My week 8 of 2019
Last week was a good week for me. A lot of nice things happened. They made me realize how blessed I am. There were four big moments. Let me tell you about them.
The first big moment is the only one that really had to do with my road to Ph.D. I had a meeting with Dr. Ludo Verhoeven. Dr. Verhoeven will be my promoter. He explained to me that I am not yet on my road to Ph.D. To be on the road you need for the director of the University to declare that you are a promovendi. And it will be only then that you will get time to officially dedicate to your research. For dr. Francis de Lanoy, our university director, to do this he needs a good research proposal from me.
So we talked about more in-depth about my research ideas to make them clear. We discussed a lot of things. We also talked about what if I didn’t get the promovendi status from our director. Two weeks ago some possibilities opened and we discussed what was needed.
Dr. Verhoeven explained to me that the feeling I have about not having the time to dedicate to the research is very real. I will pursue all my options to get some time and I am sure that I will get at least two days to dedicate to research.
I realized that for now, I had to use my free time to get started. I enjoyed the meeting a lot and gained new energy.
At the end of next month, my proposal needs to have some body.
On the same day, I played a table tennis tournament. I played a lot better than the week before. I think I played the best I could for now. I play against men because there are only a few ladies playing the sport in Curaçao. I lost in the semifinals to the winner of the tournament, Ralph Wineth (17). My mother taught him to play. I had to play against my mom in the quarterfinals. I won!
My partner, Raul, explained to me what he thinks is missing for me to finish the games winning. I think that my physical condition plays a big role. As a martial artist, he thinks different. He thinks you have to go for your goal and only when you reach it you can worry about being tired. I do not think that I consciously stop playing when I get tired. My next challenge is to be conscious when I let the game go. I am wondering if this is something I can benefit from in my work too.
Do you know how many times I reached 10 before the opponent? I wanted to win, so I was disappointed but happy that I played well technically.
Every year they organize a night to award the best athlete, coach, team etc.of the year. This year it was organized the night before my birthday. This year they dedicated the night to 5 people who had done a lot for sport on Curaçao. My mother was one of them. For over 55 years she practiced sport (volley, basket, track & field, table tennis, tennis, long distance running, and maybe I forgot one). She has trained a lot of people and has been active in table tennis federation as a board member. She also had her own table tennis team. When training and coaching her pupils the won international prizes.
Here some pictures of her.
Mom and Dad.
Mom with the Monsignor of Curaçao, Luis Secco.
They first met when my mother was training children next to a church where Mr. Secco was a pastor at that time.
To read some more: http://www.cttb.net/edith-mac-leod-praised-by-fdok/
And then it was my 50th birthday. On one hand, it is a strange feeling, being that old, realizing that at least half of your time on this earth is gone. At the same time, it pushes me to do things I want to before leaving.
I had a nice quiet day as my partner had to work. Before that, he showered me with gifts. And last month we escaped to Miami to celebrate just the two of us.
Masha masha pabien, Mary-Ann. Mi ta orguyoso di bo komo eks studiante di PSC i aktual kolega na UoC. Eksito ku bo karera di PhD!
Masha danki Ange.
E kaminda ta largu pero nos ta dal bai. Mi ta spera ku mi por sigi konta ku bo sosten.
The life style of you and your mum is amazing and inspiring. Congratulations to you as you clock 50. It’s no doubt that you took after your parents in achieving greatness and impacting lives as well. I love the part that you engage your on a tennis challenge, it’s really fun reading about your life and achievements. You inspired me. Thanks alot.
I am happy to have inspired you.
We all have a story to tell and now that I am embarking on a new challenge I thought it would be great to write about as it develops.
As we live on a small island it is impossible for my parents to go somewhere without meeting someone they taught sports or academics in the past. It is a real pleasure to teach people things they didn’t know and see them use it and achieve greater things.
Thanks for your comments and stay tuned. There is more to come.
Thanks for sharing your activities. I just want to tell you that 50 is not old. I am female aged 65 who goes to the gym and does yoga. I am a musician, busy in many local and overseas gigs and projects. Your mom is beautiful and her involvement in sport must be the reason she looks great. Best wishes in your PH.D project.
You are welcome.
It is great to hear that life goes on and that you can still enjoy life doing a lot of great activities no matter your age.
My mom is an inspiration to me. She was the first female student finishing a technical study (higher education) in Curacao. She did this when my sister and I were already born.
Thanks for the best wishes.