…middah…

Wednesday, February 03 2010 15:33

In the Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious Most Merciful

“Haa.. sekarang ni dah keluar MISG, boleh lah spend more time study. Jangan nak pegi cari kerja lain pulak..” kata mak bila dapat tahu saya bukan lagi qiyadah MISG tahun ni.

Sorry mak. ter. tercari kerja lain.

Bryant Community Center

If you remember from last year, I was punished with hours of community service that I need to fulfill before graduating. Not finishing them equates to not graduating. After quite a few months putting it on hold, last Monday, I finally took the effort to start working on my community service hours. It’s not really unusual for me to volunteer, it’s just that for the first time, I’m doing it because I have to. Although, I still enjoy it as much.

Starting this week, I tutor at Bryant Community Center for their After School Program (4-6pm) every Monday, with elementary school kids. My first day, a few days ago, was simply amazing. I hadn’t been volunteering for a while, so I was a bit rusty. But the kids were simply awesome! After settling in with the coordinator, one kid came up to me and asked, “Are you Arab?” I was stuck. Err.. “No, I’m a Muslim. what about you?” Then we started chatting and she asked me to help with her homework. That day, I managed to get to know 4 kids. At first, when I was working with two of ‘em, both were doing English. And once they were done, they were flipping through other worksheets they could do but refused to do Math (even when I wanted them to do Math, since that’s something I like). But later (thankfully), another girl came up and asked me to help her with long division… (Yeay! Math!). They were all awesome and I had a really good time that day. It was a bit tiring since I’d have to take the bus and parking would be a problem if I were to bring my car, but I think it was all worth it.

Student Organization Support (S.O.S.) Consultant

A couple of weeks ago, an email was sent out to us regarding an opening for SOS Consultant position. It’s a consulting job at the Student Activities & Leadership (SAL) Office to help other student leaders manage their organization. Being that I have had quite a number of years of experience with student organizations here at UM, I thought, “Why not. Let’s just try,”

They called me in for an interview last week, and they said that they were going to get back to me by Monday. I didn’t really put too much hope on it, and the only reason why I’d like to take the position is to polish “consulting” (aka communication) skills. They didn’t get back to me until today (Wednesday, two days late), and I was already thinking that the position is gone.

But apparently, I got the job.

Honestly, I don’t even know if it is a paid job, but I don’t really care to know. I would only be starting next week (I think) but they asked if I would like to come and sit in at a workshop (which I might be conducting sometime later) this Friday.

Wow.

Me, an SOS consultant? Never thought of it before.

I’m sure it wouldn’t take too much time since I’m only required to come in for two hours a week (Tuesday evenings), but I do think it’ll be interesting to learn some “consulting” skills.

Entrepeneurship 101

Some of you might have already heard about it. It’s an experiential learning project I’m conducting with some other Malaysians to learn entrepreneurship skills. Simply said, we opened a business. Currently, we sell Halal food at Angell Hall once a week (every Monday). This week was the second week of business. Last week, our first week, we were a bit unfortunate that we made some loss. However, we learned from our mistake, and alhamdulillah, this week, we gained a bit of profit. Hopefully, next week would be much better!

When I first started the project, I really didn’t expect 12 people to join in (I was expecting 4-5 ppl only). Even without enough publicity, I got that much. There were more, but some of ‘em dropped out early on. Things were getting out of hand, at first, that I almost quit the group. Fortunately, the shareholders didn’t let me to do so. I asked for it twice, and both times it was turned down. But I managed to get another shareholder, Izyan, to take the position of CEO.

Right now, I’m already planning on Entrepeneurship 102, which is something I shouldn’t do yet. But insyaAllah, will careful planning, I think I should be able to at least ace the 101.

Sunday, January 31 2010 17:54

In the Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious Most Merciful

Yesterday we had a talk with Sheikh Omar Baloch entitled “The Power of NOW - In Search of Lost Time”. Two things that kept me thinking was about how we are all losers (tafseer Surah Al ‘Asr) and how time relativity works.

Losers, it’s such a negative word. I don’t think anyone would ever like to be losers. Even if they know that they are, they don’t want to be called that way. Positive-thinking works in a world where everyone feels good about themselves and tries to think good about others. But at times, we have to admit that we are LOSERS. But Allah didn’t call us that way just to intimidate us. He wants us to succeed, which is why he mentioned the 4 things that you need to do in order to achieve success; have iman, practice amal soleh, enjoin the truth, and patience. Sound easy, huh? Try it and we’ll see.

