just graduated. a thankful feeling!
During our Ring Hop Ceremony.
I started to use pencils when I was six and that mom was my teacher. Since then, my life was always about going to school – get taught and be learned. If I have to look myself now, I am so grateful that I actually had overcomed the challenges I encountered at school. For 16 years, I finally made it to earn a degree. I praise the Lord and I thank my parents for this victory. Life here in this world is really a temporary assignment and I believe, being educated is something that makes me ready to conquer the real world!
I graduated with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering last March 27, 2009 at Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology – Tagbilaran City Campus (CVSCAFT-TCC). If you ask me what is the feeling, I should say it is thankful.
Reminiscing the college years
After high school graduation, this selecting-a-best-course-and-best-institution worried me a lot. Two reasons: my parents can’t send me to a university that has high tuition fees to pay and I was not that decisive what sort of course I was going to take. So I was told that CVSCAFT-TCC was cheap (I mean cheap tuition fees) and was producing top notchers in board exams. I found out then that I should take an entrance exam first and should pass it so the school would consider me as their student. So to make the story short, I passed and I was one of the 59 CompE first year students of CVSCAFT-TCC.
CompE, I thought, is only about using computers but I was wrong. This course has 9 Math subjects to take which is very far from what I expected. Math 0 (Solid Mensuration), Math 1 (College Algebra), Math 2 (Plane and Spherical Trigonometry), Math 3 (Analytic Geometry), Math 4 (Differential Calculus), Math 5 (Integral Calculus), Math 6 (Differential Equations), Math 7 (Advanced Mathematics) and Math 8 (Probability and Statistics). I mentioned these subjects because going through all these subjects is like going through hell. What is more painful in my course is studying things that is beyond my imagination – like imagining how the electrons behave. Grrr. Electronics 1, Electronics 2, Electromagnetics, Mechanics 1, Mechanics 2, Circuits 1, Circuits 2, Physics 1, Physics 2 and Thermodynamics. Who would have thought I passed once in these subjects?
 The prototype of our underground parking lot. We were not really working on our prototype but more of our C program and the circuits. This was during our Third Year in college. |
 The circuits behind our underground parking lot. I remembwer we had a difficulty in determining the patterns for our stepper motor. It was like Grrrr! |
 The playback-recorder circuit of Library Noise Controller in a breadboard. |
 Assembling the project. That hand belongs to my groupmate Jezreel. My part here was doing the PIC Basic program. |
What I like in Computer Engineering is the part when we make our projects. That is the time when we get to apply the theories being fed to us by the books and by our instructors. These are the subjects that required us to make projects: Logic 1, Logic 2, Computer System Architecture (Interfacing), Microprocessor, and Design Project for the hardware; C++, Software Engineering and Assembly for the software. In our third year, we exhibited the “Underground Parking Lot” as completion for the subject Computer System Architecture. In our fourth year, we had our Library Noise Controller for completion of the subject Microprocessor. And finally in our 5th year, we recently had our IP Telephony using Asterisk which we made it to the defense.
Acquiring Computer Engineering degree is really hard, I should say. I remember those times when most of us were constantly waiting for the removal list to come out to find out if our names were included on the list. Taking a removal exam is like making your status in the subject either passed or failed. I experienced taking four removal exams. I failed in the subject Data Structure & Algorithm and Thermodynamics. I patiently retook these two later subjects so I can have this degree. I passed the removal exam for my Circuits 1 and Engineering Economy. Not only the subjects did the hard part for this course but also the instructors. I don’t know but I have an instructor who was so unfair. Yeah. I am right with the adjective – unfair – in the sense that he did not check our papers and arrived a grade without any factual basis in making the grade. Some of the instructors too were tightening the pressure on us. I thanked the Lord because it did not result to a trauma for me. Well, that is a bit exagerrating!
Did I say it hard? In first year we were 59. During graduation, we were 32. Computer Engineering makes my life in college both horrible and wonderful.
Congratulations!
My churchmates at home. Celebration after graduation.
It is worth of time to celebrate when we graduated. The last five years in college is a learning experience. Congratulations to my dear batch mates and to my parents! Thank you Lord for providing me wisdom. Well, in conclusion, I should say the feeling of college graduation is always thankful.
Project Design Exhibit is done.
Our school’s project design exhibit has finally commenced yesterday. I am happy after all the long sleepless nights of making, our projects made it to the exhibit. I think the exhibit is a successful one. What is new for me this time is when Sir Jerome Auza and his friend from Provincial Government came to see our IP PBX project. I think the provincial government of Bohol has plans to implement such telephone system with VoIP for their offices and so seeing our project, probably, would help them to understand the advantages of IP Telephony over to the conventional PABX Telephony.
OUr group has still plans to spend another time to improve our project… that is for the defense which will come by a couple of weeks by now. We still have to solve the problems of using the right codecs. Making calls from our system going to outside landline is not yet fully developed during our exhibit. Voice signals were not quite clear. I pray that this problem should be solved before our defense.
