Category: Everything else

Good thing to remember for the week ahead, I think..

Good morning! :) Have a great day! :)

There was an incident once performed on 2 classes that had interesting results. I don’t remember the exact stats so I’m going to make them up.. It went something like this.

IQ tests were conducted on a class full of students and 2 groups were made out of them. The higher IQ group had an average of 120 while the lower IQ group had an average of 90. The idea was to give the smart ones special attention and the computer system grouped these into 2 separate classes for the coming year and in a funny computer error, mixed up the groups and named the ‘smart’ class ‘dumb’ and the ‘dumb’ class ‘smart’.

Now, the year progressed as per normal and IQ tests were again taken at the end of the year. What was observed was interesting –

-> The average IQ of the dumb class had gone up by a whopping 20 while..
-> The average IQ of the smart class had gone down by 10..

What made the difference?

The attitude of the teachers. When they were in the dumb class, they treated them as ‘slow learners’, never gave them the challenges necessary and in due time, dulled the mind while the opposite was done in the other class.

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The stats may not be accurate but I think it communicates the point..
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What we look for is what we see. Very often, external feedback, taints our opinion about a lot of things. I am not talking so much about reputation but more so about external points of view that keep popping in..

Feedback is always good and it’s important to listen to it with a balanced mind but it’s also good to remember that what we will see after absorbing these points of view is likely to change based on the color of the lenses of the spectacles we are wearing as well..

‘Everything can be filed under miscellaneous‘ – Dilbert

This is a collection of some rather random things that made up university life. I’m sure I’ve missed many but I guess I’ll add them in as and when I remember..

Birthdays: I’ve had 4 very cool birthdays here. My 1st one – the 18th had Mom making her way here and all of us heading down for reverse bungee, dinner at one of the café’s at Clarke Quay, followed by Bowling and then cutting a cake and WCP. This was followed by lunch again with Grandparents.. And then seeing family off followed again by a movie with friends. Pretty action packed I must say!

Things got quieter in the next 2 years. Had a nice midnight celebration with work team in year 2 at Swensens followed by Bowling again with friends followed by dinner! And the next year was a nice nice dinner at Dempsey Hill (Must go place for peace and quiet). Was freaking expensive though – remembering paying 12 dollars for a bottle of water!!

This year was also up there in terms of celebrations. My friends got together everyone from the ArtVibe and Sparkz team’s down for an awesome midnight celebration. This was followed by a busy day buying a few things and then a trip to the CASINO! It was a real ‘wow’ experience and a nice way to celebrate becoming ‘legal’!

Mom visits: Always always really special. Mom always makes it for byte sized visits because of free air travel thanks to Grandpa having retired from Indian Airlines(This has drastically reduced post recession). So, the only costs being staying here meant a 3 day trip every semester for the 1st 2 years..

Every time was crazy. One of them was a trip to Langkawi (coming soon..). Nice memories also were trips with Mom and the work team to Seafood Centre among others..

Job Hunt: How can I forget? All the best for all friends still fighting the good fight..

EE Labs: There was something dark and dreadful about these things. Fighting the dreadful feeling about the thought of navigating a 3 hour lab is going to be one thing I am going to remember for a long long time..

Oh, and lab reports, ugh!

EE2001: I had to mention this project module as a friend and I teamed up with 2 others, who were friends as well. Together, it was a permanent 2 on 2 duel.. I made my mistakes during this project and could have done better as a groupmate but I learnt a few important lessons. Went through a hellish 3 month period to learn those lessons though..

Borrowing my 1st library book in my 5th semester: This was a funny moment. I had somehow gone by all of my 1st 2 and a half years without borrowing a single library book.. And the book borrowed was from the Business Library – I guess that says a lot about my ‘education’.. :)

You can imagine how much I laughed about this..

This Blog: Probably among the better things that happened over these 4 years. It’s been a wonderful example of the Daffodil Principle (see here).

And it’s nice to go back in time and look at my first post (see here). :)

Someday, I should probably read through all the posts. Maybe when I’m home this summer! :)

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That’s all for the miscellaneous for now..

Sure there is a lot more.