Time relativity works in a way that sometimes, you’ll feel that time moves so fast (esp when you’re happy, doing something fun or entertaining) and sometimes it moves so slow (esp when you’re going through torture, waiting for the bus, or simply reading a book). I’ve been feeling it more and more these days when my plate is only half-full (in a good way). There were a lot of things that I’ve left for 2010, but there are somethings that I’ve added as well. But right now, I’m starting to have (what people call) “quality time” or at least focus more on what I have rather than trying to spread myself too thin. I think you can even tell by the number of blog post I’ve been having for this year (as compared to the past few months, or years).

And I can’t believe it’s the last day of January. It feels as if I’ve gone through a few months already. Boleh rasa masa berjalan sangat perlahan sejak akhir-akhir ni, berbanding dengan semester lepas.

Azam semester ni, so far, alhamdulillah, 4 per 5 berjaya = 80% = A2.. Let’s hope next month ni boleh dapat A1 ye!

Wednesday, January 27 2010 14:17

In the Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious Most Merciful

I’m sorry but I just needed to ramble for a bit..

I’m an idealist. I think of ideas. I do things to realize those ideas, no matter what it takes. I live in an idealistic world where I get what I want. Perhaps that’s why I’m a math major. I think objectively where there’s always a solution to any problem. And there’s only one best solution. There might be a gazillion ways to get there, but there’s only one best solution.

The thing is right now, I’m almost giving up on Presidential Suite - an idea I had since last October.

Why?

Because at this point, MSD Officers want to hold it for now and wait til Midwest Games (in May) to discuss among all MSD Officers. MAY? That’s 5 months from now. I can’t wait that long. No can do.

When I first started Presidential Suite, I knew it’s going to be hard. But my initial intention was not to include MSD Officers at all. I wanted it to be an “only-students” thing. I knew MSD would complicate things. I knew MSD would make things a lot harder for me. But people start asking questions, and there were simply to much to handle. So I thought, why not, bring it to MSD?

So I did. On my way back from Tamrin at Purdue, I finished up the initial proposal for Presidential Suite. I immediately sent it to MSD Chicago and got a positive response. That’s good, I thought. At our student leaders’ meeting at the end of December, I presented it again to all attendees including student leaders and MSD Officers. Then, at Muktamar, I brought the idea up to Dato’ JJ and MSD Washington Officers. I followed up a couple of weeks after by sending them the proposal. Again, positive responses, but they wanted me to wait til Midwest Games to discuss it further. Last week, I finished the 1, 5, and 10 years mission of Presidential Suite and the outline of what’s gonna happen for the next year. I want everything to be set up by the end of the semester, and all hyped up for Fall 2010. I sent it to the MSD Officers, and  again, the only thing they can say to me is — “wait til Midwest Games”.

The thing is, I’m only the President until April, and I’m not staying in the US for that long. People come and go, and it’s not easy for me to work with people when I don’t know them, let alone have met them. I’d prefer to do it while I’m still here. Especially when I still have the will, the want.

I’m thinking of either closing up Presidential Suite, or take it in a different route - my own route. I’m sorry but I can’t wait. Five months is a loooong time and if I wait, by the time they approve everything, I might not even be here anymore.

My motivation towards the Malaysian Student Association is knowing that I am assisting those Malaysians during their stay here in the US. When they first come, we provide the transportation, the accommodation, and helping out during transitional periods - physically, emotionally and perhaps intellectually. And during their 4 years here, they are to equip themselves not only with intellect (a.k.a. studying), but also all other necessary skills, knowledge, experience and networks.

And my motivation towards Presidential Suite is to know that all MaSA receive sufficient resources and assistance to make sure that their members is well taken cared of (PIES) as well. All MaSA has the same objectives, and it’s such a waste if we leave one of the biggest (and perhaps nearest) resource we have - our peers. We can all help each other out, and things will be a lot easier if Presidential Suite is realized.

However, looking at how things are right now, it’s either I cut Presidential Suite off, or I cut MSD off.

I’m sorry.

Monday, January 25 2010 7:26

In the Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious Most Merciful

I was reading a news report regarding the new status of “High-Performance School” or “Sekolah Bertaraf Tinggi” (SBT) in TheStar today.

I wish I could understand how they think.

I really do.

If they are trying to create some kind of ‘Ivy League’ status, it simply is stupid (yes, I do not curse). Of course, to some degree, you are awarding the schools that produce outstanding students in hope that others would be inspired and follow their footsteps. However, in my opinion, the impact might just be the opposite.

Types of schools awarded SBT

There are 20 schools awarded SBT; 14 secondary and 6 primary. Any SBP student can tell that all the SBPs awarded are established schools, those with long history (of perhaps, achievements), well-known schools that already receive great amount of funding, have great facilities, amazing teachers and an interesting line of alumni. (But I’m only saying this by experience, not backed by facts, so correct me if I’m wrong.) The 4 day (secondary) schools awarded are similar; well-established, well-known etc. The 6 primary schools, I’m not so sure but I can guess that it would be similar.

