Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:99-105

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

The last post for today

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:92-98

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:85-91

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:78-84

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

It's been a while hasn't it?

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #22 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

It’s here, It’s finally here. The last day before reading week. Today was supposed to be an exhausting day since it was a full 9 to 6pm one with 6 contact hours. A 2 hour computer systems lab commenced in the morning which was actually not too bad. I got all my work done and even went ahead and done the next lab’s work. 

After a 2 hour break, there was an hour’s lecture on programming which by default was a bit dull if you know programming already. The only benefit I suppose is familiarising oneself with the syntax of the language being taught (in this case Java) but then again, you could find that out pretty much anywhere online.

Still, nothing could dampen my day since 10 glorious days awaited after it during reading week. The day ended with the usual 3 hour session on foundations of computing which was just A level maths content (probability to be precise) so there was no reason to fret.

Anyway, here I am, just a stop away from disembarking my train and then finally going home. By no means will I not work during reading week but at least I won’t have to waste countless hours (and quite a bit of money) travelling to and from university.

That’s all for today. 10 days in fact.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #21 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

Today was another short day and since it was just a 2 hour programming lab at 9 in the morning, I’d normally be annoyed at the very notion of it but not today. This was the last one before reading week so I just got on with my work and the time flew by. Before I knew it, I was back home in no time and now I wait, for the final day of this half of the semester.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #20 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

The amount of A level repetition in your average computer science degree can be both relieving and mind-numbing at the same time. One hand, I’m more than happy to know everything that is being said in a lecture but on the other hand, I feel like I could be learning something new.

Maybe it’s because A level computer science isn’t really a popular subject so most students don’t take it therefore implying the need to go over it in the degree. However, a lot of people I’ve met are in the same boat as me which is refreshing in some ways.

My contention is, once A level computer science gains some more popularity (the chances of which would be greatly if exam boards *cough* OCR would write a decent specification), universities should list it as a requirement to have it as part of their offer.

I know this wouldn’t be ideal for some since a few universities already require maths and further maths meaning their A level choice would practically be made automatically should they wish to apply to said unis.

However, doing A level computer science should mean the course will be completely new and by default, be shorter. Since A level content is already mastered to some degree by successful applicants, the standard bachelors course could be only 2 years with a year abroad or in industry. How about that huh?

Instead, you basically waste nearly a whole year revisiting stuff you already know and then have to take an optional sandwich year to do a year in industry or go abroad. Or even better, those with A level computer science could be offered the opportunity to do a masters in 3 years.

These are just my ideas but knowing the UK education system, it’s highly unlikely this would ever happen. If unis did require computer science at A level, they’d just add harder stuff to the course which is fine I guess, but slightly unnecessary.

Anyway, onto the day itself. Oh yeah, it was just a 2 hour lecture coupled with the usual 1 hour tutorial for the computer systems module and guess what was being taught? Binary! Simple binary arithmetic that’s even mentioned in GCSE courses so I guess you can see where I’m coming from.

Can’t really say much more apart from the fact that reading week is edging even closer and I can’t wait for it.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #19 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

Day 19, the final Monday before reading week. To be completely honest, I just want the week to end already. University, like school, is slowly becoming a misuse of my time when I can just do most, if not all the work at home.

Maybe I’m just being impulsive right now, but I digress. The day started with a 2 hour programming lecture at 9am which was interesting since there was a different lecturer who had quite a sense of humour.

Then came a 2 hour break which I could’ve used better, but managed to get some important tasks out of the way nonetheless. The Elementary logic tutorial at 1pm was quite useful but since I failed to complete the worksheet beforehand, I was lost at times.

Top tip: always do, or at least familiarise yourself with, the work before each session. The day finished with the customary 3 hour session of logic consisting of a 2 hour lecture and an hour’s tutorial which I shouldn’t have skipped, but I did anyway.

After reading week, I definitely need to stay for those since things are starting to get a bit tougher. Well, that’s all for this post. Be sure to check out day 20’s post InShaAllah!

