Life
Worst Exam Ever : What NOT to do in an exam.
0I am back from the easiest but the worst exam of my life. I have a brain-crushing headache. There are two dead mice in my room and one of them is not a device.It’s hell!
Stressed!
Here is a record of what happened today:
I reached my University at 12:30PM. It is a busy afternoon. Students from the morning shift of exam are coming out some with a sad look on the faces (they had exam in the morning shift) and some with Smiley faces that will make The Joker proud (The had exam in the noon shift, like me). The good thing about exams is, one is always confident about getting A-grade. Another is that by the time results come you forget that you were going to get A-grade. It saves a lot of grief. Most of the students were First Year kids. I overhear a kid complaining about lack of time – “Shit! Man! I could only write 38 pages in 3 hours, I shouldn’t have wasted that 2 minute in water-break”. Sadly most Indian students take exams as a competition to fill pages with words. It doesn’t matter to them that if they are writing the correct answer. We are masters of writing the same sentence in 4 different ways – “Christopher Columbus discovered America… America was discovered by Columbus… Columbus landed in America few hundred years ago… In his travel, Christopher Columbus, who was a traveler at the time, discovered America.” – See the pattern?
Another group is busy comparing the answers they wrote. I hate these type of students. One kid comes out of exam triumphantly, looking more proud than Edmund Hillary ever was after climbing Everest. One of the kids asks – “What did you put in answer of question 6?” and before the first kid could say anything he answers his own question – “It was option C right? Yes it was option C”. The first kid’s face falls, like someone just pushed him from the top of his Everest. He lies- “yes, C”.
I spotted my friends sitting near the staircase reading mugging notes. I don’t know if there are studies to prove it, but human mind is most active between just half hour before exam to last minute of exam. I avoid going near them. The first question Indian students ask when they meet another fellow student – “How much you’ve studied?” and the expected answer is always – “Not everything. Left this unit/topic”. If you answer – “everything” than that will just mean one of two things -> (1.) You are being sarcastic or (2.) You have the leaked copy of exam-paper. There is also a third archaic meaning – You are a bookworm, but since bookworms are almost extinct in modern times we don’t assume that.
I troll around the parking area, reading number-plates on cars and bikes. Somehow a number plate – RJ – 1337 cracks me up. I see that as a good sign.
1:25PM. Time to enter the exam hall. We enter exam hall as a smug looking professor hands out Answer-sheets. I have another complaint about exam halls. Why they make the atmosphere so depressing. So we start filling out answer-sheets with details, Name – filled, Date – filled, Roll No. – filled, Course – ????. Which course’s exam is it? I was just reading it yesterday, I know I was reading something about storage techniques, RAID… then it clicks – It’s Emerging Technologies- II. We have this course ‘Emerging Technologies’ in which we study technologies which were emerging two decades ago.
I get the question paper at exactly 1:30PM. The first question is on Debugging and Debugging tools. I know the answer. I look at my roommate+classmate Vijay to give him a thumbs-up. He is sitting 5 rows behind me. The lucky bastard is surrounded by two girls, both Juniors. I spend few minutes admiring the greenery in class. Back to answer-sheet, Debugging, Yes, I know what debugging is but Debugging tools, I think I read about them someplace. Ok, I am having a head-ache now. Damn! I need water! I start scribbling something on answersheet and fill a page with words which make no sense. Strike it down, my brain says, let’s start another one, leave this for later. I slashed at the page with my pen like Luke Skywalker slashed that unknown clone-fighter with his Light-saber. On the the question number two. The kid who’s sitting next to me is having troubles solving his question, I offer to help him, he gives me this gangsta look. Sigh! Nobody appreciates the free help these days anymore also nobody reads science news. Scientists have discovered Higgs Boson particle. I bet none of the people except me in this room know that. Ha! I am elite this way.
Where was I? Yes Question number 2, It’s about Testing, Types of Testing, Testing Tools and some other stuff. I write down some stuff which I believe is correct answer. I think of writing a tutorial for Selenium. Damn! I wish they’d allow us to use our laptops+internet in exam hall, I could just copy down the selenium tutorial which is already saved as a Draft post on my blog. Well a couple of lines about Selenium and we are done with answer number 2. Damn my toe is itching. I should’ve washed my socks. I’ve been wearing them for past 15 days. They stink but I had sprayed some AXE-deodorant on them just this morning. I wonder if I should take off my shoes. I decide against it.
