the toyota interview

i just had the interview.

not sure if it turned out well, coz the whole thing didnt really last over 10 minutes. plus, my cell phone's signal was kinda weak, so i lost signals couple of times, prompting her to call me back twice. that was definately a bad star.

personally i think i screwed up when i was asked why i wanted to work in toyota. i didnt really elaborate exactly why. dang. the next 3 to 4 weeks are going to be a nail biting time. it'll be excellent if i can get it, coz that will guarantee the next 3 co-op semesters, and so much more.

i might have to relocate to kentucky or indiana for that, but im willing to do anything for it.

i want that job. i really want it.

who will be loved?

it seems my friend tom's brother knows maroon 5 personally. and i mean since their underground days. since he knows them as a friend, tom was commenting that his brother knows who the singer is referring to the song in 'she will be loved' song. apparantly he left this particular girl that he's referring to for another one, unlike in the video, where it seems like the singer's falling for the girlfriend's mom.

im having the toyota interview later on. im nervous, but at the same time, i cant wait til the phone starts ringing. im going to be so restless during the english class later on.

oh, and i managed to convince my calculus teacher that the 10 marks lost in my first test was a slip of the mind and had i been under the right conditions, i would never have gotten it wrong. so im getting the A afterall. this is lovely, if you have a valid case, you can request for change in grades. ive never been in such a situation where you could negotiate for grades.

im trying to complete certain things that i need to finish over the week coz i'm awaiting for my MSE group meeting, which is at 11, and not 10.

public universities across georgia is about to embark on an unprescendented increase in tuition at the mid year, and we are all signing petitions for them. for out of state students like myself, its going to be an increase of about US$800, which is a big deal. of course, if everything goes right, then i can probably finance at the most half of my costs in georgia tech if i co-op for 4 or 5 semesters (fingers crossed on the toyota stint)

however, there is another bad news to top that off. it seems very likely that the draft will be a reality, which means there might be a slight chance that my number will get picked. it is a scary thought, coz i might have to serve in a war i dont support. of course, the chances are very low, but it can still happen. tom said that since we're still students, we might be able to request for reconsideration, but im not sure what i'll do if i am to be drafted.

i was listing the possible courses i might need to take over the next couple of years in order to be able to go to both the study abroad programs. since there are two involved, the scheduling becomes a little hectic. i might need to cram some required courses to my 5th year, which includes courses such as PSYC1101 and CS4400. i just need to complete the prerequisite courses so that i can finish off a little earlier. this whole thing with me not being able to take CS1371 put me in quite a difficult position. and i really should have taken MATH1502 afterall. coz then i would have been able to take statistics or probability a little earlier than most people. im going to complete the free electives pretty easily, so that wont be a prob. right now, im looking at going to Japan on the spring 2006 semester and to Singapore and Beijing on the summer of 2007. and then i should have just 2 more semesters til i graduate. by the time i get to Singapore, most of my friends there would have graduated. so is gonna be weird, but my peer leader, Scott, is thinking of going to NUS for his MBA, which then would be pretty cool to hang around with him.

Alright, that's it for now. Been blogging more than often lately, and I can't shrug the feeling somehow that I'm supposed to be doing something else instead of this.

Beautiful North Carolina

i was at the brotherhood retreat for the Delta Sigs over the weekend. Technically, we were in Dillard, GA. But as we drove to be mountainous areas and made our way to the exact location, we actually crossed the North Carolina State Border Line, so i could say we were right on the border between georgia and north carolina.

i was looking forward to this retreat all week, and am glad to say i enjoyed it very much. i did not bring any personal items, such my watch, handphone, ipod or my laptop. so i was completely detached from the developed world for two days. and it felt so good. not knowing what time is was, and not having any time restrictions at all.

its a feast for the senses. since it was in a middle of nowhere, high up in the hills, the air was totally fresh, spring water flowing down the rivers, moist ground, the continous grinding of the pebbles and rocks under your feat, i could go on. it was my first proper time in the woods, even though ive gone for camps before, but not like this.