One look at these schools, a lot of things came into my mind: Why isn’t there any MRSM in the list? Based on what I know (from 5 years back) of the academic ranking of SBPs, there are many other schools that have been doing a lot better than these ten, why them? They are already good schools, why give more award?

I’m not simply saying this because my school is not up there, though in fact, my school is up there: SK Zainab (2). I was there for 6 months before moving to Shah Alam.

The Criteria

” These schools were chosen from among schools that showed outstanding performance in the field of academia, co-curricular activities and niche areas. “

I thought so. When you look at these three types of achievements, of course the already established schools would win the game.

Rationale

” He said the rationale in having SBTs was to raise the quality of the best schools in the country to be world class, produce outstanding students and narrow the gap between schools within the system. “

Now, let’s look at the rationale and how these 20 initially awarded SBT would obtain the objectives. First, raise the quality of the best schools in the country to be world class. Hmm… Sounds a lot like the ‘Ivy League’ overrated concept to me. Second, produce outstanding students. Yes, a lot of us do know that many great successful people come from these great schools. And third, narrow the gap between schools within the system. Now this one, I’d have to disagree. How do you expect to narrow the gap when you created the ‘gap’ ? Between SBT schools and non-SBT schools?

SBT schools would receive a certain amount of funding each year for them to go further, achieve international excellence. In my opinion, isn’t it better to give these funds to schools that need it more? Those where a computer lab is nowhere to be found, the walls are rundown, tables and chairs are from five thousand years ago? If not, what about providing free tuition classes for those in need but don’t have the extra money? What about providing subsidized workbooks and stationaries? What about employing more teachers to reduce the teacher : student ratio?

Conclusion

There was a time when they had awards for Sekolah Harapan which I really liked, because it gave support, funding, and hope to schools that has some problems but still have outstanding students. I remember SMK Seksyen 19 (fyi, this is not my school) have gotten that award and I’m so glad that they do because I know so many people there who could achieve outstanding success, given the right tools and support. The environment aren’t helping at all, but at least they are not forgotten just like that.

From how I see it, SBT is like making the rich richer and the poor poorer. That why I wonder, what they were thinking when they created this. (I guess that’s also why TheStar put a question mark at the end of the title.)

Saturday, January 23 2010 13:28

In the Name of ALLAH, Most Gracious Most Merciful

Yep, I got an internship! :)
*Senyum sampai ke telinga*

It’s an offer from Blue Cross Blue Shield at Michigan, a non-profit insurance company, aiming on providing affordable healthcare to people of all walks of life. It’ll be from May 17th until Aug 20th (~3 months). It’ll be in one of the two offices they have: Southfield, MI (~35 mins) or Detroit, MI (~45 mins).

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been interviewed by quite a number of companies, though BCBSM is the only one I actually really wanted an internship from. (Perhaps because of that) the interview with BCBSM was the only one that I actually did well in. It was on Wednesday, which is also the same day we had a Career Fair. A little different form other interviews, we had two 15 mins interview with 2 + 1 actuaries. The first one, with two lovely ladies, we talked more about the usual interview stuff - about myself, what I did during my internship last summer, how I tend to things etc. The second one, with a tall gentlemen, was a bit different. At first he asked about my time in MCSP (which took place during my freshmen year); well, I don’t blame him, that was the only community service activity I ever wrote in my resume. At the end of the interview, while I was asking questions, apparently, all the things that I read about the health care reform seemed to crawl in that when he said, “From yesterday, I don’t think it’s going to pass,” I replied, “With what happened at Massachusetts?” Macam lah I tau apa sangat pasal the health care reform. Nasib je semalam Allah bagi I ter-tengok kat some headlines about the health care reform that I saw the excerpt yang dekat Massachusetts tak lepas. Then of course, the conversation became more interesting.

But anyway, after I was done with it, I initially wanted to go to the Career Fair. I stopped by but there were so many people and I was having a really bad headache (plus tiredness) that I decided to leave after visiting a couple of booths.

Before I left the Career Center on Wednesday, they asked me to fill in an application form online, just to get some paperwork information (work eligibility etc). However, I tried filling it in but there were some sort of error. Yesterday, I was really tired that I took a holiday from “the world”, so then, when they called me yesterday, I didn’t answer it. It was only later, before I went to Kak Anum’s for our weekly usrah, that I heard the voice mail message. I called them back today and guess what they said, “We would like to offer you an internship, ” !!!!

I told them that I needed some time to tell my parents, plus to think about it, and that I’ll call them back on Tuesday. But honestly, I would have said yes to them right away! I am so excited!