Hello all.
This is the second iteration of my blog, it’s under a new name now. Kgang was just beginning to sound strange to me, tomsopinion while also strange was more me.
I’m probably going to write something later on today, I just wanted to get this hello out as this is technically the first official day of tomsopinion.com.
Yay!
Oh and let me know what you think of the theme. Should I switch back to the old one? Switch to something else? Or leave it?
There’s a few events in my life that have transpired over the last six months that some of you may not know about.
As many of my friends know the study of history is important to me. If I can, I want to pursue it as a career. I’m also the kind of guy that craves security and comfort. I enjoy routine.
A few months ago, as I was nearing the completion of my undergraduate degree, I became worried about the future. It’s one thing to plan and pretend to be ready for a possibility and quite another to be faced with it. I had always told myself that I knew what I wanted and I would chase it no matter what.
My plan (yes my conduct my life by plans and lists), since 2002, was to study and live in Europe. Let me go back a little further. I had applied to physics and history when I was entering university. I got accepted to both and I chose physics. Why physics? For the same reason I do everything else, it’s interesting. My interest in it soon gave way to interest in history and in the middle of my second year I found myself fumbling my courses to try and switch programs, from science/physics to arts/history.
I completed three years at university then discovered (amazingly) that I needed money. So I went off to work for twenty months. And I hated every single day of every single one of those twenty months. You might ask why I stayed with that employer for so long. To be honest I don’t have a good reason other than laziness. It was a well enough paying job for someone with a resume full of “fluff,” as some would call it. I had resolved however, to finish the history degree because I knew I wanted my life to progress in that field in some way.
I got back to school and finished the final twelve months of the program and earned that 4 year BA in seven years. Not all of my courses from physics could be used for the history, that’s where the extra year comes in, for those trying to keep up with the math.
It was during the final month or two of the BA however, that I began to worry. And what worrying I did. Here’s what about, “the choice” as I like to call it. To either follow the yearnings of my desire and heart or to submit to the cold reasoning of my mind. You see, I applied for graduate school in two places; the University of Oslo, Norway, for an M.Phil in Nordic Viking and Medieval Culture and to Wilfrid Laurier University for an M.B.A. (hence the post about the GMAT). As luck would have it I got accepted into both. Each application was strategically enacted to correspond to one of my two choices, the life of a scholar studying Scandinavian medieval history or the life of a business professional wheeling and dealing in the skyscrapers of tomorrow. It’s not that I was more interested in one part of medieval Europe over another (though I am now because of subsequent reading and self-directed immersion, Viking law is where it’s at), or that I desperately want to be a financial adviser to some large company though that would be cool too. These are just the areas of greatest interest to me. I frequently think about the notion of a never-ending life and more and more I realize I would like to be around a long time to see and learn, there’s so much to do.
Anyway, the choice has been made. I was helped greatly by those at Laurier who told me that since I got accepted once, I would almost certainly be accepted again. I’ve decided to attend the University of Oslo and then if needs require it return and complete the MBA. If I should happen to win the lottery while in Norway of course I won’t be returning to do the MBA, or working at all for that matter (at least on someone else’s clock).
My ultimate goal is to live and work in Europe, as a leader of some sort, for social change. Both academia and business allow for this and that’s an added benefit. Though I suppose almost every line of work allows one to become a champion of society. It’s just that academia and business can easily put one out in the forefront of public awareness. There’s also a reason I choose Norway specifically and that’s because there’s a girl there I’m very much in love with. That story though, is a post for another day.
That friendly fella Josh, from System13.org has invited me to share seven random things about myself. I guess in the internet world they’re called "memes." I prefer to call them… surveys. Though since they’re random things I guess no one is really asking them and therefore it’s not really a survey, however, I maintain it’s a survey.
2. I LOVE maps, the older the better. I could spend hours staring at them (as I could at paintings). I just get lost in them.
3. I want to become a history professor.
4. I love science, specifically physics and astronomy. When I was younger I wanted to become a theoretical astrophysicist. Neutron stars and naked singularities are just cool. I also love science fiction but that’s another matter.
5. My favourite TV show growing up was the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; I hated Michelangelo and disliked Raphael. Donatello and Leonardo were my faves.
