I Am Asif

I took a very rapid decision to take the IELTS test last month. I got registered just one month before my exam date. At that point l wasn't even aware of the format of the exam. So I just downloaded some practice materials from the net and started to give some practice tests by myself. The first three parts of the exam, namely listening, reading and writing were on the 27th of november at the Bashundhara Convention centre. I was actually pretty impressed by the way the exam was conducted. Speaking test was on the 29th at a hotel in Gulshan. Thanks to Allah the exams went pretty well indeed. The exam was a pretty good experience for me. I was in serious need for a break from my seemingly infinite boredom, so the whole thing was a breath of fresh air for me. Judging by my small practice and the way the exams went, I was hoping for a decent enough score. But when my results came out as 8.5 out of 9, I was actually overwhelmed! My individual scores are as followes: listening-9. re...

I didn't like the way Ramadaan started this year. 4 out of the 5 semester final exams were scheduled to be held in Ramadaan, who would like that? There is the issue of fasting of course, but I didn't mind about that. But I was really depressed cuz I thought I would not be able to take part in the month long Taraweeh prayers. But thanks to Allah (and a little nudge in the right direction from my sister), I found within me the courage to go for it anyway. I never thought I would find the energy to study after attending the salaat for more than one and a half hours, but Subhanallah, I was surprised to find myself studying deep into the night, staying up till sehri. In times I felt my studies were actually going better in Ramadaan. And the exams went pretty good as well. After the exams were done with, Allah gave me a much greater reward, to spend some time in the Path of Allah. Last time I went in a Jamaat was back in last year's Ramadaan, so I was feeling the increasing need...

It's over in a flash. Seems like it started yesterday, and yet I'm just 3 days away from the finals of the 4th year 1st semester. This has probably been the most dull semester we've ever had. The only spark of fun came from the T-10 cricket tournament that we had. Other than that, this semester's been totally boring. But I gotta say something about a couple of courses in this semester. First up, Microwave Engineering. For those of us who took up this one instead of VLSI, it has been a decision we've regretted throughout the whole semester. Up until the very last week of the classes, I really didn't know how I would as much as get rid of this subject in the finals. But you know, even the most difficult problems can seem easy if Allah wants. And so within the 1st 3 days of the PL, I went through it like a bullet. And guess what, it doesn't seem that hard anymore, thanks to Allah. And nice to see that most of my friends who were also scared shitless about this...

The 3rd year 2nd semester has brought out both the best and worst in me, based on results. As I've mentioned earlier, the telecommunication exam was the worst exam I've ever had to attend, for multiple reasons, and the result was an equal match. I got a poor 43 out of 100, which is the worst score I've ever got as far as I remember. I didn't expect any better, all I wanted was to get rid of it. Thankfully I did. In striking contrast, I got my best ever score in the Power Transmission and Distribution exam, getting a 90. I don't remember hitting the 90 mark ever, so that's my highest mark as far as I can remember. Despite the poor marks in telecomm and semiconductor, thanks to Allah I've still managed to get a respectable GPA, due to the A+ scores in all the three other subjects. And Alhamdulillah I can finally say, 3-2 is behind me, which leaves just one more year to deal with.

March 24 was the day before my brother's wedding, the day of his 'Gaye Holud' ceremony at our place. Should've been a great day for me, but it was also the day before my Semiconductor Devices semester final exam. So up till the evening I was switching between studies and arrangements. But after evening I had no chance to study. The program went pretty good thankfully. I was free to study at almost 1 o'clock at the night. I did my best to prepare for the exams, studying for a little more than an hour that night, and after the Fafr prayer the next day. So the preparations weren't so good, and the exam was nothing better. The exam didn't go any better than I was prepared for, but at least I wasn't scared of failing. That very day after the evening, our whole family left for my Bhaiya's wedding together. But things took a turn again, at least for me. My sister was feeling sick from the morning, she was constantly vomiting for some reason. When me and o...

It's time. Two events of greatest importance of our family, my bro's wedding ceremony and Walima, sandwiched between two of the most difficult exams in this semester, Semiconductor Devices and Telecommunication Engineering. Despite our attempt to fix the dates of my bro's events to avoid the exams, it has all come down to this awkward pickle. I know the sandwich won't taste good, I just hope it doesn't leave a taste too bad in my mouth. Recently our home is buzzing with reletives doing all sorts of pre-wedding stuff. So the environment has become quite uncomfortable for studies. Even if I'm locked up in my room, the sound of all those hihi-haha s is impossible to keep out of my mind. So from today I've started to implement an old idea of mine, which I haven't had a chance to put to the test so far. I've got myself a headphone some weeks back, with a microphone connected to it. I've plugged in the headphone, plugged in the mic, turned up the vol...

Today's post could've been titled "Exams Finally Over", but instead it's what you've just read. After the exams got postponed following the clashes on our campus, our semester finals have been finally rescheduled to start on the 15th of March, one month after the original date. The painfull part is that the wedding of my bro will be between my exams, and the most difficult exam, that of Semiconductor Devices, is scheduled for the 25th, the day of my brother's wedding ceremony. How ironic is the fact that it's for my exams that my bro's wedding got dated this way, so that I can take part in the programs without any problem, otherwise it all could've been arranged last month. No complaints though, cuz I still believe that Allah is giving me whatever is best for me.