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #18 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

Day 18 was so short I almost forgot to do a blog for it! Anyway, it was just an hour’s tutorial at 9am on Foundations of Computing which went well since I got basically everything correct apart from a pesky question which I misread.

Truth be told, I have a bunch of coursework to do so it wasn’t easy finding time for this.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:71-77

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Another one for today.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:64-70

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

I am way behind on these (again)

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #17 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

This is day 17’s post I believe which went pretty well all things considered. To be completely honest, I don’t remember most of what was taught in the 2 lectures I had today on programming and foundations of computing.

But that’s ok, otherwise why does lecture capture exist right? Actually, it’s not ok. It’s a complete waste of time attending lectures and not bothering to pay attention so don’t do what I did today. To be frank, my mind wanders a lot but I can control it usually.

Today however, it was a different story. I don’t know whether it’s being burnt out already (it’s barely been 4 weeks yet) or just general carelessness. Anyway, today’s content in both lectures was pretty similar to A level stuff so I should be fine.

In terms of the coursework that is currently due, I’m nearly done on the elementary logic quiz which didn’t take as long as anticipated but for the programming module assignment it’s a different story completely.

I haven’t even started. Not that that’s a bad thing since it’s due in 2 weeks but I guess I just haven’t found the time or motivation yet. No excuses for the weekend however, I must grind my way through whatever problems the program in the assignment presents.

Sounds pretty doable but it will be dull no doubt. On the positive side of things, tomorrow’s Friday which means I only have a 1 hour tutorial on foundations of computing at 9am and then the weekend begins.

That’s all for today, tomorrow’s post will probably be extremely short but who knows, something interesting might happen out of the blue.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #16 (ADITLOAKCCS)

Before I start, let me warn those of you are doing A level Computer Science. Yes, it covers a lot of content which will be repeated at university so you’ll already be ahead of the pack. However, it’s very easy to start labouring under the delusion that everything you learn will be simple as well. 

I stopped myself before this happened to me. It can be so easy to fall behind on work since you think you’re a "know it all" but take my word for it, doing the work even if you know it definitely helps.

Anyway, I just had a 2 hour lab on programming so there’s not much to talk about other than the fact that assignment we’ve been given looks pretty OK. I want to get it out of the way but, I don’t want to rush either so the optimal solution is to do it on the weekend.

Short day so short post. Deal with it.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #15 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

Day 15 was short and sweet to utilise the common phrase. Well, it wasn’t that sweet but definitely short in that there was only a lecture on computer systems on 2 hours which covered assembly language (something I was already familiar with) then followed the tutorial for an hour which I didn’t see the point of going to.

I think after the reading week, which starts at the end of next week, I’ll start staying for the tutorials since things are definitely getting a bit tougher. I don’t have much else to say but since I still have 10 stops to go on the train (somehow, I got a seat during peak hours) I’ll just think of something else to say.

On second thoughts, I’ll just keep this post short and sweet.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #14 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

Day 14 was a Monday which by default meant it wouldn’t be the best of days, not because of it being a Monday but because of the way my timetable is on Mondays. Start off with a 9am lecture on programming for 2 hours then comes the ridiculous 4 hour break followed by a 2 hour lecture with the standard 1 hour tutorial on Elementary Logic that ends at 6pm.

The day itself wasn’t too bad but the timings of the day just bug me a little. Sometimes, it’s actually beneficial if I’m “in the zone” so I use those 4 hours doing some intense work. But, yesterday was not one of those days.

Regardless, the lectures themselves were pretty OK. The main highlight of the day is that we finally got our first programming assignment which contributes to our final grade. I don’t know why, but I really wanted to get this coursework out of the way.

Ah, now I remember. On the long weekend I had prior to yesterday (due to Friday being off) I got quite a bit of work done. In fact, instead of just reviewing what I learnt during the week, I actually read ahead to the content of the commencing week.

There’s also another assessed coursework for the logic module coming up on Wednesday which should be interesting. I imagine it’s basically a test but since it’s not an actual exam, you can use your notes or whatever for it.