6. Subtle humour, understatement, and wit are the forms of comedy that tickle me most. I’m usually the only one in the room who bursts out laughing at a subtle joke. I don’t know why but I just love that kind of humour.
7. I honestly believe that reading is the best hobby a person can have. Anyone who reads is automatically (and probably mistakenly) raised a few rungs in my estimation.
Well, that’s seven. These things kind of make one kind of take a look in a mirror don’t they?
I had a friend who taught me how to play chess. Unfortunately, I’ve lost contact with that friend, it’s something I wish hadn’t happened.
The story begins with an amateur chess club in the seventh or eighth grade. I can’t quite remember what year I began playing and to be honest I don’t think it was ever an official club of any sort. We would just stay in and play during recesses and lunches.
Before that though, I had no clue how to play chess. I mean people tried to teach me at various points in my life but it never stuck. For some reason, when I became friends with this certain fellow, chess became much more appealing. You see, he played chess and his enjoyment and passion for it made me want to play it. I guess somehow we got to talking about chess and I must have expressed my interest enough to convince him to teach me and patiently play with me until I could offer some modicum of challenge.
In the eighth grade we were asked by a teacher if we wanted to participate in a city-wide chess tournament, it was only for elementary school students. By that point, with my competitive nature, I felt I was ready for it. My friend jumped at the chance, he’s like that. The school transported us to the game site and there the few of us chess-heads played.
The tournament didn’t have teams, we didn’t represent a school or anything, it was every man for himself. There must have been about 30 or 40 competitors. My friend and I were placed in different groups. I can’t quite remember but I believe there were four or five players in each group. I managed to defeat all of those in my pool and it seemed that my friend defeated all of those in his pool. Somehow, we ended up facing off at the final game.
I had never defeated my friend once to that point. He was a much stronger player. But we played nonetheless, the match began and my friend made many stupid errors. I won that game. I smile about it now, because it was the first time I had defeated him and it was such a grand circumstance in which to do it.
However, in my heart I knew I didn’t really win. You see, we were under unfair time pressure. Games were timed of course as they usually are in chess and we had expected a certain length of time to play that game. The tournament officials told us otherwise though, we had much less time to play, the end of the day was drawing nigh. The errors my friend made were simply the result of people standing over his shoulder telling him to hurry. He was a gracious loser though and always claimed that the victory was fairly mine. To him a game was a game was a game, regardless of time or audience pressure. I disagreed with him then and still do. But I will never forget some of the details of that day. It’s funny how you remember certain people with certain events in your life.
Since that eighth grade tournament until about two years ago (say 10 years or so), I have won two games against this friend, and he’s wiped the floor with me more times than I can count. I only have two other friends that play chess, both out of the country though one is coming back in July. It is a little sad that I don’t really have anyone to play chess with though.
It stands for Graduate Management Admissions Test.
I wrote the GMAT on the 11th of June. I’m considering business school you see and almost all business schools require a certain GMAT score as part of the admissions process. I got 610 out of a potential 800. The average is 530 and most schools require 550. The nature of the program I applied for demands a slightly higher academic component to make up for the lack of business management work experience (which I have little to none of).
Writing of the GMAT requires, in most cases, fingerprinting and a photograph as well as a signature, don’t ask me why. Check out the fine print though:
You have agreed to the terms and conditions set forth in the GMAT® Information Bulletin including without limitation those related to testing; score cancellations; exclusive remedies for testing/scoring errors; examinee misconduct/test irregularity policies; privacy policies; collection, processing, use and transmission to the United States of your personally identifiable data (including the digital photograph, fingerprint, signature and video recording collected at the test center), and disclosure of such data to GMAC®, its service providers, any score recipient you select and others as necessary to prevent unlawful activity or as required by law.
I don’t know if the US government having this kind of data would bother you, but it bothers me. Funnily enough, there’s no way around this. It’s possible to not take the GMAT. If you want to apply to business school you have to take it, in Canada and in many countries of the world. I think that’s crappy.
Hopefully I won’t have to rewrite it. If the competition is strong enough I might have to I suppose, alas I won’t worry about that now. In about three week’s time I should know better whether I’ve been accepted or not. I will keep you posted.