FY2009 Report

it's almost another year. not very eventful.

Jan-May 2009. student exchange programme.

I loved being an exchange student. Those were the days of respite. I could put aside all my worries as I need only average passes.

the professor teaching the supply chain module inspired me with his unconventional ways.
Intensity and toughness radiated within his tiny wiry figure. He gave practical take-home advice and I like that.

At the partner university, I was also lucky to have hardworking people in my project teams except a small handful. Coincidentally, the outlaws formed a team:

it was a all-girls team except for my friend and I.
one girl didn't show up at meetings until the day before presentation. reason: not feeling well.
another girl claimed to be knowledgeable but would panic at the sight of problems. just like a doctor couldn't stand blood.
another girl would cling on to writing reports.
the end?
I marked them down in my appraisals. despite one of them being from the same polytechnic as me. having met numerous fiends, i was extremely intolerant.

Aside from this experience, i had some difficulty understanding statistics and coping with my operating systems module.

But overall, exchange was a good experience.

Jun-Jul 2009. start of final year project.

lots of printing and reading. learning the ropes to research. other than work, life was monotonous. took on some freelance work but ended up not delivering on time and eventually aborting the project. i felt like a joke.

Aug - Nov 2009. This part of my life is called hell weeks.

research combined with heavy development.
developing a large scale system was very hard.
not everyone was committed.
five of six guys had to cope with research work. i was one of them.
the system development had a few milestones and deadlines.
each represented one or more sleepless nights in school.
for almost every day i was typing code and pulling my hair out.
shortly after we delivered the system, three others and I continued to write our progress reports for another two nights in school, one of which fell on the day everyone speculated that there would be meteor rain.
in fact, upon finishing the report, i sat staring at the skies for a whole 2o minutes in the wee hours just outside the faculty building and i saw nothing.
a few days later, the first exam came and i still prepared to my best of ability.
unexpectedly, a lot of questions came from the guest lecture and i slept through that lecture out of sheer fatigue.
actually, on hindsight, only one guy on the project team wasn't committed. he was smart and he presented himself well. he wrote good english as well. but he just wasn't with us. as much as we didnt understand him, he didnt understand how bad our team situation was.

that pretty much summed up the entire part of hell weeks.

Dec 2009 - future.

I'm currently still busy with research work. I'm left with half a year and then I would serve my remaining days in national service. my new year resolutions are:

• shape up (a lofty goal)
• secure a good job
• stay happy
  

i didn't set out to write a financial report but it looks like i have written a fiscal year report. I hope next year's "financials" would be better not just for me, but for you too, my reader.