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5 days to go..
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Addition:

Tuitions: There were also lots of fun times giving IT Tuitions to housewives and others from Gen X. It was a nice way to make $30 in an hour and also nice learning on how to teach.

PS: A friend pointed out that this post lacks the people element and looks like it’s been written in a hurry. I’m nodding to both! :) Over to my big lab report due tomorrow.. :D

Now, this one is a newbie. This one popped up right at the end and has changed a heck of a lot in my final few months here.

How did this begin?

My mentor called me up in August last year and said I will try and do 5 tasks in a day for 5 days this week i.e. 25 in total. Now, the interesting part was that each point would be worth 10 dollars. So, if he didn’t finish a task – the 10 dollars would come to me..

‘Why don’t you just be my ‘boss’ and check on me?’ – he said. And so, it began. Soon, this system got better and better where we soon integrated lots of other tasks that needed to be done, made it 10 tasks a day @ 5 dollars each. The system got better and better and soon, I began to see the benefits. Further inspired by the book called ‘You don’t have to born brilliant’, I decided that it was time to get organized..

Why did I wait 5 months?

-> I had always subscribed to the ‘go with the flow’ ideal.
-> I thought being organized meant being boring..
-> I always felt life would be like clock-work..
-> Would I have time for leisure?

The R15 System I use:

So, I tentatively began with a close friend as my ‘boss’. I’ll run straight into the system that I use now (this is an evolved version)..

I have a target of 10 points every weekday between Monday and Friday. 50 points and 50 dollars at stake, so for every point short, I basically lose a dollar to my friend. (Technically technically, I lose 50 cents and 50 cents gets into a bonus container which accumulates and is used to pay out for great performance eg: exceeding my 50 point target)

I split this is 6+4/7+3 P, PC tasks.

P or Production i.e. all tasks that involve work during the day. For eg: classes during semester. Attending a 1 hour class = 1point, 2 hr class 2 points. Doing an assignment = 1 pt etc.

PC or Production capability i.e. tasks for the future. My PC tasks typically are 30 min book reading, tri-weekly emails to family, daily fruit and vegetable, sports etc.

I started with a few additions that helped greatly. For example, I was notorious for breaking small commitments. So, every time I missed an appointment, I gave myself a -1. This greatly reduced the number of times I broke commitments, and also made me think twice before saying ‘Yes, I’ll do/make it!’. I’ve figured out that pain works much better than incentive. So, if something has to get done, then it’ll work best with a -2 rather than with a +5. We humans hate the thought of losing..

So, I basically start the week with a plan for the week which blocks all appointments. Then every day, I plan out the points pool (of 13-14 potential points for the next day) and then try and get as many. There are a few small rules – for example, some times tasks can take 5-6 hours and it is very tempting to have +5 or +6 allotted every day to these crises. So, I have a 5 point limit for a crisis.

Another thing that helps is picking 3 WIG/ wildly important goals and giving them 2 points each.

Thoughts after using it for 4 months:

The results have been wondrous. The amount of real leisure time I have on my hands as a result of this always tends to amaze me. The funny point about getting more organized is that very few things hog bandwidth because there are fewer crises. Besides, everything has a box. For example, I’ve been able to sustain weekly lunch appointments with a friend, something that would have been outside my capability level a semester ago. It’s not the big things that have changed, rather, it’s the small things like keeping those small commitments..

This post barely does enough justice to the system. And I’d be happy to explain it in detail to anyone interested in implementing it(There are already 2 friends who are on it now..haha). It can be done in small bits – for example, 2 other friends have a mutual deal where they have 4 dollars at stake for 2 hours of exercise during the week. Money is the best pain container because we HATE losing money. So, generally things get done. It helps build discipline.. which, in many ways, is character building because our word/honor soon tends to subordinate our moods..
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This R15 system has changed a lot these past months. I intend to continue using it once work begins. At the most basic level, it makes me plan the week ahead, plan tomorrow’s work today and makes sure I’m not losing sight of the important things..

Most importantly, it’s helped me become more disciplined. Now, who would’ve thunk?
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6 days to go..