Question number 3 is about RAID and RAID levels. Isn’t the new Batman prologue is also about raid? A heist actually. It’s 7-8 minute trailer. Just today morning I was searching for it this morning on youtube but alas all of them were taken down. I think how awesome Dark Knight Rises is gonna be. Come to think of it, the invigilator in the room is a Ra’s Al Ghul look alike. Wow! Don’t have my mobile or else I would’ve clicked a pic for posting on Facebook or Tumblr, since Facebook is kinda boring these days. My FB-Wall is always full of notifications about Poll-Questions… Okay, Back to question 3. RAID. I know this, I write an answer, 3-4 pages, I believe it’s sufficient. I also add my experience on setting a 0+1 level RAID in detail.
Question 6 now, this is a big one divided in sub-parts. A bunch of definition and differences between this and that. I finally take a 5 minute water-break. Abhishek (The class-topper and the guy who just got placed in ACCENTURE few weeks back) is now trying to scratching his neck which is funny because he doesn’t have a neck. It’s just his shoulders and his head on that. I didn’t think it’s even possible to not have a neck before I met him. The guy is cool but I don’t think he has that passion for computer-science. Damn my toe is itching again. I so fuckin wanna cut it now. Ignoring the itch I start scribbling the answers for Question 6 but it’s like some dark force in the universe is working against me. My ball-pen is out of ink (must not make types here- PEN IS). I look around. Maybe someone has an extra pen but those fuckin-assholes. It’s the final exam of semester and nobody has one extra pen. Is it too much to ask? One extra pen? It’s already 3:45 now. 45 minute left. The kid sitting next to me stands up to leave. LUCKY! I borrow his pen and moves on to Question 7.
Question 7 is about Data backups, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity. I write a full 5 page encyclopedia entry on this one. I wonder what kind of Disaster recover solutions they employ in Japan. They must lose data like every damn 6 months because of so much earth-quakes. They must keep it in servers located in USA or something. Even their anime-collections. That reminds me that I still need to catch up with One Piece and Naruto manga. I start to draw Naruto on the reverse side of my Answer-sheet. But it turns out like a humanoid-pikachu. I promise myself to catch up with Pokemon- Black and White anime series too. In January I will have some time. Back to writing.
Question 9. It’s the last one about Java, Struts, JSP, EJBs and Test Case Generation. Piece of Cake I think. Man it’s been like ages since I tasted a cake. The last time it was on someone’s birthday last December. An year ago. I need Cake. Black-Forest and maybe some chocolates with that. I remember I used to love chocolates when I was a kid. Now I just eat them when I am alone. A 23 year old guy looks eating a chocolate looks weird. I also used to love collecting action figures. I had a dozen or so G.I.Joes, Half-a-dozen Batmen, A couple of Spidermen, a venom and few I made myself using card-board. Collecting them was fun until I turned 18 then it was just plain weird. Also now I am into gadgets. In fact I’m planning to buy an iPad-2. As I am planning from where to Order and iPad, Flipkart or ebay, the bell rings. 3 hours are over. So soon.
I come out of examination hall and to avoid any questions, I leave without waiting for my friends.
The time was too fast today. Worst Exam EVER!
Searching for Inspiration
0Regret for wasted time is more wasted time. – Mason Cooley
Have you ever found yourself lost in a crowd? Cursing yourself, about the lack of inspiration you are feeling lately? I did too.
I spent past 3 days sulking, blaming the universe for being against me and practically doing nothing but sit around on my butt. It’s one of those times when you are extra moody and annoyed with every little good or bad thing. The lack of inspiration makes you think there is something seriously wrong with either you or the world and you feel the world is at fault more. “I am good, I’m a perfect son, a brilliant student, a caring friend and an overall nice guy, why I have to deal with shit, when the world is enjoying out there”. You spend more time thinking about how your problems affect you, when you should be solving them. And then you suddenly wake up from this slumber, figuring out to get back on your feet like I am trying.
The power is inside you!
I got a call from my dad last night. We talked like usual and at the end of the call, he said – be happy. He always says that, but this time he gave a little more emphasis on it. Like he realized that I was going through a rough patch. 2 words – “be happy”, they don’t sound much but if you read that carefully, those two words contain whole world’s wisdom.
