McGill does it again

More proof of the hypothesis put forward here.

McGill has outdone itself again. Ok, this time it's the Faculty of Engineering. More specifically, the Department of Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering.

Before I go on, just some background info. All of McGill's Engineering programmes are accredited. That means the various provincial engineering boards look through the curriculum, and vet it, and basically say that if you've gone to McGill and gotten an engineering degree, it will be recognised and you can join the engineering board so that you can be recognised as a professional engineer.

I found out today from a friend who attended an Engineering Undergraduate Society council meeting as a rep that all of McGill's Software Engineering graduates from last spring until now have degrees that have not been accredited because McGill did not submit the necessary paperwork by the stipulated deadline. So that means that these graduates technically aren't engineers. They can't join the engineering boards, and they can't work as engineers. The paperwork has been submitted, but the school doesn't know when the accreditation will be given, and this could potentially affect Software Engineers who are graduating this Fall.

If you thought that was bad, McGill has not made an official announcement notifying these students of the situation. I've been told that the rationale behind the decision is that because the paperwork has been submitted, they are confident the programme will be accredited eventually. Because there has not been a statement by the school, I don't know if this is true. Whatever the case, these students have spent 3-4 years of their lives paying money to McGill, and have a piece of paper which is basically worthless and they are being kept in the dark about it. In response, the EUS is now trying to inform students by word of mouth.

I can't help but see the irony that in order to have an approved engineering programme, all engineering students have to take a course in engineering ethics, and yet, the school or department responsible for this whole thing doesn't even have the decency to let people know that they screwed up.

And it's not like it's a minor problem - these graduates are losing out on job opportunities because Software Engineering is a relatively new degree (it's about 3-4 years old, and some of my friends suspect that they may have been the first class of Software Engineers to graduate from McGill, though we don't know for sure), and there are few people with such a qualification around right now. The fact that it is relatively new might also be a factor in explaining why the situation has arisen, but again, this is just me speculating.

Whatever it is, I think the hypothesis has been sufficiently proven.

McGill Admin is f$%king messed up.

"Friends"

Don't think I don't notice how you only ever bother to know me when you need help. Suddenly you are all buddy-buddy with me just because you can't solve your assignment. You hardly ever talk to me, or even acknowledge me when we see each other, and now you are willing to even offer me "help" leh. Too bad for you I have ample experience dealing with all sorts of people during NS, your type included.

I don't want or need you to be my "friend". So bugger off, and find someone else to leech off.

Back to school again

It's about 3 weeks into the semester, and the work is starting to come in. Settling in again was pretty easy, and classes seem pretty interesting, but challenging at the same time. I'm sort of glad that work already seems to occupy a good part of my time, and now that I've managed to get a job as well, the year ahead will probably go by fast.

It feels good to be back in school again actually, and I'm excited by what I'm going to be learning. However, the majority of the electrical engineering students seem to be really inconsiderate assholes. There have been people not only refuse to turn off their phones in class, but also answer them, without even bothering to be discreet about it.

Yes, I know that hands-free is really neat, and that your phone is really new and you think it's so cool, but don't answer it in class. Oh, and just in case you don't know, your uber cool phone doesn't impress me, because honestly, I've seen uber cool phones like the Samsung Ultra series. I know your friend tells you your new Nokia is so slim and what not, but it's a brick compared to what's available where I from. So stop flaunting it at me and leave it in your pocket.

There was also this class that I sat through, where the prof was going through some stuff slowly. It wasn't difficult to understand, and it was only semi-new, but more than half the class did not have the courtesy to keep quiet, even after he sublty hinted that he was "not used to this low rumbling background noise". And, because they talk so much, they miss what he is saying, and ask him about it 5 seconds after he explains something. I totally understand if you've been paying attention, and don't get it. But if you didn't want to listen, and then realised that you missed out on something, don't slow down the whole class because you weren't listening in the first place.

And this one takes the cake. Really. There were 3 guys in front of me during the above-mentioned class. They weren't paying attention, and one of them was messing around with their calculators. It must really have been an achievement for one of them to spell "5EX" it because they were passing it around and finding it really amusing. I had to prevent myself from bursting out into a "wah piang eh", and I was half tempted to ask them to go and get laid already, but then I realised that no, if you were spelling "5EX" on your calculator when you were 19 and finding it really fun, then not being able to get laid would explain your fascination at being able to spell it on your calculator.

So I realise that I'm surrounded by people with the maturity of 6 year olds for the next 3 years. I guess the best I'm going to be able to do is to avoid these people, but there are so many of them, I'm probably not going to have many friends in my faculty.

Good thing work is gonna keep me busy.

Lost for words

Before I say anything else, I have to admit that I DO NOT KNOW IF THIS IS TRUE.

There have been blog posts here and here about what is happening in Catholic High School.

Again, I reiterate that I do not know the truth and veracity of the assertions.

If they are true, then I am really sad that this has happened to my alma mater. For those of you who know me, I really enjoyed myself there. For those of you who know me even better, I did not enjoy it there initially. Now I look back on my time in that school with great fondness, and I sometimes wish I could do it all over again.

It's not an elite school like Raffles Institution, or Chinese High. Members of Parliament don't send their sons there. St Nick's girls don't like us (or do they? =p Don't worry if you don't get it).

While I was there, though I did not fully appreciate it at the time, it was a genuinely good school. Our teachers were dedicated and hardworking. They were also friendly and helpful, and had a great rapport with the students. I can't state that as a fact for the other batches, but I do know for us who took our "O" Levels in 2000, this was the case.

I cannot say that as students, we were hardworking and dedicated. Heheh. But I think when the time came for us to work, we did. We were all good friends too, and people were generally really friendly. It is not uncommon for me to recognise a familiar face on the streets and just wave "Hi" to someone whom I know was also in Catholic High at the time. I still keep in contact with my group of friends from there. And I still play soccer with the same bunch of people. We've been playing soccer together since 1997. That's almost 10 years already.

Heck, when I go back to the school with my friends, even the canteen operators can recognise us as former students.

Things have changed since I've graduated. Teachers have moved on, a new principal took over. When I visit the teachers who were still there, I had heard that some of them were unhappy. But if the allegations are true, I imagined they were this bad. Of the 9 teachers listed who were transferred, I can attest that at least 5 of them are really good teachers who we respected. Some of them have been at the school for a really long time, and it would be a great loss for the school so see them go.

I struggle to put into words the sadness and nostalgia that I now feel. I am somewhat lost for words. I find myself wanting to go back home, just so I can pop by and maybe just talk to the teachers who are still there how things are for them. After all, they've always asked about us when we visit.

And I realise that I'm blogging about this in my PE T-shirt.

And then I was gone

It is in how hard it is that I realise how much it means to me.