I know. *Cringe*

One month absence wow.

En francais is an Engineers Dilemma

Unlike previous semesters, the local smart kids from Quebec make up the largest demographics in the majority of the class i’m taking. I reserve the most admiration for  this particular group of comrades, because from an Asian point of view,  it is without a single doubt that they come from a very different sphere of education system. In contrast to their Asian/Middle East counterparts, Quebecois kids may not be the geniuses in town. However, they are the most creative, most proactive, adventurous, highly curious and the most helpful go-getters i have ever seen. Their outlook in academics is such a drastic 360 degrees turn from ours in a way that i get really jealous. I am not jealous at their smart alecness, but rather of their education system. I envied the most of their mindset of how their academics experience should be formed.

There is a notion that in university life, one should adopt an attitude to be educated as much as possible as opposed to with the goal to pass exams. For the misinformed, that view was bludgeoned from the young minds in Asia aeons ago.  Main culprits are elite high schools,where  the pressure to perform well in national exams surpasses all other  priorities. In effect, matters pertaining the subject that doesnt revolve around the exams generate mild interest/disinterest. Screw the wonders of  Wolfram Alpha, i dont get an A with it anyway.

Granted, both types of outlook may brought success in academic life . Although, they differ drastically in undertaking strategies. The latter can be achieved by getting assignments and past papers from graduates,doing late night religious studying, following the exam fromat to the dot and targeting questions that the professor have an inclination to ask in examinations and probably a little plagiarizing thrown in. In retrospect,following an academic experience that is configured to best  fulfill the examination system.

Still confused? Think SPM.

How was the preparation like? Do you learn the subject or do you learn how to answer questions the right way about the subject?

Case in point.

Now, the former is what i call an idealistic view( and now scarce to find in real practice with the high academic inflation phenomenon nowadays) of an individual’s academic experience: you come to class to be inspired, to learn , be intrigued by new frontiers of your area and to contribute daily to a ping-pong banter of ideas and hypothetical experimentations. In restrospect : God Damn exams.

This sounds highly Utopian to my SPM educated ears.

But not to these Quebecois kids. They are the rare bunch of people of who still view academics along that vigour, or at least try to encapsulate the  same along-said spirit in daily practice. Note that the attitude is applied even with the examination system in place. The ability to hybrid the ideal view of academics and still beat the current system is something i find wondrous, even mesmerizing. In McGill engineering (with its tight curriculum and hectic schoolwork), trust me, idealistic is best to let rest in its laurels for 4 years and one is better off sticking to late night studying and FarmVille.

The point here is this:

How am i supposed to contribute in the lively discussion of wonderful enlightening and knowledge if i dont speak the same language as they are. Heck, i cant even contribute to the casual conversation of what i had for lunch today with them. In effect, i am an automatic outcast.

This is somewhat a depressing pickle i find myself in. The being minority female thing was one and now this? Come on now.

I am not kidding, this is a real and genuine problem. Learning is best done with participation, especially so the case with myself whos darn slow in the brain department.  This problematic issue is even more compounded when youre clueless in what to do in a lab demo( as is often the case) but everyone else is happily frenching away with each other.

It felt really rude to intrude in english. So all i can do is just gape in awe over; 1) their brilliance in the stuff,  2) their brilliance in french, 3) brilliance of chinese and indian guys in french all the while  still fumbling with the oscilloscope dials to get a non-noisy sine wave signal.

P/s :”…. and Quebec French doesnt even sound that good!”- me complaining.