Sunday, February 19, 2006

My life at UTM

For the next few days I'll be posting some excerpts from my assignment for the subject Professional Engineering Practices, which I shall rename as "My Life at UTM"...just to make it sound a tad more interesting. Here's the first installation regarding some of my early experiences and hostel life, plus some not-so-subtle thoughts that didn't make it into the official version.

Being in my final year, it is interesting to look back at how I managed to enrol in UTM. I nearly did not make it at first since I was offered a diploma course in electronics engineering at the UTM KL Campus. Fortunately my appeal was successful and there was no looking back after that. (Nope, not even JPA, MMU and ASEAN could tempt me; I didn't want to serve the gov, couldn't afford going private, and preferred to keep my sanity at bay, if you get what I mean)

The moment I stepped into UTM, I was in awe of its size and entire surroundings. After all, it was the first time I was in a public university and not just a college with limited campus space. I never thought a university could cover such a vast expanse of land. (UTM is like...teh biggest!!) As I was one of the second intake students, I managed to escape the ‘hardships’ of MHS, or Minggu Haluan Siswa. One thing that I also missed was the chance to bond with other students during that orientation week. It is not surprising to say that I was hit with a sense of loneliness when I first arrived here. (Roneryyyy......I am so roneryyyy....)

An interesting part of university life is when one stays in the hostels. In my first year, I occupied a tiny room in Kolej Siswa Desa Skudai (KSDS), the only college located off campus. (...and also the HQ for the resident pondans) As the distance from my college to the university was quite far, every morning we had to practically squeeze ourselves into the bus to get to our faculties. This was when most of the residents stopped behaving like university students; pushing and pulling was part and parcel of getting on to the bus. Neat queues and good discipline were nearly non-existent. Perhaps this is the way people behave when they are faced with limited options.(I could get shot being philosophical) You either struggle to get a place in the bus, or you could walk to campus. However, I always believe in etiquette and manners no matter under what situation. (I just put that in to make myself look good, muahahaha!!) Not withstanding the commotion at the bus stop everyday, I was lucky enough to get my own car as a means of transport.

Staying at KSDS however had its perks too. As we were not used to the food served in the café, we had the option to walk to some of the nearby shops and food stalls to have our dinner. I also enjoyed the company of many fellow students living under the same roof. There was always a sense of brotherhood among us and this is what I miss most about hostel life. (Yeah that was definitely the best part of staying in a hostel...those were the days)

(To be continued...)

In case this entry catches the eye of some desperate publisher, I want my cover to look like this:

It'll be the best thing to happen after that geisha story.

thought completed at 9:23 PM | 0 comments

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