :D

Have been slacking

Yes, that is what is currently happening to me.

I'm in week 10 of my 4th semester, 5 weeks away from Finals, but I've not touched most of my tutorial exercises and worst still, lecture notes are not complete as it should be.

I think I need to take a break from the gym for a while, Or else i'll end up keep skipping college lectures for the sake of attending my favorite RPM and Yoga classes that clashes with each other at the gym.

Because of skipping lectures, I've failed 2 of my mid terms.

NO! don't teach me or come telling me you have to manage your time properly. That's not for you to tell me, not until you REALLY know how tight my schedule is balancing a few commitments at a time.

Currently, I'm pursuing;

1. Diploma in Social Science (Counselling) - Tunku Abdul Rahman College, Malaysia ( Full time )
   
2. Certificate in Buddhist Studies - Nalanda Institute, Malaysia ( Weekend course for 6 months, until December 2007 )
   
3. Personal Trainer Certification - International Sport Sciences Assiciation ( Open book with a time frame of 2 years )
   

3 academic certifications at a time.
Hardly have time to breath, so hard until working out at the gym is a problem itself.

For the moment, Priority will be my college's stuffs. So with 5 weeks to go, it's not too late to work things out yet.