Semester in Review: 400 Level 1st Semester
If someone asked me to describe my 400 level 1st semester in one word, my reply will be: crazy!. This was my craziest semester yet. Picture this, you have a 2 pm deadline at work and you have to co-organize an interdepartmental training on Python for Data Science and while being absent from class. This was a regular experience for me. Let’s rewind a bit to how it all started.
The early Quarter (July 10th — August 10th)
The whole craziness was activated the moment I got a frontend developer internship at Patricia Technologies Ltd. I hadn’t gained any reputable work experience after my last internship at Esettlement Ltd which I completed in July 2020. So I longed for new work experience to improve my relevance. I got too many rejection emails due to my lack of real-world work experience. This meant that the internship was finally a chance to go off the rejection trail and join the workforce again. It was all flowers and butterflies until we had our SIWES 300.
SIWES 300 is supposedly a 3-month internship for engineering students to help them internalize all they learned in their 3rd year. It’s part of the effort to give engineering students 1 full year of work experience (3 months of SIWES 200 and 300 & 6 months of SIWES 400).
Due to COVID’s disruption of my school’s calendar, the management had to shorten the SIWES from 3-months to 2-weeks. How practical! Then, my department shortened it further by organizing a one-week “workshop”. Attendance was compulsory for all who participated. I couldn’t attend because I didn’t want to miss meetings at work and I wanted to deliver all my tasks. Long story cut short, I attended only a few sessions of the SIWES workshop and defended rubbish on the defense day.
At this point in the semester, I couldn’t say I had learned any new things or made any major mistake besides not taking SIWES more seriously. If I were to relive this quarter, I would be more objective and intentional about SIWES.
The Second Quarter (August 11th — September 11th)
Just when I thought I could adapt and live a double life as a good student and a professional, my responsibilities came knocking at my door requesting I do all I promised during the departmental elections.
So right before my 3rd-year, second-semester exam, I played the politics cards to be elected as the Director of Research (DOR) of the Nigerian Institute of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE) National Student Forum (NSF) FUTO. Long name eh? We just shorten it to NIMechE. I somehow was able to convince a bunch of students that I could serve them in that capacity. I was eventually inaugurated as the Director of Research. My main duties were to organize workshops on different skills/technologies and be the link between external companies and the department. Although I had so much drive to serve well in this capacity, I didn’t give my 100%. This was mainly due to the mental stress of juggling things and the constant ominous feeling that everything will eventually spin out of control.
So back to my responsibilities as the NIMechE DOR. My first duty was to organize a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) training. Going for the lowest hanging fruit and with the help of my co-executives (comrades), I brought in three student CAD professionals to teach other students the basics of CAD with Solidworks.
The workshop turned out to work out better than I expected. Some students got up and running with CAD while other students got the drive to learn CAD at a later time.
So, apart from the CAD training, I co-organized a tech workshop on APIs (Application Programming Interface) with IEEE FUTO Student Body. This was part of the effort to serve the Microsoft Tech Community in FUTO as a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador.
As always, my mentor in tech, Samson Amaugo graced the event and demoed an airtime giveaway app with Azure Power Automate and Flutterwave. You can watch the recording here.
The last notable event in the first quarter was a Voice-Over training. I saw a chance to finally learn a non-technical skill and jumped on it. I learned the basics of voice acting, podcasting, and On-Air Personality (OAP) presentation. Of all the amazing things I could have done, I didn’t take the path of the Voice Artist. Fortunately, I learned how to do a proper voice-over on videos and use it for pre-recorded videos like this DevFest talk on WebAssembly. I could still take the path of the Voice Artist and maybe, becoming the guiding voice in documentaries, explainer videos, and the likes, but that will be much later.
On mistakes made and lessons learned, I didn’t take work as seriously as I should have and wasn’t as serious as I should have been on things like my personal growth as an engineer. If I could relive this quarter, I would have been more meticulous in planning my day and more analytical on how I approached tasks.
Late Quarter (September 12th — October 12th)
The late quarter of every semester is the time students realize they have to start studying. Well, that’s for sane students because I didn’t remember opening a book in this period. I still had responsibilities to fulfill. Not studying along with other students was a foolish decision I made. But aside from my lack of academic discipline, the most notable things that happened in the late quarter were:
- An Excel masterclass.
- A Data Science with Python workshop.
- A NIMechE Picnic.
- A Fusion360 Workshop by Generative CAD Service in collaboration with NIMecheE.
The Excel masterclass was all you would expect from a masterclass. You learn little, but you go home with a burning drive to learn more. I got to learn new things like V-Lookup and advanced number formating. I attended this class because I still had the drive to learn. I still wanted to use the right tool for the job when the situation presents itself.