The inspiration:

David was taking a walk in a park. He was walking behind a little girl and a Mom when he noticed a helium balloon in the happy 3 year old girl’s hand. A sudden sharp gust of wind took the balloon from the girl and David braced himself for lots of crying and wailing.

But, as the girl saw the balloon flying up, she gleefully said ‘Wow!’
Later that day, David got a call with an unexpected problem and just as he was about to say ‘Oh no!’, he remembered the little girl and said ‘Wow! That’s interesting. How can I help?’
Life ‘s going to keep us off balance by throwing unexpected problems. We can choose, however, to be frustrated or fascinated!

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I read this story 2 months ago and thought it was VERY cool. I thought it was a reaction worth scripting as I was traditionally an ‘Oh no!’ person every time I heard of a problem. Besides, I have always thought my reaction to trouble could be better. As I have realized now, it takes a while for an idea to become a thought and the thought to become an action. Finally, over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been seeing some positive results..

This week, for example –
-> My laptop started rejecting batteries(which is sad as I have to go back home where fluctuations are common = laptop will keep switching off..)
-> My 300 Gig External Hard drive has gone into stealth mode i.e. unrecognizable by comp and I’ve to get it checked on Monday.
-> 1000+ dollars owed to me thanks to Sparkz is going to take another couple of weeks. Already starved of cash flow..
-> Realized some extra work that needs to be done for an 80% lab report submission on Monday..
among others..

The best part -> For every one of these, I went – AH! Interesting! and laughed about it. I’m still a distance away from the ‘Wow’, but hey, here’s to getting there!

:)

It would be a shame if I did graduate and did not think the one thing that I was supposed to in NUS had changed my life in some way/defined my university life. Let’s put it this way, in a way that they told me very strongly that I didn’t belong in the engineering world in itself was probably among the bigger learnings I could offer. More often, what not to do serves us better than what to do (eg: don’t play with fire versus play with a ball, play with a racket – you get the picture..)

Now, being a not-so-faithful Electrical Engineering student, I’m not sure who is/is not going to feature on this list. So, here goes nothing –

1st Year

i)Prof Rajesh Parwani: I remember vividly attending the first few classes of PC1431 or Level 1 Physics and laughing hard at a few of Prof Rajesh Parwani’s jokes. That’s where the memory ends.. But it probably shows the power of humor. Don’t remember too much of the physics part but I remember him telling us stories of how Isaac Newton could have fought for the prize of ‘world’s biggest jerk’..

ii)Prof Victor Tan: Prof Victor Tan was our life-saver for MA1505 or Level 1 Math. He was the Professor whose webcasts every one of us non-class goers survived on. (Even the class goers come to think of it..) A deserving to-be- Outstanding Educator. Was an amazing math professor!

iii) Prof Dipti Srinivasan: It seems like we had a whole list of pretty good 1st year Profs. Prof Dipti made a module that seemed like horror then (EG1108 – Basics of Electrical Engineering – should have seen it coming right then!) to something pretty approachable. Distinctly remember listening to webcasts at 2x – and remember muttering that she was a great lecturer!

iv) Prof Gary Tan: 2nd half of CS1101C – hardly attended any classes. When I did, very good!

v) Prof Tan Suntec: Hmm, another SoC Prof. And another very good one. Pity it was CS1102C which ranks among the most nightmare-ish modules any non-programming student could imagine..

vi)Prof Brett Mcinnes: Now, here was an outstanding Prof. Another math lecturer who taught us MA1506. I still remember his very cool sense of humor with frequent jokes on NTU popping up in his lectures..

vii)Prof Peggie Chan: One of 2 fabulous CELC (Centre for English Language and Communication)Profs I’ve seen. Handled Critical thinking and writing. Reminded me of the school teachers you read about in Enid Blyton books – a real task master, reminds you of a very sweet grandmom and someone you love spending time with and annoying once a while. Just caught up with her yesterday and we were remembering the fun times..

2nd Year

Funnily enough, this one’s a blur. All I do remember is that this was an absolutely nightmare year in terms of modules. All those 2000 modules – I’m glad they are belong to my past now.. (pardon the geek humor now..)

