Generally I only see myself donating blood about once every year, otherwise I won’t be able to do so when training picks up, if not my coach will really drain my blood if I declare “rest” from blood donation. For yea peeps in campus who can’t make it down to HSA, or don’t seem to get much of CCA points, well this is one easy way… too.

Came back from an afternoon swim straight after school on Friday. Loved it, the pool is so empty I even can have 2 dedicated lanes on the Olympic pool for myself. I will be pushing my weekly Sunday swims to mostly Fridays now (missing Friday track & field in the process), as we swimmers do not have to share the pool with ongoing children swim lessons who can easily take up more then half of the pool real estate. The thing is that it “was” a sunny day – perfect day for an afternoon swim and maybe a tan, till I got into the pool, then it’s cloudy all the way until I left the swimming complex, then the Sun came UP AGAIN (I can just hear the sun mocking me on my way home).

After going through my timetable for 2 weeks finally got myself more of less settled in it now, also with my class. In comparison to previous semester schedule, things are more flexible now with relatively more breaks in and between which I can squeeze in for quick study or hour long gym sessions. Though given this, it’s still too demanding to cope with a 30km a week millage with Track training and school contrary to that during ITP where I have to manage all my training myself. With that my weekly millage will be dropped to 20km minimum which is still within my target for 1000km covered in 2007, anyway I will see myself hitting > 20km a week (excluding track & field intervals and specific distances)

Interesting modules will definitely have to my Industrial Automation (IA), on top of Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics which are actually both separate modules extended in the third year from Thermofluids I & II. Mechanics III is dryer than ever with lots and lots of circles and calculation, though it’s my baby module I am really missing the more practical old Mech I & II days.

Reliving my old days, I still remember my young days when I built my first pneumatic Lego powered arm, helicopter or bi-pedal walker when I was still 10, having it lift or walk around, then there was the excavator and other earth moving construction equipment which I couldn’t get enough of. The IA module would be a favorite for me, being both practical and lots of hands on. Maybe I should automate my room door…

Last but not least, Linkin Park – What I’ve Done is my new favorite tune on my playlist now, can’t wait for Minutes to Midnight to be released the song just rocks!

School
It’s April and into the 2nd week of the semester. My new class is now DME FT/3A/10, which is a merged CIE class (my previously class went to 5 people end of last semester), so we have 20 odd people now, particularly the other class from the other DME CIE class. For the standard DME & DARE courses that I know of, it’s their commencement of their Final Year Project (FYP) this semester which takes up a weekly block on their academic timetable spanning all the way into the next. FYP is all on everybody’s mind now, from lecturers always calling us all up asking whether have we “found” a supervisor to my current and ex-class mates always asking whether I can join their team. I hate to reject people, but I’ve already formed my team and preliminary research had already started.

Frankly speaking, I have nothing much to boot, but leading almost 7 teams to overall grade ‘A’ since year 1 has brought me lots of fulfillment and satisfaction, especially when my teammates receive their grade – the very essence to push and strive further for your best, with trust, strength and bonds built on every stop. Therefore, I prefer to work with those who I’ve worked with and trusted as a team and as a team leader – knowing your team member’s strength and weakness is the bread and butter of a successful group (besides having known our standard operating procedures, SOPs).

Those who come to me don’t see this – personally I hate pushy people, especially with my current 4 knitted members in my hand picked project team, many would say: “one more member won’t hurt, let me in!”. I am not judgmental on one’s abilities but No, I see things in the limelight of my team and integrity, more members will lead to diminishing marginal returns. Unless when an additional member prove to be an extensive asset where there will be exceptions.

😎 It’s going to be a big project ahead of us. May the day come and we shall face it head on. We will rock the department.

Sports
The Track and Field team has got a healthy boost of about 40 odd new year ones, tagging along strong in attendance since last friday. It’s nice meeting up and socialising with them, especially when I try my best to make it for Tuesday training and tentative Fridays, where I would be pumping up more on schoolwork and managing my work. All we wish is for this strength to stay in the months to come, then that will be very very cool.

The gym now has a “new” regulation restricting students with long hair to enter, particularly only guys while all the girls can go in swinging their hair all around untied. Preventive measures not to get hair stuck in the weights and pulleys so as I thought? But why the sudden reinforcement of the haircut rule in the student booklet? “It had been enforced all year along actually… and only guys do weights in the gym… right?” So as the gym auntie claimed.

Besides those freaky monster recycling bins the Environment Club had sprouting all around campus, noticeably are some posters stuck around the grounds as well, particularly going against a certain operating system which calls itself similarly like 2 hinged apparatus which you can open and close for ventilation in your home. Take that ownage!

Oh yea, on that as well, completed the C&C 3 Tiberium Wars GDI Campaign round Tuesday. I replayed the whole campaign on hard difficulty after I got bored playing it halfway on normal. It’s just unlike the old C&C days, everything is all Noob friendly now, but hard is actually now that hard either too.

Would be clearing the NOD campaign by this week. And yes there is homework to do now too.

Well school had re-opened and I am my 5th Semester having cleared my Internship the last 2 months and graduating in about less than a year’s time. Things are starting to get up on pace, namely new thick sets of lecture notes and considerably more visits to the library for books again.

This is technically my last academic semester and possibly one of rated low key semesters I would ever be taking (8 modules compared to last semester’s 9 and they say year 3 will be easy!), with Final Year Projects taking up the remaining bulk of this year. The best thing is there are no General Elective Modules (GEMS duh!) this semester too, so my Wednesdays (Alternate week) and Fridays are FREE! It had been sometime since I have a nice and clear timetable for runs, friends and recreation not to mention more family time and managing my business.

My modules for this semester:

But though given that, the daunting fact is that HALF of my modules this semester are heavy grade point 4 modules and only ONE grade pt 2 module (in comparison, there are three 2 Grade pts, three 3 Grade pts & 1 Grade pt 5 modules last semester). Not that I’ve never taken so many Credit Units modules in one semester but I guess I should not let my guard down and be complacent this last semester either. Its home run time!

On projects, my product design lecturer surprisingly called me last week asking (and presumably hinting haha) whether my final year project team had been formed and whether we had found a supervisor. He expressed great interest in taking my team as project supervisor & I would gladly look forward to that too, having taken us for almost a year over. On a side note, I know one of the directors in my school is also pursuing to be my team’s supervisor too… So it’s a battle between the lecturers… Choices… yet feels funny too, never been in this situation before, may the best wins.

Last but not least on the walk of the department’s noticeboard, there you have it again (on a semester annual affair hehe) – my name on the list of the honour roll for 4 semesters straight so far… and counting! The top person in the cohort scored 7 distinctions for the previous semester and that is still the record given to only 1 or 2 students on the pinned result list. Competition is still very hot and I am definately not letting my guard down this semester too.

Target for this semester:
Academic: At least 7 Distinctions (To 30)
CCA: Bump up to 300 CCA Points (~70pts to go)