Post Mortem: Sem 2 (Part 2 of 2)

The second chapter of this post mortem deals with what went right, or the things that i believe helped me do well this past 2 semesters

If there was one thing that i'm thankful for, it has to be for my awesome friends and teammates.
In CPU, a large part of our coursework involves group projects. I've done quite a variety of things, opening an underwater hotel, presentation on superglue,creating a complex thingamajig that raises a flag, Shakespearean theater, you want a revolving theatre ? done that too bro. The key to success in these projects and i suppose life in general is, TEAMWORK and COMMUNICATION. Its gravely important to establish that connection between teammates. Rather than focusing on self-interest, always focus on the interest of the group in general. I admit, i am quite keen on controlling things and when i see people doing more than me, i just can't help but feel like a spectator not contributing a thing. However, throughout the projects i did realize that a team has many functions and rather than focusing on a single thing, do others. If one is building, one is troubleshooting. you should do something else, perhaps writing. managing.recording. motivating. hey ! motivating can be a job too you know. morale is especially important in a team. break the morale, break the team. Keep the morale, keep the faith, thus keep the goal in sight.

Throughout all my projects, i've always been very lucky to get very good teammates. My IB group with Jung and Sheng. Chem Team with Bee Li, Shiuh Sen, Mudin, Alvin. Calculus with Akmal and Aaron.Physics with Afiq and Akmal. English with Jiunn Sheng, Bee Li, Kar Yi and Alvin. If there is one thing i must say, it was that all my teammates worked so hard for the team and contributed a lot of ideas for the group. Everything just went so well. All those memories. All the moments. All the friendships formed and strengthened. All the laughs and tears. They were all worth it. Thanks guys :D


Another thing id like to touch on is how important friends are in CPU. It can bring either a positive or negative effect. I've seen how friends can make someone drown their own voice and become a follower. I've also seen how friends can drive a person to succeed and become his own person. It's really up to you, to follow the crowd or to carve your own path. Looking at how optimistic and passionate my friends were in what they did, it made me think, what did i want to do in life ? What was my goal in life ?

My friends were also a great source of knowledge and comfort. Having a confidante, a person whom you could tell anything was such a gift i didnt have in early high school. It was such a relief to let go of some steam, perhaps some frustrations, about assignments or other things. I suppose that in a way helped me cope with the high level of stress you experience in the course. The deadlines in the course are insane. On one day, you might have 2 quizzes and 1 final exam. The next day is your final ISU presentation. I literally was a mess of flesh and bones, didnt eat, didnt sleep properly. Thankfully, my friends were there for support, random joke here and there. It made the experience much more pleasant.

In terms of knowledge, I am thankful to have many of the brightest minds in Malaysia with me. Besides my teachers, i also have to thank my friends for teaching me as well. I was never short of help. Everyone was kind and willing to offer a helping hand. It is true as they say, the hand that gives is better than the hand that receives. One day, I hope to repay the kindness of all my friends. Thanks again guys :)

Day 2

Never underestimate the things you can learn in a supermarket

1. Applying logical fallacies.
Observe the said picture above. "Membantu anda berjimat". Helping you to save.Well, sure, Tesco is one of those wholesale brands that constantly brag about how cheap their stuff is.
However, thinking about it again, the statement itself is an appeal to the wallet. The advert is basically saying, 'save money, spend here'. Which in a way contradicts the whole idea of helping you to save because your gonna SPEND money anyway.

2. Mushrooms are actually from...............China (nowadays)
Ever since I was a child, my experience from mushrooms normally came from
a)Pizza Hut and Pizza places
b)Super Mario
Those 2 experiences alone has strengthened my belief that
no 1. Mushrooms are from Italy
no 2. Red ones make you grow, Blue ones make you shrink, while green ones give you a 1 up.

If you look real closely on the packaging of the cans themselves. Pretty much all those mushrooms came from China, which inevitably made me feel worried about ingesting the mushrooms. I may have been one mushroom away from being paralyzed for life.
Oh well, at least they taste good in Spaghetti Bolognaise (pardon, i dont speak pasta)


Programming is going pretty swell id say
Learned how to make my own calculator. Technicalities aside, programming is pretty straightforward. perhaps i havent been tested on the real hard stuff. But so far, its been pretty conventional. Nothing mindblowing just yet.

int ayam, babi, telur
std::cout <<"enter ayam" ;
std::cin>>ayam;

std::cout<<"enter babi" ;
std::cin>>babi;

telur = ayam + babi

std::cout << " telur is " << telur << std::endl;

return 0;

correct me if im wrong, which probably is because this was what i remembered

Happy Days :D

Day 1

Highlights of the day

• Waking up early and watching HIMYM ! It was one of my favourite episodes about Famous Last Words. Really insightful and makes you wonder what your last words to your loved ones would be

• Taking the bus to Taylors College during the rain and borrowing one big ass book about computer programming. For some reason, it was not as dumbfounding as i thought it would be. And it was quite interesting to read up on how the computer works. I think this just might work out

• Lunch with A&A. Persuaded them to try the Longan Milk. Complained how large the portion was. In the end, the jar was completely clear of longan and milk and everyone enjoyed the food.