Well, I guess this exhibit remains to be a memorable one since it will be our last. Few days more to go, we will be graduating. Thank God for all the blessings!
Design Project: the so called subject for CompE students
If you are a student or a graduate of any engineering courses, you probably know what a Design Project is. For me, this Design Project is the most significant subject I have taken in college. We invent out from the lessons we learned in our subjects, exhibit it and finally defend it infront of many panelist. This certainly tells us whether we can graduate or not. Failing to run a design project means we can’t graduate. This explains why most of us are putting much time, strength and effort in realizing our own design project.
It was in early days of second semester when our instructor told us to propose a design project. Together with my groupmates (we are four – including me, Tej, Jboy and Dal), we are so blessed because the able local IT firm of Bohol, the Auza.net, helps us in providing the materials and enough resources. Through them, we are equipped in making the project.
Our batch decided to rent an apartment where it served as our place to make our projects. But what happens, we use the facility and the office of Auza.net as our place in doing our design project. This gives our group more time with each other to bond and enjoy while working.
It is Auza.net who gave us an insight on what project design to propose. Sir Jerome Auza who is a very down to earth boss, extends his knowledge to us about the idea of implementing a new telephone system technology for our school (CVSCAFT-TCC) – that is the Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange (IP PBX) with the use of Asterisk. Sounds techie right? The four of us being not into networking are all first timers about the project.
The E-book and the vast resources in the internet really helped us. Our project design exhibit will be held next week February 18-20, 2009 and so all of us are busy. Not just busy but really busy.
Because of this project, all the computer engineering students of CVSCAFT-TCC are all likely nocturnal. The night is spend on designing, troubleshooting, programming, prototyping and more… In the case of my groupmates, we encountered problems and troubleshooted many times especially in implementing our multitech device. I just thank God because that makes us not to worry. We try not to worry because that won’t help.
In the meantime, we are recording our own voices for our prompt and instruction messages. We are all feelers… hahaha I mean, who wouldn’t laugh when he hears his own voice recorded and played “Welcome. This is the CVSCAFT-TCC hotline. Press 1 for the directory of school offices. Press 2 for the enrollment assistance.” We are all noob and just laugh.
I thanked the Lord for the life of my groupmates, Jboy, Tej and Dal. They are not hot-tempered when we sometimes lose hope in our project. Although we are sleepless but we don’t forget to smile. We should not worry. After all, our group is been so blessed.
my new haircut
I finally decided to cut my hair again after 4 months.
I was about to enter the school gate yesterday but the lady guard called my attention and asked me to give my ID to her. She said she will return my ID until I get a new hair cut. I don’t have time to explain or complain, since she was right. That time I thought God told me to cut my hair also. I just hope that this will be my last time that a guard will tell my about getting a new haircut.
Well, Anamae does like my long hair so I texted her after what happened. And she was okay to cut my hair. hahaha
Mike went with me and he recommended me the Moleyboley Barbershop since the place is just in front of our school. The barber who cut my hair was kind of struggling. I thought he was a new barber. I was seeing the others finished already when in fact I was earlier than them. I am about to piss off with the barber man but I thank God because He gave me patience that time.
About 1 hour and more with my barber man struggling in cutting my hair, I finally had this new haircut. Hope it did not look bad. I finally use my Gatsby Wax again.
AWS: not for me
When I heard that Advanced World System (AWS) from Cebu City will be conducting an exam for fresh IT graduates, I was immediately interested to take. I have a friend who already worked there and I saw how the company helped him to be professional in IT. AWS has the ACTION training module for fresh graduates with the objective for its trainess to pass the PhilNits Exam. That makes me to like AWS.
The exam started this morning at HNU and I failed. Their aptitude test composed of three parts: the letter sequencing, the figure sequencing and basic math problem solving with allowable 10 minutes, 15 minutes and 30 minutes respectively.
I tried my best to qualify the exam and so I failed. I do understand that this is the start of my job hunting. I don’t like to worry about my life after graduation. I just have faith that God had plans for me. Though failing is very disappointing at first, I realized that I should not be.
I want to be happy with my future job. I don’t aim for money. I prayed that at least, my job won’t block me in doing my ministry. It’s all about Him after all.
Today is another learning experience I undertaken while I am still a student. Praise God because He is always there.
CompE Educational Tour
This is me at the Esprint Software office.
Our educational tour last December 8-12, 2008 at Cebu City, Mandaue City, Danao City and Mactan marked the once in a lifetime experience being a college student of CVSCAFT-TCC Computer Engineering Batch 6. Yeah for me, the educational tour is another technique of learning the fact that we are exposed to different companies that are related to our course.
What I enjoyed most in our tour is when we visited the ABS-CBN Cebu Station. We had glimpsed the studio of the local Kapamilya Winner Ka TV Show and tried our best to took a picture of ourselves. And I had the chance to greet my friends in Bohol via LS 97.1 Lupig Sila For Life FM Radio Station. Yeah. I like ABS-CBN.
So far so good. It’s kind of hard to remember the experiences we had when today is already January 13, 2009.
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