most of the time was spent in understanding the principles of being a delta sig and some personal things about other members, but after this retreat, i am more determined than ever to put in more to the fraternity.

but it was just amazing.

we came back to tech on sunday, and it all felt weird, coz suddenly i had to catch up with work and responsibilities, they suddenly made me realize about the rigours of living in a city. where i had to run by time organized.

the hall council presidency is different than what i expected. i thought i'll be in a capacity to make executive decisions about carrying out events and such, but it seems we're more like a facilitators for bills that are proposed by residents. of course, i can make my own bills and all, but the fact that i am the chairperson of the meetings conducted was something that was unexpected. i kind of noticed some disruption during the meetings and i was spending the rest of the day thinking about how i would have to enforce more things into this year's council if we're gonna do well.

talked with the academic advisor today. i gotta take PSYC1101 afterall. for the next 3 or so semesters, i might have to take 17 hours. but ive cleared quite a bunch of the core requirements, so im well on my way.

Tech's department has a summer program with NUS and Beijing and I might be taking that. then I'll most probably be back in Singapore for the summer of 2006 or something. so im definately looking forward to that. i hope the South American program will be set up soon so i can go for that as well.

off to the weekly Waffle House...

neat surprise

have i mentioned i love fridays?

now i love it more. as i was listening to some music, james points out that the phone was ringing (i didnt notice, the ringer's too soft, gotta replace the phone) so i stopped listening to lenny kravitz and picked up the phone.

the person asked for me and said that she was from toyota.

my heart jumps.

and then she breaks the news: they want a phone interview with me next week.

i jumped. i seriously did.

the chances of a freshman getting picked up by a major company like toyota, let alone being an undecided engineer, is oh so slim. but they're giving me a shot. next tuesday. im going to run after my english class back to the room. i better get reception on my handphone, if not, i gotta call through the room phone.

this is very unexpected and it just brightened up my day. i guess i am looking to a working term in the summer of 2005 afterall. if this works out well, i could be staying with them for further semester.

i am overjoyed. i better not screw up the interview, i just can't. its too big an opportunity to pass.

end of the week

finally. how ive waited for this friday.

even though im going for a retreat somewhere off georgia for the weekend, this weekend could have have come at a better time. i did not ace the calculus test apparantly, due to some stupid mistakes yet again, but it did not prevent me from getting an A. i have to maintain that. on the other hand, i realized i could do away with a pass/fail grade for health, if situation gets bad.

anyway, i think i just did the most laundry ever. the bag was so heavy, i had to keep swiching from my right to the left, vice-varsa.

i was supposed to have 2 appointments with professors, but i guess i could say i got ditched by both. both had a prior appointment that i got to know only hours before meeting them, so i had to postpone it for next week. i have couple of meetings coming up with advisors and professors in the next couple of weeks. it should go a long way in deciding which major to declare in. its 70% ISyE right now, and i've also more or less set my eyes on a Finance certificate. i think i mentioned that in the previous entry, but what the heck.

i am thinking of what i could do tonight. could try a movie, since the guys at my section hasnt really gotten together in a while. but at the same time, i just want to sleep.

played poker for the first official time last night with some of the guys. i didnt expect much as an amateur, but it was definately fun playing it with nicholas, paul, ray and others. i might just be getting the tech poker fever.

just before we started playing poker, we were making fun of nicholas, affectionally nicknamed 'arkansas', (because he's the only one we know who's from arkansas and he keeps talking about the place) about the weird things he mentioned and we blew it up well beyond context. so we started saying that 'he cant get it up' (go figure) and that kinda stuck as the main line for the entire night. i was walking to brittain hall to get breakfast this morning and i burst out louding so hard when i saw a piece of paper with the words 'arkansas cant get it up' with a small map of arkansas beside it being printed on paper and stuck over several locations around the area. i just found it so hilarious that anyone would go to such an extent.