• Went on public transport, realized that we stopped at one station where my mom had once dropped one of my previous maids. She was the first maid i had and she was really nice. I wonder what happened to her ?

• Ran a few rounds at the Kiara Park. Honestly felt a bit out of shape, leg was burning on the 2nd round. Did 10 push ups. Cumulatively 20 for the day. Will increase by 10 daily.

Currently reading up:
The Prince
Pearson's Computer Programing
Fallacies and Logic

Working To Do List :

1. Self Study Computer Science
2.Go out with as many people as possible
3.Double my reading speed
4.Brush up on chemistry
5.Understand what the hell and how the hell a spectrometre works
6.Work out and Exercise
7.Read up the Carnegie's and De Bono's
8.Prepare for Umrah and other things
9. Forgive, Forget and Smile

Post Mortem: Sem 2 (Part 1 of 2)

Jan 2011- June 2011

As a whole, I think this semester ended pretty well compared to the 1^st semester. I have to admit, after the blunders I had to face in the 1^st sem, I wasn’t really aiming that high. My target was just to keep my 90 and judging by how difficult my subjects were this year, I was not too optimistic about making the grade here in CPU.

So, let’s begin with the analysis

My target was really simple

Judging by how my colleagues and seniors kept saying

Calculus with Ms Foo “ Die lor “

Physics with Mr tan “ Good luck la bro”

I only wanted to survive this sem, doing well was another question altogether

So problems:

1. Coping with Teachers

I was supposedly ‘lucky’ to get Mr Wise, Mr Tan, Ms Foo. The 3 teachers are known for their strict assessment, hard exams and no nonsense attitudes. My heart literally skipped a beat when I saw the 3 names coming up on my timetable. It was a good thing though that I knew 2 out of 3 of them as Mr Wise and Foo were my past semester teachers, so at least I had a fair bit of knowledge on how to handle them, how they mark and how they work. I’ll be honest and say straight out that, these teachers are going to pummel you to the ground if you don’t know how to deal with them. Ms Foo can get pretty fiery in class, so it pays to have a hard shell on when dealing with her. When she screams, its not that she wants You to cry or anything, it’s just that she wants you to respond. She purposely puts obstacles and fear in front of your face to test how brave you are to walk into the realm of the unknown.

Mr Wise is a disciplinarian. He works using tried and true systems. For every unit, you must have a notebook and he would always prepare the teaching plan 6 months ahead so that we are all informed of what is coming ahead. Mr Wise is not a fan of messy and disorganized work (I was guilty of that a few times) . So make sure you try to get everything as neat and organized as possible, it’s worth the time. Believe me. Mr Wise also encourages independent thinking and open inquiry. If you don’t understand what’s taught in class, Mr Wise would be more than willing to give you a more detailed and clear description of what you learned in class outside of the classroom. Another thing, for me the most interesting part about Mr Wise’s classes is that, he does not spoon-feed you but rather guides you through the units your learning. He helps you conceptualize your thoughts so that they are logical and understood. In other words, being in Mr Wise’s class makes you a better thinker as he allows you the freedom to express your thoughts in a logical and concise manner. He made me smart :D whee !

Mr Tan is a man of many professions. He is awesome with the drums as he is awesome in the classroom. He looks more of a rockstar than a teacher, but believe me, listening to him was like listening to Mozart conducting his famous orchestras. He explains physics in such a way that even a 3 year old would understand and giggle, because he makes so much SENSE. You come out of his classes feeling like you understood the meaning of life and in doing so, waste countless hours youtubing quantum mechanics and the photoelectric effect. AND YOU ACTUALLY GET WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT. He empowers you with the belief that physics is actually accessible and even….. FUN :D. Do well for the quizzes, do as well as you can for the lab and rubey. Don’t screw up that badly for the unit tests, they are difficult but they are not impossible to answer. That’s a recipe for a 90 average right there.

