Some addendum: Our convocation is pretty ghetto actually, but very few people mentioned it, besides the disorganization. Perhaps it's what we'll all grown to expect from Waterloo after five years, and we've been so desensitized, we don't notice it any more. I mean, I've never been to convocations from other universities (and it seems likely I never will), but surely they would have something better than gym bleachers for our parents to sit on. I was half expecting them to make us sit in those crappy metal fold-up chairs, but at least they got something a bit more presentable. PAC is one of the worst designs in architecture that I’ve seen, too many levels, too many corridors, and too many deadends. It also smells funny. Did I forget to mention how getting our diploma was like an assembly line? Three go up on stage at once, kneel, move on. Diploma mill indeed!

Yes yes, that's what everyone's been blogging about for the past few days.  Five years gone, money gone, all I got is this stupid paper, blah blah blah.  Perhaps it's because I pass by the University on the way to work every morning, or that I can see Dana Porter from my bedroom window, the realization that I'm never going back to school there has not sunk in yet.  Or maybe it has, I just haven't acknowledged it yet.  It seems too much like another coop term for my liking.

So yes, convocation was last Saturday, with the mathies in the morning at 10 am and the engineers at 2 pm.  I attended both.  The afternoon one was more disorganized than the morning one, prolly due to the extra mathies hanging around.  But the majority of the mathies also stayed until the very end of the ceremony, after getting their hood.  The engineers, on the other hand, all seemed to have left.  I think it's because the engineers have more social bonds with one another, and took what is probably the last opportunity to see some people to get out and socialize.  Mathies, on the other hand, tend to only know a small network of friends, and so have less motivation to hang around.

I didn't know UW had a mace..

 

And so officially concludes another major stage of my life, and in fact, the major change from academics to the professional world.  Five years’ gone, and everything is one big blur.  I had no idea what I expected five years ago, but I think I’ve made the right decision in coming to Waterloo.  I also think CS was the right program for me, even though I seem to know more engineers than mathies.  (And it’s not like I had the marks to get into Engineering in the first place!)

Co-op is probably the best thing I got out of the school, though it has good and bad points.  Good in how it really prepared me for life outside school.  Bad in that it made it dislike school.  Like, school was like a burden, since you only spend four months on it at a time, so you basically get stuck in the mentally of getting it over with, and you don’t care about school or the subjects much anymore.

Back in first year, I had no expectations at all, or imagined where I would be when I gradate.  Frankly, even four months ago, I had no idea this is where I will end up.  I live my life going with the flow, and taking the opportunities given to me, adjusting my goals and directions as I go along based on the current path, instead of working towards a specific destination.  Given time, I am very thorough at analyzing my current situation, but I am horrible at future planning.  With a life philosophy like mine, there is little point in creating definite goals, as whatever direction I was originally heading in can spontaneously change.

Coming into this program, I never imagined I would be working in the States.  But I took the opportunity as given, going with it and preparing myself for working at Microsoft full-time.  Then came the Hotmail term, where I learned many valuable lessons, and the value of the social aspects of life, if you will.  Then the flow tells me that MS is not for me right now, so I re-evaluate my situation and priorities accordingly.

The past month was another grilling process of self-evaluation, to seriously consider what I want out of life, my career, my goals.  It’s funny how I never thought about these topics in great details, and it’s not until I’m confronted with these questions in an interview that I lack any clear ideas in this area, which is pretty ridiculous considering how I was deep in the process of job hunting.  How can I really search for a job without understanding what I expect from it?  Indeed, interviewing has become some self-realization exercise for me or something.  I also realized that any decision can be justified in some way, which is good enough for me.

Then other opportunities presented themselves.  MS wanted to fly me back for another try at SDET.  My old Exchange manager changed groups and was looking for new members.  I got two offers in one day, one in Waterloo and one back home, in Mississauga.  And then I got on-campus interviews with Google for a dev position.  I was forced to make some difficult decisions.  We'll know shortly if they were the right ones.

But what really boggles my mind is how quickly things can change in such a short time, and how even the tiniest circumstances can make such large differences.  If MS made an offer during my last term, I would have taken it.  If my old Exchange group had headcount, I would have gone there.  If I hadn’t gotten sick right after Hong Kong, and was all miserable when doing my Graphics assignment, I would not have considered dropping Graphics.  Or if I was unable to switch into UI, I would have definitely been in a different situation than I am now.  If I had to stick with Graphics this term, I would have no spare time whatsoever, for job search, for activities (and activities has such interesting consequences)… And I would have probably ended up on the West Coast, instead of turning down free trips to Redmond and Mountain View because I’ve signed myself up for another few years at Waterloo.

Hehe, what have I gotten myself into indeed!

It's probably not a good idea to be maintaining two blogs, but it's all the same right now since I've been neglecting both.  March already, then it's April and freedom.  Nothing new on that front.  No job, barely looking.  Work in States?  Work in Canada?  Big company?  Little company?  No work and become a hermit?  I am sort of fond of the last option...

Went to Vermont for skiing last weekend, four days road trip to Killington, to make full use of our reading two days.  Unfortunately, our reading week also coincide with the American President's week, or as the kids call it, "Winter Break".  So everything was more expensive than it should have been.  I got new boots.  Better upload some photos to justify this entry.

So all the engineers got their iron rings last week.  I want one!  I heard rumours that live chickens were released, but haven't heard anything about it since...

So it's back to school, hopefully for the last term.  Except for the freak two days of warm, rainy weather last week, it's been white and cold outside so far.  The term pretty much had a sucky start: getting back to Canada the day before school started, the cold, getting sick after less than a week.  I don't handle environment/climate changes very well it seems.  I don't handle change well, period.

Uploaded some current photos of Tobey.  Not a cute little puppy anymore!    Though he loves to play, he's not particularly obedient, and timid as heck.  He's afraid of the camera, because there's a little orange light that shines on him.  It's pretty funny chasing him around the house with it, watching him try to cramp into every little nook and cranny he could find.  Nearly climbed into the hall closet once..