The other 2 modules this semester don’t really have any explicit coursework yet. Well, the computer systems module periodically uses “pre lab quizzes” to make sure we know the required info going into practicals. These count towards the final module grade as well but for the foundations of computing module, nothing has been assigned so far.

Anyway, I worked out earlier that I only have 22 days with contact hours in this half of the semester which is only 32 days in duration (including weekends). That may seem like a lot at first but given that most days I only come in for a couple of hours it’s actually quite surprising how little teaching is done.

That’s all for today, be sure to check out day 15’s post!

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:57-63

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

This is the tenth post of this series.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:50-56

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #13 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

Boy has it been a while since I blogged one of these. Partially due to the fact that I had no contact hours on Friday so I put off writing Thursday's post for even longer. Anyway, let's get day 13 underway.

So first thing in the morning I had a Computer Systems practical for 2 hours and guess what? I was late, and by late I don't mean like the time when the train strike happened which made me late by a mere 10-15 minutes. This time I was over an hour late.

Why, I hear you ask. Well, it's simply because a smart person like me didn't set my alarm so I ended up oversleeping. I woke up at like 8:40am! Some people are at university by that time for 9am starts. 

So, me being me, I didn't bother rushing since the earliest I would arrive if I left immediately would be 10am. I took my time and arrived at about 10:15 which in normal circumstances would have some consequences but luckily for me, our class got assigned the wrong lab for the practical.

Basically, the PCs didn't run Linux so coding the assembly file for the practical was pretty much impossible unless you downloaded an alternative AVR to cater for your specific machine's OS.

Without getting too complicated, most people don't even bring their laptops into university and the ones that did just decided to do the program later so I actually ended up missing nothing.

Then I had a 2 hour break till my Programming Practice lecture which I wisely spent trying to do the assembly file for the disaster of a practical in the morning. After failing to getting the program to work on my Windows laptop (I refuse to jump on the Apple bandwagon) I just head to one of the free labs and worked on a Linux PC.

The assembly file (which actually counts as coursework towards your final grade) wasn't even difficult if I'm going to be completely honest. Anyway, I finished it just in time before the next lecture and then realised something annoying. I didn't even read the room number of the lecture (which I assumed was in the building I was) and turns out it was in a completely different room in a different building altogether.

So not only was I late for the morning's practical, I was late for that lecture too. I arrived about 15 minutes late which meant I was late for a total of an hour and a half that day. However, the perks of doing A level computer science meant I didn't miss much so I wasn't too annoyed.

The day ended with the usual Foundations of Computing 3 hour period of a 2 hour lecture with a 1 hour tutorial. Thankfully, this lecture was in the same room so there was no chance whatsoever I'd be late to it. 

The lecture went pretty smoothly, so much so I was almost tempted to stay for the subsequent tutorial but then went against my better judgement. I mean, this is the most mathematical module I'm taking so far so I should've probably stayed but then doing the exercises at home made me realise everything's still quite easy indeed.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:43-49

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Another one in this series and my next post will be on the day in the life series InShaAllah.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:36-42

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

I know I still haven't done Thursday's daily blog but I had Friday off for once anyway so I plan to do Thursday's either today or tomorrow InShaAllah

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:29-35

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Ok, so I'm 12 posts behind on this series so 2 a day for 12 days should do it.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:22-28

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

I'm way behind on these...

Hope this helps!

My Personal Statement

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

You can guess by the title what this post's about so hear it is:

Artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual reality: captivating areas that have interested me ever since I

was introduced to the fast moving discipline of computer science. Having initially idealised physics,

my fascination of computing began whilst attending a computing open day. Ever since then I have

marvelled at the exponential rate at which new programs and systems can be designed to transform

the industries of science, business and every other aspect of life. What is revolutionary today will be

ordinary tomorrow. Computers have provided these incredible possibilities ever since Alan Turing,

the father of modern computing, conceptualised algorithms and invented the Turing machine.