apparantly some of the guys in glenn has the hots for the hall council treasurer, claudia, mainly because she is from puerto rico and she's one of the few girls in the campus. i proposed a mock bill proclaiming we release her number to the guys interested during the exec meeting and it was just so funny looking at her reaction.

i intended to write about this last week, but one of our alumni was killed in iraq about 2 weeks ago. what was amazing was the fact that he was a ROTC (for those who dont know, its like partial army scholarship, and after graduation, you serve in the army), the president of the student government (its a bigger deal than being the council president, mind you), a fraternity brother, as well having studied for a double major (!!!) he was born to be a tech,his father being an ex-president as well as the current tech alumni president. but what was amazing about this person is that he isnt just an overachiever, he was a true show of character. i was just reading about his involvement in tech, and i really do respect this man. its a pity he was killed in combat, but here's a salute to him...

alright, i better go find something to do, like play poker online, or get some sleep, or maybe watch some movie.

The use of blogging in academics

My ENGL 1101 teacher gets mentioned in this article in The Guardian about the use of blogs in his lessons.

How cool is that? He's somewhat a blogging celebrity now (well, he's been one for some time, it seems). And he's a pretty interesting teacher to top it off, not like other professors that personify the typical stereotypes.

the sneaky feline and the dumbest squirrel ever

this actually took place... at the end of the 2 week hell, i decided to just relax for the rest of my tuesday by doing absolutely nothing, something i have not done for a long time. so i go down to head to brittain hall for dinner, and as we are walking past cloudman, i notice that there are bunch of guys just standing and looking at something. so dan and i join them to see what they were up to. then we notice that there is a cat just sitting nearby, and some sound coming from a water drainage pipe that goes up cloudman. it seems the cat was trying to get some squirrels and the squirrels got into the pipe to head up, to escape from its predator. and it seems that just had happened, and that one of the two squirrels were stuck in the pipe. someone tried to free them by tugging at the pipe, after which a temporary plastic section of the pipe got disconnected from its metallic conterparts. then, we all stepped back as one of the squirrels squeezed itself free from the plastic one and started running about. oh, what i didnt tell you is that all these while, the cat was backing out inch by inch, which i initially thought was because it was weary of all of us making noise n all. it was actually getting into a strategic position by hiding just under a section of the ground that was elevated. and so the squirrel decides to run free and guess what, it heads straight to the elevated section, unknowingly heading right into the path of its predator. james, dan and i were going, go, go, go... and as you can guess, the cat got up, pounced on the squirrel, and in a flash, made its way to wherever that it was going to have its dinner for the day. all of the guys there were shouting, laughing, coz it was by far the most stupid thing a squirrel could do, to get right into the face of its predator. it was as if all of us were transfixed on watching a live feed on discovery or animal planet about animal hunting. it seems so trivial, but it was something of an amusing entertainment that myself, along with a lot of others, could unwind to at the end of a boring tuesday.

on the other note... ive been doing better than i expected on tests. i was expecting a C for both history and english, but surprise surprise, i got a B for both of them. the only downside would have been that i actually failed a class that is presumed to be the easiest of the lot; health. yes, i failed health. i dont believe it either, but then to think about it, it was kind of confusing but the good news is that there are tons of extra credit you can get, which can bump the final score by a grade, so i better work to get a B on that one. i might or might not get the 3.5 that im targetting for this semester. i just got my calculus back, i got the A, but im pissed coz i lost marks yet again on stupid errors. i should have gotten 100 on this, but i didnt. i need to increase my average, its just falling below an A right now.

fraternity meeting was rather interesting last night. the guys sure know how to crack hilarious jokes. cant wait for the retreat this weekend. i might need some rest, but there arent any tests, so im good.

alright, off to GT 1000 now.

out with IE

its been a very long week. and its only halfway through it.

