Dirt on the hands: one step behind

Dirt on the hands

Every single thing that we do are like dirt on our hands. It may not show, but it's there. At the end of the day, when the hands are washed and dried up, was getting our hands dirty worth the while? or were they just stains that needed to be washed out as soon as possible and be forgotten?

Thursday, May 11, 2006

one step behind

Ever felt as if you're just always one step behind? that's what I've been feeling for the past month or so. It all started when I didn't show the project I've done to my project supervisor(let's call him Mr K) prior to going for presentation and demonstration. I met him just before I was due to present and he already said that since I havent demo'ed it to him yet, the result of the demonstration to the other lecturers would determine whether I passed or failed.

As it turns out, 10 minutes before I was due to present, I made a fluke. I accidentally pushed the power supply a bit over the voltage limit and my microchip blew. Talk about lucking out eh? So there it is, failed demonstration with a threat of failure looming behind my back. The demo lect(let's call him Dr A), told me to find him the next day and demo. So I went back, troubleshooted and what not, and looked for him the next day. Guess what? he's not at his room and the office don't know where he's at. No biggie I thought, I still have the next week... but did I? I couldn't find this Dr A for 2 bloody weeks!And don't think I didn't try! I called his room, left notes, even camped in front of his room for hours while still juggling for exams.

Mr K didn't wanna consider even looking at my project until I've met with Dr A and last week, I finally did. The conversation with Dr A was like this...

Me : Assalamualaikum Dr, haritu Dr ada suruh saya redemo tapi saya cari Dr tak dapat. Bile boleh saya demo dengan Dr...?

Dr A : Oh takpe... saya dah bincang dengan lecturer awak....

me : En K...

Dr A : ah En K, kami dah bincang dah. Awak tunggu saja result dari fakulti

me : oh ok, terima kasih Dr

So here I was feeling slightly better but with weird thoughts running though my mind... "how could he have known he had discussed with my lecturer even before I introduced who I was or even my lecturer's name?" and what did he mean just wait for the result from the faculty? result and everything is under Mr K's jurisdiction. Fortunate for me I called Mr K to clear things through...turns out the "grade" he told me to wait for from the faculty is an "E" for failing to do the demo...darned lecturers and their duplicity. just tell me to my face la you wanna fail me.

Good thing though Mr K still let me demo to him after that. All this time he didn't believe that my project worked or if I even tried to find Dr A. I met Dr A last week's Tuesday and Mr K on the very same day. I tried to demo to him that day also but I left the function generator at the lab, so he told me he'd give me til Friday to set things up at the lab and call him in. But lo and behold... Mr K becomes incontactable from Wednesday morning til Friday evening! I set up camp in the lab with e-books just to spend time there just in case he comes in.i finished 2 bloody books while in the lab in 2 days. Actually, more like 10 hours for 2 books. I don't really have to tell you that I spent a weekend of dread, figuring he'd fail me coz I didn't demo to him before friday when he's the one that was MIA.

I called him the first thing Monday morn. Got an appointment, he looked at the darned project which I didn't even bother to modify since the day of my demo, and I think he was actually surprised that it worked. So there I was, finally got to demo my crap to someone, albeit 1 month late when eveyone else was passing up their thesis. I pass, I'm graduating, who cares about the rest. How's that for a graduating story! Toodles UTM, ain't gonna miss yah but I'll treasure the memories.

posted by Elman @ 2:22 PM

5 Comments:

At 3:19 PM, Aimi Jaafar said…

you'll miss em :p

wehehe. gratz anyways. looking forward to make your own money aye?

dun forget to save some for your adorable sister(s). ohoho.
At 12:08 PM, ahnali said…

waaaaaa...
huhu
ni sonder bangcik busy je..huhu
huggles
yokatta ne..huuu
ganbatte ne after this lak..heheee =D
At 5:43 PM, TunaTurner said…

wahhh an update..:p
congrats dude.
now when do u want me to pass ur resume?
At 5:20 PM, Ahmad Hilmi said…

Huh... crazy lecturer. So masa you sms'ed saying it's settled it was just that crazy lect being vague about failing u la. Well thank god the dr k actually let u demo again. You'd be more than pissed off otherwise I believe
At 9:54 AM, pycnogenol said…

Aiman,
The more often you dare to go forward, even in the face of uncertainty, the more likely it is that this type of courageous behaviour will become a habit for you.
That was a good learning experience for you, and I am sure you come out of it, a better person.
CONGRATULATIONS and good luck in your future undertakings!!