The words don’t mean that you should always be smiling to the world and be gloomy inside. It means that you need to put effort in being happy. If something annoys you, instead of ignoring it, you should deal with it.
In my search for wisdom I came across this inspirational video of Carnegie Mellon University professor, Dr. Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008), titled “The Last Lecture” or “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.”
Dr. Randy Pausch talked about how to live life and how you can achieve your dreams by just trying. Don’t complain, Just work harder. We all have finite time on our hands, we can spend it either complaining or playing the game hard. If you succeed in first try, that’s good, if not, it’s better. Failure is just another brick wall, waiting to be demolished by your sheer strength of passion. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: Every artist was first an amateur.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another, so either we can channel our energy to form dreams or we can waste it on complaining and form a state of despair.
Analyzing myself, I found there are three reasons behind lack of inspiration which are lack of – 1. Confidence, 2. Focus and 3. Direction.
To boost your confidence be ready to try new ideas. The more you apply your brain, the more you will be confident in your abilities to solve problems. Have no fear of failure. As Michael Jordan said :
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
So take a shot. You are missing 100% of the shots you are not taking. Focus on what you have rather than what you want. Focus on the result and put all your energy on a single task.
I know sometimes we need a quick dose of inspiration just to jump that one last hurdle. So here is 8 things you can do to get an extra boost of inspiration.
1.) Search YouTube for inspirational videos – there are countless of them there. Search the terms – ‘inspirational speech’, ‘increase willpower’ or ‘how to win’ and see yourself.
2.) There are some really inspirational podcasts out there. Listen to them. I suggest : “The Moth Podcast” or “Inspiring Words of Encouragement by Zig Zigler“.
3.) Read books. Not just motivational books, but any fiction or non-fiction book. Books introduce you to new ideas.Learning new ideas puts your brain in motion, so it requires less time to speed up to your tasks.
4.) Make a list of all the positive things about your current project. Focus on why you should do it. Read this list each day and update it if you feel like it.
5.) Work for 5 minutes : Tell yourself to work for five minutes. That’s just enough to get you started. It works almost every time. The perfect example is this blog post, I just wanted to write 10 lines, now half hour later, I’m about to finish it.
6.) Talk to your family : Talk to your loved ones. Tell them about how you are feeling. They may know a solution to your problem.
7.) Get out of the bubble :- If you’re in a bubble, you desperately need to get out. You’re missing out on a thrilling adventure. What is a bubble? Essentially, it’s staying in your comfort zone. And no, your eating Maggi, day and night doesn’t cut it or make it any better.
8.) Inspire Others : If you spend time inspiring others, that means you are inspiring yourself too and that’s what I’m trying to do here. It’s a feeling which you can not describe in words. If you have said inspiring words to anyone, you know what I’m talking about.
In the end I want to close this article with my dad’s simple words :
Your biggest source of inspiration is YOU!
Finally! 5th Semester of MCA
2My 5th semester of M.C.A. (Master of Computer Application) has begun. A lot of changes happened. I left University hostel (in the name of Freedom) and rented a room in a nearby village. My room-mate of previous year is still my room-mate (and he bought a Shiny new Samsung Galaxy S II recently, review coming in few days). As expected, I don’t think we are going to get much time this semester. Our class schedule is full of subject classes, placement training etc. The subjects are rather interesting this time.
MCA 5th SEMESTER COURSES :
|
MCAAI 30501 |
Artificial Intelligence |
|
MCASW 30501 |
Compiler Design |
|
MCAOS 30501 |
UNIX and SHELL Programming |
|
MCADB 30501 MCADB 30502 MCASW 30502 |
Select any one: · · · |
|
MCACS 30501 MCACN 30501 MCADB 30503
|
Select any one: · · · |
|
MCACN 30502 |
LAN Switching & WAN Technology |
|
MCACS 30502 |
Emerging Technologies – II |
|
MCABS 30501 |
Communication Skills -V |
|
MCABS 30502 |
Behavioral Science – V |
|
MCAFR 30501 MCAGR 30501 MCASH 30501 MCAJP 30501 MCACE 30501 |
Foreign Language – V French German Spanish Japanese Chinese |
|
MCAPR 30570 |
Summer Project – II (Evaluation) |
|
|
TOTAL = 10 courses |
In two electives, I am taking “System Programming” and “Data Warehousing and Data Mining“.
If anybody is interested in reading the whole course structure, it can be downloaded from HERE or HERE.