So it's been awhile..

Salam..
so it took me almost 2 years to get back writing here.
kinda forgot abt this blog.
soo fast forward into the present, freshman year passed, and sophomore year came.

it went from this..

to this.

alhamdulillah, without realizing it, i'm already into my second year and just jumped into Junior year(credit wise).
if all goes to plan biiznillah, i'll be in my Senior year this fall and starting Master's class next spring.
everything's fine and dandy, and to be honest, it's awesome here. and a lot of people, are missing out on the fun here and a lot of those who come to visit RPI are kinda wondering why they didnt consider getting into RPI at first.

dont want to go into details, but if you're applying to any university, be sure to look into RPI. it's awesome here.

oh and if you're coming to RPI, Apik is excited to drive you around. :)

awesome

alhamdulillah.. terbaik lah library..

A Sense of Belonging

salam..
it's been two months since i arrived at RPI, and I am FINALLY fitting into the society.
to change from a British education system into an American education system is A LOT to take in..
the difference is super big.
this past week has really made me feel comfortable being around Americans
even though i was a debater back in Malaysia, speaking to an American is not the same
it takes a lot of getting used to the pronunciations and accents.
i have to kinda go through how to pronounce things before i actually say something

alhamdulillah,
today, i feel like an American Student.(not an American. haha)
first of all, i managed to actually make an appointment and talk to the writing center to help with my writing. i realized, that is the best thing one could do. i actually brainstormed with the assistant on how to tackle my essay and alhamdulillah, i managed to finish it in less than 2.5 hours (including research). reaching out to people who know and actually asking for advice really made my work a lot better in terms of quality. sometimes u just gotta let ur ego down, be brave and reach out.

before i came to america, i made a promise not to stick with my clans and to socialize with americans. apparently, today have made me realized that i am finally a part of their community (lol). before this, i am kinda hesitant on how to approach these people and i kinda avoided a lot of conversations. i've put a poker face on and just be brave enough to speak out in class and just be part of the class. now im getting friends to say hi and chat with me on facebook, even text.

i am also currently reaching out to the sustainability task force and trying to work with them to solve composting solutions at RPI and troy.
i dont think i'd get that experience anywhere else.

well, i wouldnt say that this is a HUGE DEAL when it comes to interacting with americans as a second language user. but this is a stepping stone to bigger networking opportunities that i am planning to explore
i hope that i could go as far as even getting an interview insyaAllah..

in Allah lies all the strength.

a holiday is a holiday

if u've heard all those people having classes on weekends, and classes at night.. even exams on holidays..

well, no such thing at RPI. :)

studying Web Programming while eating free famous amos at the study lounge.
alhamdulillah. this is fun :D

students driving porsche 911 Turbo and Hummer H2s to class, yerp that's RPI.

Career Opportunities.

salam
here's a little something from RPI that i find most interesting.
in the one month+ that i've been at RPI, i have gotten A LOT of emails on job opportunities
companies just love to recruit from RPI.
apparently our alumni has a really good track record

friday is gonna be career day. since i dont have a suit and i'm a freshman, i dont think i'll be going.
however, let me just tell you about invitations and job opportunities that i have been getting in my inbox.

1. DotCIO’s MultiMedia Services – Student Programmer
2. The Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center - IT Support and Operations
3. Motalen Inc – Video Game Testing (I signed up for this one)
4. Cisco Inc – Software Engineering / Networking
5. Ernst & Young – IT Internship / Full time
6. Boeing - Information Technology Career Foundation Program / Internship / Analyst
7. Becton, Dickinson and Company - IT Leadership Program, IT Summer Internship:
8. Microsoft (came twice) – General recruiting. 

and this is just from 7th September to 28th September 2011. just 3 weeks. 

here's the list of companies coming to rpi this coming semester for IT alone :

1.  Aetna 
2. Agora Games 
3.  Airvana 
4.  Assured Information Security 
5.  Bank of America 
6.  BD 
7.  Bechtel Marine Propulsion 
8.  Bechtel Plant Machinery 
9.  Boeing 
10.  Booz Allen Hamilton 
11.  CIA
12.  Cisco Systems 
13.  Cigna 
14.  Citi 
15.  Clever Devices 
16.  CloudSwitch Dupont
17.  E la Carte 
18.  EMC 
19.  Epic 
20.  Ernst & Young 
21.  FactSet 
22.  FDM 
23. Group First Investors Corporation 
24.  GE 
25.  Greane Tree Technology 
26.  IBM 
27.  IRS 
28.  Johnson & Johnson
29.  Lutron Electronics 
30.  Mainstream Engineering 
31.  MicroEdge, LLC 
32.  Microsoft 
33.  MITRE 
34.  Next Jump Inc. 
35.  Optaros 
36.  Oracle 
37.  Palantir Technologies 
38.  Polaris Management 
39. Partners 
40.  PPL Corporation 
41.  QueBIT Consulting
42.  Shadow Financial Systems
43.  Smart Scholarship Tallan, Inc
44.  The Hartford 
45.  TripAdvisor 
46.  UTC 
47.  WellPoint 
48.  Wolf 
49. Greenfield
50.  Xerox 
51.  ZS Associates  

i cant manage to mention all the companies (coz they're lots !), but here's some reputable companies for other majors that i DID NOT mention above :

1. Energizer
2. ExxonMobil
3. Honda 
4. L'Oreal
5. Merck
6. MIT Lincoln Lab
7. Nestle 
8. NYSE
9. Philips
10. Pratt & Whitney
11. Procter & Gamble
12. Schlumberger
13. Target
14. Xerox

And yeah, this is the FALL 2011 list. most companies dont show up until SPRING right before graduation and Summer.

soo... yeah, u be the judge. not so Polytechnic eyh ?