Being a member of the Royal Institution, I attend lectures on a regular basis exploring the

developments in computing, as well as a variety of areas in the natural sciences. I have also attended

computing lectures at UCL on an array of subjects, most notably a lecture on quantum computing

which I particularly enjoyed as it gave me an insight into the limits of computers at a deeper level

and how quantum computers can extend such restrictions.

I recently read a thought-provoking book called "Algorithmic Puzzles" by Anany and Maria Leviten. Not only has it been entertaining to read but it has also allowed me to develop new puzzle-solving skills. From comparatively small puzzles such as how to get from A to B in the fewest moves to more challenging problems such as constructing a proof that a puzzle may not even have a solution, Algorithmic Puzzles has enhanced my ability to think more logically and algorithmically.

Moreover, articles regarding future technological innovations truly encapsulate me as they

demonstrate the endless potential of computers. I often blog about them as it allows me to take an

active interest in the subject I relish and give my personal opinions on the latest technological

advancements in this digital age.

Despite my school not offering me AS Further Maths, my determination to study computing at

university drove me to take it upon myself to independently self-teach Further Maths in order to not

be at a disadvantage in my studies of computing at university. For my A2 studies, I moved to a school

where Further Maths was offered however, I have had to independently self-teach A2 Computer

Science due to exam board complications. Having individually studied 2 different yet challenging

disciplines myself has enabled me to develop a resolute independent work ethic and enhance my

time management skills, these are instrumental skills to have in order to succeed at university and

beyond.

In addition to teaching myself, I also tutor Year 11 maths students during my free periods and run

morning intervention sessions to aid them in gaining their GCSE Maths qualification. Moreover, I

convinced the new Head of ICT to run GCSE and A level Computing, a subject that was previously

unavailable at my school. I tutored GCSE Computing students, assisting them to learn how to code

and understand the theoretical side of computing not only consolidated my own knowledge, but

gave me an insight into the profession of teaching computing.

Having never done any programming prior to studying A level Computing, I started developing small

projects to improve my coding skills. From simple projects such as developing a calculator in Visual

Basic to more stimulating ones such as creating a Battleship game in Python. I frequently find myself

getting stuck into different tutorials and building my own programs. To supplement my

understanding concerning the world of programming in industry I shadowed a colleague's father at

IBM, this gave me a realistic insight in the field of the software engineering.

Having an unwavering desire to study computing at university ever since I went to a computer

science open day, I now genuinely believe I possess both the aptitude and zeal necessary to

flourish at your prestigious institution.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #12 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

Today was surprisingly very good given the fact that the rescheduled tutorial meant I had to stay an extra 5 hours. Normally staying an extra minute is very painful for me, I like to go home as soon as possible.

On this occasion however, I was quite happy to stay since it’s a lot easier to get work done at university than at home. The morning’s programming practical was reasonably fruitful as well. I kept to myself pretty much and got an unexpected amount of work done, although I wish I had done more.

The 3 hour break between the practical and the tutorial is where the most work materialised. Believe it or not, the environment in which one works in makes a massive difference. There I was coding for about 90 minutes in a study area where I was pretty much alone.

But then, the other 90 minutes were interrupted by a couple of students who decided to sit opposite me. They talked a lot which at first, didn’t faze me at all but then I pretty much gave up. I need to find an extremely unknown area where I won’t be disturbed.

The library, despite being noise free essentially can be distracting as well sometimes. Anyway, onto the replacement Foundations of Computing tutorial. The tutor was actually the same one I have for Elementary Logic which was great since he explains things so well.

I honestly don’t see the point of lectures anymore. Only 2 weeks in and they’ve already proven their redundancy to me. A 1 hour tutorial is far more beneficial than a drab 2-3 hour lecture. It remains a complete mystery to me why universities still consider lectures a thing especially with lecture capture. 

