5 things I learnt

It’s been a mindblowing semester. And I think I learnt more in this short 3 months, than any other 3 months of my life. 20 years young this year, and the future looks exciting, I can’t wait for the next day =)

Reflecting back on the start of the semester, and the first homework post, it’s seems that alot have pass since then, but yet, it has only been 3.5 short months. When I first entered CS3216, I had no idea what I wanted to learn, and the only reason why wanted to join the class(the REAL reason) was that it wasn’t the normal route =P. Really, I don’t like doing things normally.

At the start I mentioned that I wanted to learn what I did not know I did not know. And now, i believe I can say I’ve learnt alot especially related to business and networking(YES, in a computing module).

 

So as most of you know, I’ve been moving around, talking to outside people, and we plan to push Codename Penguin all the way. And I realised one very important thing that in hindsight that I did that was the right thing to do, that many people had ask me why the heck I did that when I don’t need the points, to join CCA’s, namely NUS Entrepreneurship Society(NES). I joined in out of passion, and I love doing what I did in there, and dots did connect.  One thing led to another, and now I’m currently the Vice Director of Technology in there. And I thoroughly abuse this position. And because of this position that I received in NES, people seemed more willing to correspond and exchange contacts at networking sessions. I remember a biz undergrad at one of these networking sessions, and he was complaining to me that he couldn’t find anyone who was willing to exchange contacts with him. And that kindof started me thinking, I didn’t have that problem, so what was I doing right? Turns out that in hindsight, I’ve made a lot right choices, but I made most of those choices because of other reasons, because I followed my heart, and dots did connect. Sometimes, we just have to believe, and do what we want to do. Because of this project, I’ve been given the opportunity to network with more people than any other time in my life, and I found something else I like doing, talking to people. So I did learn one more thing about myself because of this module.

 

Second thing that I learnt, and Prof has been teaching this as well, but I couldn’t find a way to effectively put in in words, until I met Fredrick Haren, founder of Interesting.org and author of bestselling book The Idea Book. Basically it’s this idea of taking existing ideas and improving on it. Previously, I was very against copying other businesses, and I always thought I should be able to do better than that. In all honesty, Prof didn’t manage to convince that it was ok to copy others’ ideas. But after speaking to Fredrick, I managed to see things in a new light. And it was actually something that he learnt from talking to a HR person in China. It’s not so much of copyright, but rather, copying right. Most inventions in the world were because people existing technology, copied them and merge with other technologies to create new technologies. And that woke me up, if I could copy what other people have, repackage it, and add my own stuff on top of it, wouldn’t that make it mine?

 

Third thing that I learnt, people are amazing. You never know what you can learn from others, no matter who they are. Just because we are undergrads, does not mean that we are smarter than people who do not have degrees. A very thought provoking video(in cantonese) that prof shared on facebook a while and it left a very deep impression on me.

A rough translation of the final part of the video, which made me think alot.

Everyone is unique. We shouldn’t use our own standards to measure others, and we also should use what we believe is the best or right standards and force it upon others. And we also should look down on others because of our status and abilities.
Others may not have my strengths, but we cannot forget, do we have their strengths?

Thx prof, for sharing.

 

Fourth thing I learnt, connections are damn important. To do something big, we need to have the connections to the right people, and leverage on that. Don’t be afraid to ask, especially while we are still students. I remember Howie Lau, VP and GM of Lenovo ASEAN telling me this.

Meet as many highflyers and establish as much contacts while you are a student. Meet for meals and most of the time they will oblige. That opportunity disappears once you have graduated.

 

Fifth thing I learnt, life is not just about school. There is this saying in chinese, which is quite popular in China,

毕业等于失业

Many a times, the moment someone graduates in the moment he/she loses direction in life, Especially for those who cannot find jobs. School does not prepare them for this. But CS3216 does. Because we are not given a direction. The only thing that is told to us is to GO DO SOMETHING. The feeling of being lost and not knowing what to do can be quite thrilling at times. Sick, I know, but it’s fun =).

I’m quite sure that I’ve learnt alot more, but I guess every post has it’s end, and it’s time to turn my attention to the final report. Till next time.