I remember back in the very first semester, our Basic Mechanical Engineering course was taken by Ashiqur Rahman sir from BUET. He explained an analogy between the 4 years of our course, with the 4 strokes of an engine. The first year is the ‘Intake Stroke’, where the new students are taken in into the varsity for processing. The second year is the ‘Compression Stroke’, as the second year is said to be the most difficult, where the student really feel the pressure of studying engineering. The third year is the ‘Power Stroke’, as this is said to be the year when the students start to feel like engineers, they take over the most active roles in all sorts of campus activities. And the fourth year is the ‘Exhaust Stroke’, when it’s almost done, the soon to be engineers are already planning what to do when they get out. Today at the last day of my third year, I really find this analogy perfect in every sense. The third year, particularly the second semester, was simply unforgettable. It’s b...

Painful. The 3rd year 1st semester was simply painful. It was annoying during the classes, it was disturbing during the PL, it was horrifying during the exams, and it still hurts after them. Particularly Linear Systems and Electromagnetic Fields and Waves were utter nightmares. Imagine two thorns stuck under your toe, whenever you walk they send gnawing pain throughout your body, and you've been living with this pain for the last 4 months or so. How relieved would you feel to get rid of those thorns, and to have the pain removed? That's exactly how I feel to get rid of Linear and EFW. At first I thought Linear would be the toughest one, and indeed it was tough. But as soon as I started to prepare for EFW, I felt Linear was like heaven. EFW was indeed the most horrifying exam ever, and I'm still not free from concern about getting rid of it. I'm gonna have to keep my eyes open for the results to make sure of that. That's why the "Hopefully" part of the post...

I first met Adnan sir back in the last days of 1-2. It was in our viva of Electrical Circuits II lab, and Adnan sir was quizzing us. Probably he joined our department just a few days ago. He was asking all the questions regarding the very basics of the lab course, and my fellow examinees was putting them mostly wrong, and I was giving the right answers !! Anyways, back in that day I never thought that Adnan sir would one day become my favorite teacher. He took our C++ classes in 2-1, which was a nightmare for most of my classmates, but programming (at least the basic part of it) seemed fascinating to me, and I followed Adnan sir's lectures with wide eyes and an open mind. His approach was a bit different from the other lecturers. From that time we found out how friendly and cooperating Adnan sir can be. Whenever we went to him to get something cleared out, he would find some time for us always. He used to put up the class lecture sheets in his website, this particular approach was...

The semester finals start in less than 48 hours. Saturday's exam is Electrical Machines III which is a lot easier compared to the other courses in this semester. DLD II can be tricky, Linear Systems will need a lot of hard work in the six days of break before the exam to get a respectable mark, Electromagnetic Fields and Waves can be a terrible pain as it depends A LOT on memorizing , which of course, I'm horrible at, same problem goes for Sociology, but hopefully Accounting won't be much of a problem. So now I'm taking a deep breath before the plunge, don't know if I can hold my breath long enough. I just hope that August 26 comes as soon as possible, when the exams of 3rd year 1st semester will be all over, as this is definitely the most disturbing and uninteresting semester so far. Remember me in your prayers .

Finally the classes of the 3rd year 1st semester are over. Classes ended with an expected cargo-load of exams in the last week. Thanks to Allah, the finishing was better than expected. This semester has been the most un-interesting one so far. The subjects were pretty much unattractive. Most of the students are particularly concerned about Linear Systems, which is a tricky course and consists of a lot of concepts from mathematics, at which I'm always horrible. I'll be very happy to get over this semester with the upcoming finals starting from August 9.

Yup, the long awaited March 19 arrives, and the semester final of the 2nd year 2nd semester is over! Well, it's not that I've been very much restricted due to the exams, because I don't study much (about which my friends will object, but it's true), and I'm always kinda not too bothered about the outcome of the 3 hour exams, but, you know, even for the sake of keeping the 'exam environment' you can't do what you want while the exam is going, right? But now that the exam is over, you can do what you want. So here I am writing again. While the exams are on I always have so many big plans made for the break, but when it's over, I always kinda lose interest in them. Does it happen to you too? I've got some plans regarding the web though, which Inshallah I will go through with. I'm planning to start writing on my Islamic blog again, which has been a project which never found full swing. I also plan to make a new blog about the everyday Sunnahs t...

The Semester final is under way and I've completed two out of the five exams, Digital Electronics and Numerical Methods. Both of those exams went good enough actually, Alhamdulillah. I'm just pleased that I could answer the full question in both cases, which is, at least for me, a rare achievement. Well, can't say how much of the answers are correct, but the advantage of answering the full script is that you can at least hope for partial markings. The next exam is a week later. But the problem is, it's mathematics! And even disturbing is the fact that not less than 70% of the course is still untouched! I had a session with my math guru Shuvro after the exam today. He gave me an express lecture on the topics, based on his own notes (obviously). I admit that the course doesn't look that tough, but what you need to do well in maths is practice, and that's what I don't have time for. I'll be glad if I can run my eyes through the syllabus at least once. Anywa...