3 tests done, 2 more. 2 retreats over, one more. one presentation done, another one. one major meeting done, another one to follow.

are those it? im not sure, but im just following the flow of the week. not so pleasant result over the weekend, when GT football lost to UNC. it was a big shock, considering we've been on a roll, well, we were lucky to win last week, at the expense of clemson's error. but this was certainly not a match that we considered we'd lose. instead of being 3-0, its not 2-1, with no.5 miami being the next game. everyone thinks we're fucked for good.

oh im done with IE. the browser sucks in mac. safari is so much better. other guys recommended firefox, but im having trouble running it, so im gonna try it agan later, once it works properly, i think ill b using firefox for good.

the retreats were more fun than expected. because of the clash, i had to attend the delta sig one before going for the rha one. the delta sig one turned out to be more like a training for the new members about the fraternity, and rha was also bunch of workshops put together. but it wasnt boring by any means.

the real test came yesterday when i held the first official hall council meeting. i had no idea where the meeting was heading more than half of the time, so i was bewildered when the advisors came at the end and told me that i had done a good job for a first meeting. in that case, i hope the next one will be more smooth. bills were passed without too much trouble than i had anticipated.

one bad point would be the party that delta sig held on saturday night. maybe it was me just being tired from the 2 retreats, but as i always say, im not a party guy, so i didnt really like it being there. a typical frat party, with people drinking, dancing, talking trash, etc. whenever i walk out of a party, i always walk out disappointed in everything that i see. if everyone considers a party which is only about socialising, drinking and dancing, i think its pretty sad, coz when these set of people dont do that, they think its boring and a waste of time. if its the only way that you can have fun, then i say that is a sad life. most people are doing those things just coz its considered cool anyway, so people arent really having fun, they only think that they are.

i had an interesting discussion about all that and other things once we were done watching 'ghost in the shell' in dan's room. and then, weirdly, we started discussion serious topics at 3AM.

i still have not received the results for my japanese credit exam. well i wont bother with all that until my calc test is over on tuesday. they i gotta schedule appointments with the career services office as well as the ISyE academic advisor.

both newcastle and fiorentina won, which is good, i only hoped that GT would have followed that up.

okay i better go start my final revision for the health test.

'there has been reports of a hurricane sighting in downtown atalanta'

do you know how ridiculous that statement sounds? everyone scoffed when they heard that.

but the rainstorm that was taking place that very moment was to be taken seriously, even without that hurricane.

the hurricane ivan, which ripped through jamaica, lousiana and alabama, caused some damage, though none of which can be compared to the major destruction areas, so bad that i was basically locked in the student centre for a good hour.

i hate thursdays, really. i have most classes on that day, 4.5 hours, which isnt much, but considering i was attending lectures, rehearsing for projects and revising for a test non stop since 9 in the morning til 4 in the afternoon without lunch, and also having a meeting to attend at 8pm and still having to study, was a big deal. and worse of all, when i tried to get some lunch after getting drenched in the rain for the 4th time, not only was all the stores in the building closed, but i was confined because of some sighting of a hurricane in downtown atlanta.

i met william there and we decided to get away by taking the stinger, albeit the other way. whatever method it took to get back to our room was good enough.

i think i did just ok for the japanese credit exam. i know i nicked JAPN 3001, but there were tons of honorific forms that i had absolutely forgotten for JAPN 3002, i wont be surprised if i were to not get credit for JAPN 3002.

and then there was the history test, which i thought wasnt so bad. but it all multiple choice, so i'll never know. i'll be happy with a B.

and there was a price for getting too involved on campus. the two retreats on the same weekend. i tried and got a compromise by spending the first 12 hours with delta sig and then the next 12 hours, without much rest in between, with the RHA. i usually am happy after 12 on fridays, cos by then i would hav finished my classes for the week. the rest of friday, and saturday will be spent resting or catching up on sleep, a luxury i cannot afford this week. and there are 2 tests coming up that i need to somehow cram it and study after the retreat. great.

i dont look forward to this weekend. looks like i'll be a very tired man next week. once the two tests are done and i got my two credits for japanese cleared, im just gonna rest. its taking a toll on me. but i know there will be assignments to be done.

looks like my laundry is dry now. time to get it back to my room and get ready for the retreat which is in an hour.

i need rest. badly.