2. Dealing with Schedules/ Time Management and General Management

Contrary to popular belief, I believe time is platinum, not gold now. What im saying is please, please, please manage your time wisely. Even Napoleon Bonaparte’s secret to winning his battles was down to time management

“The biggest flaw that my enemy can make is to disregard the value of 5 minutes in a battle” or something of that sort

Seriously,

In the bus

Read a book

Before bed,

Read a page of Life of Pie or Kepler’s Law

While tying your shoes,

Memorize the periodic table

In the toilet or shower

Memorize the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy

While Going down the lift

Explain simultaneity to a person right beside you

Time is of the essence, seriously

And please, keep your stuff organized. I literally flipped my house upside down to find one lost piece of assignment paper and that alone took me the whole night. So not only I wasted one night, I also lost time for other things such as eating and bathing 0_0.

So don’t waste time

It also helps to be a bit more proactive,

After class, it would also not kill to take some time and refresh what you learned in class. I tried it out for physics where while waiting for Banana Leaf to send the food up to my room( easily 20+ mins). For some reason, once you do refresh yourself with what you learned, it is a lot easier to remember at a later time. And boy, time flies here. You are going to have at least one quiz and one unit test once a week so you have to be on your toes with the knowledge you have.

3. Basic plan on how to deal with assignments and projects

A large bulk of your marks will come from ISU’s. ISU’s are independent study units, they are literally the bread and butter of this course. If you can get a 90+ for your project, your certain to get an 80% average at least for your final sem marks. For assignments which require teammates, focus on establishing team dynamics. The groups with the most balanced (you have an inventor, a builder and a planner) setting is the most likely to succeed in projects. Always consult with your teachers, they know a lot about these assignments and how to do well on them so always inquire and ask for advice.

That’s enough for today, at another time I’ll post my solutions or things that helped me cope in CPU at a later date.

Dad

Wise, Committed, and Loving

Those are the words that i would ascribe to my dad and i'm sure most of you would say the same as well about your dad

They've been there for the worst and in the best of times. They beat the shit out of us but for some reason, we always come back better as a result of it.

Personally, I consider my dad to be a polar opposite of me. He seems to have an endless supply of friends. I mean my mom and i would get so annoyed sometimes that even the guy parking his car beside ours is also his friend and they'd talk for more than 10 minutes.But it goes to show, my dad loves everybody. He cares about people. He considers everyone to be worthy of his time and attention and to that extent, is what i think makes him such a great man and dad.

Secondly, my dad is as close to Arsene Wenger as Arsene Wenger. He's Arsene Wenger in the sense that he keeps the purse string as tight as possible. He tries very hard to save the money he earns not only for himself but for us as well. As children, we don't really see the motive behind these things, but as my siblings and I grew older, it became clear to me why he had to cut a few things in our lives. He constantly reminds us to always Plan ahead. not just today and tomorrow but 10 , 20 years ahead. I know now that i wouldn't need a financial planner in the future, because that's why i have my dad for

My dad (and I suppose my brother and I) have a certain swagger for words. My brother calls my dad a 'sweet talker' and by observing many of his conversations and phone calls, I mean if you can sustain a meet and greet to a 30 min conversation with Teh Tarik on the side. I'd say your pretty good with words. My dad has this certain aura around him. He resonates optimism and charisma through his words and actions.

Another thing i learned from my dad is his humility. He drives a very nice car. Normally people equate driving big expensive car= rich jerk showing off. I admit i did believe this as well. But one time, when i was at the petrol station with my dad. I realized something. Regardless of what car he drives,his car, my sisters car or my brothers or a kancil or a myvi, he always takes the time to use those wipers to give the car a nice wiping. He appreciates and values the things he uses, he never neglects them like some other people who dont even wash their car at all and just pay a car wash company to wash it for them. For me, that was when i realized my dad actually very humble and down to earth.

And i suppose, the most awesome part about my dad is

" Its okay for you to say no " and "Sorry"

Comparatively to other families, i think my family is very open in the sense that nothing is a 'law' and nothing is forced upon us. He doesn't force us to be on his side. He merely just suggests us what he thinks is the best in our interest.He encourages to ask and argue with him so that he can elaborate his reasoning. He doesn't really enforce us to do anything, he just wants the best for us And if he knew he made a mistake, he himself would also apologize to us as well. My dad and mother both are against the idea of disowning children and they always say to us that regardless of anything, they will still love us no matter what. Even my dad admitted himself that he went against his parents as well but in the end it turned out well for him so why not us as well. It was then that i truly realized

That parents are not suppose to be a pain but rather they are just helping you succeed in life.That's all it is and that's all there is to it

I may not be the ideal child. and i may frustrate both of you sometimes. But let it be known that i am still in debt to repay your guidance and kindness and i intend to remain faithful to that promise

HAPPY FATHERS DAY PAPA

I'll try my best to get you that Porsche
someday

Love
Eddy

Note to self

If there was anything i had done in my life
Anything....

This. takes the cake

Free from fear and rejection

I may have not won the battle
But i came back with one thing better than victory

Self-esteem