Sure, you can ask questions but can’t you do that anyway? Before I finish off I’d like to advice fellow CompScis that coding on that long train journey not only makes the journey seem faster, but you also get quite a bit of programming work out of the way.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #11 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

A late start and finish for day 11. Late implying the afternoon and evening. I actually only had one lecture today at 3pm which ended at about 4:50 meaning, I could either wait 10 minutes for the tutorial which looked pretty easy or go to something a bit more interesting.

By interesting I mean the Facebook coding interview workshop which actually started at 6:30. So, I left the tutorial and made my way towards the event which was quite useful indeed. At the very least, it has definitely motivated me to be more proactive.

In fact, I didn’t even know about the event until a friend asked if I was going. Well, I did remember getting the email about it but I forgot to book the event so it completely slipped my mind.

InShaAllah tonight I’m certainly planning to do some actual work. Not the class kind. Work such as going through my emails (which is extremely boring, I know) to make sure there 

aren’t other events that I might miss.

I don’t have much else to say, I could mention the fact that a lot of A level content was 

repeated in the lecture but that’s all for today.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:15-21

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Here's the next post in this series:

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #10 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu World!

10 days of university so far and by my count, I “only” have about 110 days to go. I don’t mean this in the sense that I’m actually counting the days down already, but I just wanted to calculate how much tuition does one even get for £9000 a year.

It turns out (and this is obviously variable depending on the university and whatnot) that university tuition only occurs for a third of the year. The rest of the year you have holidays and who’s complaining but you also have exams as well.

Let’s suppose that one attains 20 hours of tuition a week tops. 120ish days means about 17 weeks. That translates to around 340 hours of tuition a year. So, most people will have less than this amount but even if you are the minority with 20 hours a week, you’re paying nearly £30 an hour! For the average student, it will be £30 an hour at the very least.

Now that I think about it, that seems sort of reasonable given that driving instructors make at least £20 an hour. However, since tuition fees used to be only £3000 a year in the good old days, this is outrageous quite frankly.

So, technically speaking one could actually complete the standard 3 year degree in only one year if one was so inclined. I, for one would take that opportunity with no hesitation. Too bad it doesn’t exist.

Universities aren’t content until they squeeze every last penny of that grand total of £27k before giving you a bachelor’s degree but I digress. Let’s get into what this post is actually about, day 10. 

In actuality, I can’t even start this blog since I haven’t even reached university yet but writing on the train definitely makes the journey seem 10 times quicker. Plus, it takes my mind off things.

What I can tell you is that despite leaving later than intended, I actually arrived at the station earlier than expected which was very surprising indeed. Anyway, I think I have 10 stops to go so anything could go wrong.

I think it’s also due to the fact that if I don’t blog, I’m continually looking at my watch and making all sorts of calculations. The integral question of course, is am I going to be late? 

I’ve already been late so I’m not too bothered by the notion of arriving to a lecture theatre late, even if there’s approximately 500 students in it. Better late than never right?

Well, I’ve just had my first lecture of the day and it went pretty smoothly aside from the fact that the normal lecturer wasn’t there. The “substitute” was an actual lecturer as well and he done a pretty good job. In fact, the lecture was more interactive than usual since we had to do a few exercises for once.

Tutorials are so much more useful than lectures. Let's face it, after lecture capture lectures have become obsolete. I had a tutorial at 1pm on Elementary Logic with Applications and a lecture on the same module at 3pm and I definitely know which one helped the most.

That's all for today, be sure to check out tomorrow's post InShaAllah!

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:8-14

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Yeah so I'm going to be doing two of these plus my daily blog for a while until I catch up so enjoy!

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Baqarah (The Cow) 2:1-7

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

I know I'm behind but here's the next post in this series. Expect more than one a day from now!

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #9 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Today's post isn't even supposed to happen yet since I'm still in my 6 hour break but the wait has begun to make me feel a bit uneasy for some reason, I can't put my finger on it. For now, at least I'll divulge all that occurred on this day to take my mind off things.

I'm not going to say today was a bad day but I have to mention the fact that my phone did not charge at all last night which meant my battery display had one less 0 then the ideal 100%. 