Georgia Tech Career Fair: Day 1

i went for the year's biggest career fair held on GT campus. its mainly targeted at the graduating students, but since i might be starting a co-op term as early as this summer semester, i thought i go look for a potential employer. had my resume done few days back, and all the companies i was going to check out was mentally mapped out.

and i think it turned out pretty well. there were tons. a common conception would be that if you go work at a big company, then you'll be earning less, but i dont care. im definately going to work for 4 or 5 semesters, and its the experience im going for. i took a visit to the booths for GE, UPS, Home Depot, Chrysler-Daimler, Motorola, Michelin, GoodYear, Bank of America, etc, etc, but the few that really impressed me and vice-varsa (hopefully) was the big guns, Honda, Toyota, Rolls-Royce and guess what - CIA. yes, CIA. they dont seem that secretive, and their opportunities seem very challenging and interesting. i would definately want to give a try at CIA.

there's gonna be another session tomorrow, but with a completely different set of companies. among the big ones tomorrow are microsoft, intel, l'oreal, bridgestone and Wal-Mart. let's see how that goes.

things are moving so fast, tough, but its all good. things at delta sig, hall council and numerous assignments and meetings keep me real busy. i guess i can never escape that anymore, even though i bowed not to do that in university. im keeping an eye on joining the RHA or the SGA as i progress in tech, while at the same time, completing a minor, certificate, co-op and of course, a degree.

big fat dreams. but in 5 years, its all very possible. it is moving in the right direction.

i realized how my recent blog entries have become a little different. maybe its to do with the numerous responsibilities where i now have to act more maturely and not let myself be prone to a potential criticism to what i say.

i've got to head for english group meeting now. i guess this is the only way i'll keep blogging, right before meetings or classes.

GT 28 Clemson 24

this week has been truly crazy.

first, there was the hurricane frances that came over to georgia after ravaging through florida. though it was very much weakened by the time it came here, it did cause problems in georgia, most notably with flashfloods. a tree fell coz the soil got so wet that it fell and cut the power line off at our fraternity. they were out of power for a whole day, and it was darn funny how the brothers all sat outside looking at the guys from the power company fix the electrical pole as a form of recreation.

and then there was the case of a freshman who commited suicide by firing a shotgun into her mouth. i found out almost a day later, but i was shocked. in singapore, it was always a case of some students jumping off a building. its very escalated here. and worse, it happened at a dorm hardly 400m from here. nobody really knows why she did it and everyone's puzzled as well. what could hav happened in just 4 weeks of school?

but the greatest piece of news this week, GT football shockingly beat 18th ranked clemson with 15 seconds to go. it was shocking, coz all of us expected GT to lose coz they were very sloppy last week. but everyone just went wild after the win, i was watching at the fraternity house, and everyone just went out (it was just midnight when that happened) and started playing real loud music, other people got into their car, started driving around campus and honking like it was a grand thing. well it is, but it was crazy. even i went to the stadium and joined the massive crowd in cheering and running about campus. we went from one corner of the campus to another like a mob on crack. the freshman hill, which feels very tiring every morning, but it never felt so good. we actually ran up the damned hill. we went over to west campus, and i guess its true that west campus is indeed dead as compared to east campus, coz there were hardly anyone out! we had a crowd of 200 or so people just running everywhere and it was a sight to behold. it was clearly the most fun i had during my 4 weeks in tech n we were walking about campus until 2 in the morning.

after that match, our ranking jumped from outside top 45 to 28th in the AP ranking, and from 43rd to 30th in the coaches ranking. hope we crack the top25 somewhere along the way in the season.

theres this big career fair today and tomorrow and im gonna check it out. supposedly, some companies are looking for freshman so that they can start early. this is more for graduating students, but heck, i might be starting co-op this summer, i gotta look around for particular employers. toyota, honda, UPS, L'oreal, Bank of America, and other big companies are gonna be here, so its gonna be interesting.