I only remember Prof Ashraf (2nd half of EE2006 – Digital Design) and remember nodding in understanding for a few of the concepts.

3rd Year

i)Prof Matthew Linus: HR Prof – a very very good one at that. I remember him taking a lot of extra effort to help us get better and also taking in feedback from us on how he could do even better. Most HR classes were lots of fun and that’s down to him..

ii)Prof Ha Yajun: Prof Yajun was the 2nd half lecturer of EE2007 – Microprocessor systems. He also happened to be my tutor for the module. A very good teacher and also someone who was very encouraging..

iii)Prof Charanjit Singh Bhatia: Prof Bhatia was our team’s supervisor for our EE3001 – Technology project where we were to brainstorm a technological product, write a business plan for it and present it. He was a killer supervisor in terms of demanding work – very precise and knew exactly what he wanted. But, I still remember the many long discussions we used to have with him about the world.. All in all, a great teacher.

4th Year

i)Prof Ashwin Khambadkone: 2nd Half lecturer for EE3505 – Electrical Energy Systems. Even though I don’t have the most positive memories of the module, I was amazed at how Prof Ashwin conducted his classes. He was probably the only Professor I’ve seen actually ‘conduct’ a 200 people class. He managed to engage the whole class, go back to basics and was always very well prepared. Formidable!

ii)Prof K K Tan: 2nd half lecturer for EE3302(Industrial Control Systems). I loved Prof Tan’s part just for the fact that it was extremely well organized. It was very easy to obtain all materials like lecture notes(which were again very well organized), labs and the like. More so, the part was also very interesting. I liked his organization so much that I followed him when choosing my design module. Pity he only handled one half of the design module as again, that part has been brilliantly organized.. :)

iii)Prof Brad Blackstone: Probably among the better teachers I’ve seen throughout my student life. Just for the one fact that he embodied that being a teacher meant being a learner first. Always flexible, always open to new classes, he’s among the few teachers who actually came down to the level of us students and then took us up! I’d recommend ES2007S to every student who’s reading this and wants to learn practical life learnings in communication..

iv) Prof Albert Liang (and Kai Tak Lam): Respect where it is due for my FYP supervisor and PHD mentor. I’d entered my 4th year as a student keen to work hard and make some amends in what remained of university life. While all other EE modules drew on past demons (i.e. 2nd modules), my FYP Prof made sure that I was up to scratch in terms of understanding of concepts. We spent the 1st 2-3 months practically only improving understanding and then got to work..

He was an absolute pleasure to work under. While he did extract a sizeable amount of work, it never felt as such because he had very clear defined always! And also assigned Kai Tak, my PHD student mentor, who is as good a mentor as I could have hoped for.

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That sums up most of what I can remember from the various teachers in my university life. I’ve always thought Electrical Engineering was a well designed course for those very passionate and interested and it’s these Profs who made the learning experience excellent. Thank you if you are reading this! (Though the chances are probably very unlikely, except for Brad.. :))

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7 days to go..

Ha ha ha ha..

Happy friday and weekend! And all the best for exams for all university friends! :D

It seemed only natural that I’d follow Sparkz with ArtVibe, my other baby during this final year. How ArtVibe happened is something I have a bit of a laugh about. I was 3 days away from catching my flight back home and I had just decided that I’d be spending my last year enjoying life as a student. I was looking for an exciting project or 2 to work on. Sparkz was in the ideation stage and I wasn’t sure if it would go through. Now, ArtVibe was a club I had seen a close friend run for a year and somehow, it hadn’t picked up from an encouraging start. So, I was very eager to do it to both help the club up and also bring this friend back to painting as he’s quite the pro..

I accidentally happened to meet one of the more passionate members and realized that they were unsure of what would happen to the interest group. And I readily jumped in – took her email address and said I’d follow up. I did.. And soon, we were ready to roll..

Oh, and if I didn’t mention it, I can’t paint or sketch or do anything art related for nuts..

1)The beginning: The biggest challenge here is that we had no team. So, there were 3 of us who began working on this slowly. We had a welcome tea before we knew it – we decided we would do little but try and do it well. Despite our lack of funds, we spent on a nice venue (Celadon Room, NUS museum) and we had a decent turn out – some of whom seemed very passionate.