Moving forward, I co-organized a Data Science for Engineering workshop alongside the Electrical and Mechatronics Engineering Directors of Research. The purpose was to teach engineering students the basics of Data Science with Python for Engineering applications and have them compete in a hackathon, utilizing the skills they learned to solve an engineering problem. Things did not go as planned. The turnout was low due to the many engagements students had during this period. Many students were participating in practicals and attending serious lectures. Fortunately, the students that attended were able to learn a little Python and the basics of Predictive Machine Learning Analysis. I learned more lessons from organizing this event. I could write a whole article on that 😅.
While the workshop was on-going, I had to give a presentation of the self-taught engineer at the NIMechE congress, essentially managing two things simultaneously. It was fun to come up with such a topic because I was tired of software engineers proclaiming themselves as self-taught. So I asked a few questions and came up with slides on the topic. You can view the slides here.
After the Data Science workshop and congress, students had the chance to chill out in a Picnic organized by NIMechE. I had lots of fun being a hypeman, playing monopoly, and dancing in circles. This was after all the setup stress, moving heavy objects around 😒.
So the Fusion 360 workshop by Generative CAD Services was impromptu, just like the Data Science in Engineering one. It was a 2-day workshop that overlapped into the school’s matriculation ceremony. Because of how impromptu it came, the turnout was low. Despite all that, I was able to connect with a professor at my department and also further experience the challenges of organizing events.
I repeated the mistake of not planning things effectively. I didn’t properly plan the Data Science in Engineering workshop nor was I ready for my presentation on the self-taught engineer. The major lesson I learned is on building great teams. Because of the collaboration with other DORs, the Data in Engineering workshop wasn’t a total flop. We could have done better by getting volunteers for the event and serving more as the brains.
The Final Quarter (October 13th — November 26th)
This was one hell of a skewed quarter. This was exam prep quarter. Also the time I foolishly channeled my “free time” into Blockchain research and obsession with the Metaverse. So, trying to find new grounds in tech, I decided to explore what Blockchain had to offer. I attended a Blockchain Meetup in Pourharcourt, organized by African Blockchain Center for Developers (ABCD). This meetup was the starting point of this obsession. From there, I scored over a lot of YouTube videos about Blockchain, Defi, NFTs, staking among other topics.
Just when the obsession had reduced and I thought I could focus on school, Facebook rebranded as Meta and the idea of the Metaverse became mainstream among techies. I got intoxicated with the prospects of the Metaverse and wanted to explore it and build amazing experiences on it. Too bad I’m too broke to afford a VR headset (for now).
Moving on, I started getting serious with academics around this time. This was quite late, but, as you would have it, the fear of failure gave me the strength to study. Unfortunately, my old ways of studying weren’t efficient any longer. I wanted a better way to study. A persistent way that was fun. Enter studying on Notion.
The idea was to have each topic of each course well documented in order to keep track of my learning. I’ve always fancied the idea of digital studying. In fact, part of my goals as a developer in 2019 was to create tools that made studying more efficient. A sane person will realize that it was too late to start such an endeavor. The 4th quarter of a semester should be dedicated to reviewing things learned in the course of the semester. Clicking into this, I only used Notion to keep track of my solutions to past questions, particularly in ENG 405.
I frequently thought of even more efficient ways of studying. Like simulated exams, community-made quizzes, and map views of all concepts in a course. I also leveraged my brain’s ability to remember visualized concepts.
I stumbled on this video which inspired me to continue on my current path.
In the end, I wrote my exams with 50–60% confidence and the wish for freedom. I’m glad it’s all over. But is it?
Before we round up, here’s my foolishness chart of the semester. Calculated from empirical data of my negligence.
The Leap Day
Just as the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, the semester, viewed as a whole, is greater than the sum of its quarters. I thought of the idea of the leap element, being an addition to every whole that makes greater than the sum of its parts. The leap element in this review is the sum of all lessons learned. The most important lessons I learned are:
- Always make SMART, flexible plans. Ensure your days, weeks, and months are planned.
- Decide on the grades you will end up with at the start of the semester. Don’t simply go with the flow.
- Think about the next best alternative whenever things are not going according to plan. Don’t just drop your hands and give up.
- Iteratively improve regular processes such as studying or organizing events so as to gain improvements along the way.
The purpose of this review is to get any student out there, struggling to make sense of everything to hang on. I got through the semester by constantly exploring new, better ways to achieve everyday things. It got better at every iteration. This is one way to hang on. To keep finding better ways to study. Better ways to connect. Better ways to live.
I challenge you to explore your interests. Show your work and sell yourself so you can gain feedback on your progress. You can be an amazing person, you probably are. Try doing those far-fetched things your brain keeps telling you to do. Just like The Script sang in Hall of Fame, “How you ever gonna know if you never even try?” In all we do, let’s keep moving towards greater efficiency while enjoying the process. Cheers to progress 🥂. Till later. Adios ✌🏽🧡.