okay, gotta rush to history...

much to write about nothing

okay, so ive been wanting to blog, but didnt have the time to, and when i had the time to, i didnt think of blogging.

its been like that for a week.

anyway, to sum up what has been going on. friday night, the student government of georgia tech booked the whole of six flags, and amusement park, for a tech night. so obviously most of us went for it. it was my first time riding rollercoasters, and even though the first was awesome, i suffered from a double doze of fear and nausea, which subsequently forced me from not riding in the other rides. but the guys that i was with seems to had tons of fun, so it was an excellent night.

the next day was the football day. the roads were closed, and the sight was amazing. students, non-students, alumni, family, general visitors had come from everywhere. it was like attending a major sporting event. we won 28-7 against samford, but personally, i think tech played poorly. if they dont brush up by this week, we're getting slammed against no.18 clemson. we're ranked 41st by the coaches' poll.

as with any other weekend, it was movie night. we watched fehrenheit 9/11 for a while, and then proceeded to watch kill bill vol 1 & 2. and i think we caught more movies along the way, i cant recall. anyone using college servers, www.i2hub.com is an excellent place to go for file sharing. i downloaded a 700MB movie in under a minute. of course, it was from a GT person. when you download a file from someone who's in the same network, the speed is unbelievable. this puts T1, or even T3 to shame, making it look like dialup. im still looking around for the mac version, i might have to settle for DC++ in the end.

since it was labor day, i took the sunday off to rest myself, yet again. its really taking a toll on me. so monday was burnt in reading, preparing for classes, etc, the normal things i would do on a sunday.

as for the calculus 1 test, i am very pissed, coz i could have nailed an A, but got a B instead. somehow along the answers, my x-6 turned into a x+6 and a x-1 turned into a x+1. i was checkin the answers and i couldnt believe my eyes. i lost 10 marks because of that simple error. i made one genuine mistake, but heck, that was a given A, the test was simple. maybe it was coz i was in a rush, but im gonna make sure i dont make a simple error like that ever. EVER.

and while doing readings and other things, ive been ripping every single one of my CDs, as well as my room mate's. and i just completed the arduous task few hours ago. it might not be much, but ive filled up more than half of my 20GB. im the kind that dont want to keep music i dont listen to, so maybe after a month or so, delete those that i hardly listen to. but im pretty content with the collection i have to bring about anywhere.

well, other than that i have nothing much to say. oh, over the weekend, i, along with the other guys, watched girl next door like 2 times. just for elisha cuthbert. and it was hilarious coz we kept going oooh, ahh, yess, do it!, what's wrong with you, ooh yeah! together. it was much fun watching it like that.

oh, and a sad announcement, but due to the nature of the 'study' week that i have, i will have to generate this blog into a weekly blog like many other guys do. it just simply is difficult, i could be doing so much calculus or history reading over the weekday. so dont be expecting daily entries like i used to anymore. hell, i might not even make it on a weekly basis. but i definately will try.

as for those ive not really been in touch with, expect mails soon, now that ive pretty much figured out where i can get wireless connections, i'll be bringing my powerbook around almost anywhere.

hope you all are doing great.

calculus revision

i have been studying calculus for the past couple of nights, in preparation for tomorrow's test. and i am freaking out (or was freaking out) coz there were so many news of disastrous results in the first test for freshman.

i forgot that i am actually qualified to skip calculus 1. i took a look at couple of questions from the past few semesters.

and i laughed to myself.

coz none of the sort of questions i anticipated came out in those. all questions would have been considered elementary Maths C standard question.

heh, why in the hell was i so worried for. i might make couple of errors in listing the domain, but other than that, everything should be all set.

and i took a look at more questions from other tests, for future chapters. and i have growing confidence that i will nick this class come december.

so i will just need to concentrate on history, health and english.