We were all set of our first paint for fun session, which was a LOT of fun! We had a bit of impromptu learning and then a fun activity. Before we knew it, we had two more VERY enthusiastic 1st years join us and soon, we had the beginnings of a team..

We had quite a few activities over the year. For more on what happened, here’ s a link to our blog..

2)The Team: I just realized that I’ve never featured the ArtVibe team on my blog. So, here goes! There’s everyone on the picture that made ArtVibe happen this year..

Top Row:
From Left

CS a.k.a Casiel Tey a.k.a Ching Siong: Our humor guru. An amazing artist, full of laughs, excitement, energy and a joy for laugh. Oh, and also great insight in discussions and blessed with a brilliant sense of humor. CS was one of the big big contributors in the Olympic Art Project

Nadiah: Nadiah was a great addition in our 1st semester. While she wasn’t able to participate due to hectic school schedules (she’s a student of nursing), her passion for art was great to see. She lead some great sessions like Art Appropriation (I still don’t know what that means being the art ‘noob’ that I am..) and a great session on making photo frames with ice cream sticks

Bottom Row:

From Left:

Eli: Amazing artist – lead many sessions and an expert in too many things to mention. Eli was instrumental in bringing the group up to speed in the first semester and was someone we could rely on throughout..

Rohan: :)

Aishwarya: Aish was the other corner stone in helping getting the ball rolling. A very talented sketching person, Aish was the logistics person who made sure all the paint for fun sessions.

Center Row:

The reason I’ve saved these guys for last is because these guys did an amazing amazing job along with CS in making Olympic Art happen. So, now for the row of stars –

From Left:

Madhu: Madhu is the incoming President of ArtVibe for the year 2010-11. Simply an amazing person who landed from exchange just at the right time. Despite tight schedules thanks to an attachment with Accenture, Madhu was always around even during sessions when the team was up late in the night on a weekday.

Dhanya: Dhanya’s been the ArtVibe poster girl for the year. She’s been the one who’s practically been learning the ropes along to take over all the logistics. A very talented artist, great great team mate who has this amazing ability to take herself very very lightly and hence is a joy to be with..

Abishek: Abishek was the other super passionate 1st year who joined ArtVibe. Another very creative person – always brimming with ideas and lots of energy. Also our ArtVibe photographer and blogger. Very skilled at both!

Looking to Abishek, Dhanya and CS (all in their 1st year) to keep the ArtVibe flag flying high in the coming years.. :)

Snigdha: Snigdha is a close friend who came into ArtVibe with a desire to help. It turned out that I was way too tied up with Sparkz to help with the Olympic Art project and Snigdha readily took it up – leading the initiative all the way! It was thanks to her that the event flowed smoothly and successfully. Amazing leader and always always full of positive energy!!

Since there’s been so much talk about Olympic Art, do check out pictures and the post about the event here..

The team has been THE biggest success this year! Every moment spent with them has been memorable..

3)A lesson in delegation: One of the things I have always been eager to learn was delegation. I’d read in multiple books that it’s the natural step to growth. I always agreed but I found it very difficult to let go of anything that had my name on it completely. It’s a matter of empowerment and trust. The Olympic Art came at a time when Sparkz was nearing THAT time when every night was an all nighter and following Sparkz, I needed a bit of a break and needed to piece bits of life like FYP, modules etc together. So, I had no choice but to learn to let go..

It was a great experience just for that. I actually think the whole event went much better without me than it would ever have with me around.. Haha. A great lesson, a superb experience..

Thank you, ArtVibe Team, for making it happen! :)

And for all those interested in checking ArtVibe out, here’s the link to our facebook page!

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8 days to go..

Our gut generally gives us a clear and succinct summary of what’s going on..

But we can only hear our gut when everything else is clear – if we are stressed, for example, there’s too much noise crowding out what our gut is saying..

It’s when we listen to our gut that we can truly put our heart into something and do it well..

The big question – are we listening??

Ha ha.. Good morning and good day! :)