For normal days, 10% would be bearable since I pretty much know the ins and outs of my route but with today's tutorial in a completely unfamiliar room, I was panicking inside.  

Second of all, there was a train strike so that really got things off to a great start. My usual route would normally take around an hour (under or over depending on the time of day) but today's improvised route actually took my a gruelling hour and 40 minutes. I expect the same for the journey home.

Anyway, I arrived at the station next to campus which is about a 5-10 minute walk based on your walking speed. I wasn't exactly late but I did have to quicken the pace to more than a casual stroll. I arrived late to the actual building of the tutorial and then the worst happened.

I couldn't find the room! You'd think nearly 2 weeks in I'd have the decency to study my timetable enough to know the exact locations of each room but no, I thought it would be simple. The maze which some refer to as a campus was so confusing that a fellow CompSci student was also lost but had a different class to me so was of no use.

Actually, now that I think of it she did tell me where I was supposed to go but I must've been so annoyed for being late that I completely forgot her act of kindness. I finally arrived at the end of the maze where the classroom was and guess what? The tutor didn't even show up, no doubt due to the train strike.

I was to some extent relieved that I didn't miss anything but also annoyed how I struggled to get here in the morning and after the tutorial I'd have a 6 hour break which I'm still in right now. In sixth form, situations like this would be rejoiced since it meant a free period but at university your attitude changes a bit.

No, I wasn't sad that I missed out on learning since the department would reschedule it anyway (which they actually did after I handed a paper register of all the students present in). I guess I had mixed emotions but anyway, I waited till the 9:30 mark and then boldly decided to take a paper register of the class and leave, thus extending my 6 hour break by half an hour.

The break itself was mostly productive despite me being half asleep essentially. I mean, 7 hours is decent but I'm more of an 8 hour person so it's not ideal on a 9am to 6pm day. At least with all the work done in this tedious break I can go home and relax but for now, I await my final lecture of the week.

I think I’ve experienced the first instance of numerous inevitabilities at university, a lecture where I had positively no clue what was going on. I sit at the front so naturally, that should make things easier. 

However, when basically the whole cohort is talking in the background (which I thought was quite disrespectful) and the lecturer has an extremely strong accent then you’ve got no chance.

I was looking forward to a weekend of relaxation but now it’s going to be full of work which should have been understood in the lecture. Obviously, these occurrences happen a lot for hard subjects such as computer science so I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.

On an encouraging note, my fellow first row students also confessed to having understood nothing. Nevertheless, I must dedicate all my time to make sense of this during the weekend and since I’ve finished quite a substantial amount of work during my 6 hour break, that should be viable.

“This train is being delayed due to adverse weather conditions”. Did I just hear that correctly? That’s completely nonsensical. It’s clear as day outside (well, technically it’s the evening) and for no reason the train decided to delay itself. Like the strike today wasn’t bad enough.

I think I’m going to end it here before I let my emotions get the better of me. All in all, it could’ve been a better day.

Hope this helps!

Ayat Of The Day: Al Fatihah (The Opener) 1:1-7

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

In case you haven't noticed from the first sentence in every single one of my posts or you overlooked the fact that it says Muslim in my blog name, allow me to enlighten you to the fact that I'm Muslim!

Anyway now that the boring stuff is over with, I've been wanting to do this for a very long time now (since the beginning of university to be precise) with the intention to complete the Quran in images by the time I graduate InShaAllah.

Don't worry I'm still continuing my daily blogs on university life but now you'll get 2 posts a day instead of one InShaAllah. So, without further ado here's the first post of this series:

And as always, hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #8 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Contrastingly to day 7, today was great. I got to university on time, the lectures weren’t a complete waste of time like yesterday’s practical and best of all, I attended a placement networking night which gave me a pretty good idea of what I want to do in the immediate future after graduating.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and break down the day, as usual, bit by bit. The first lecture was an hour long and since it was on programming it went reasonably quick. NB not all computer science students love programming, but it is a large chunk of the discipline itself.

After a 1 hour break in which I didn’t use as productively as intended, followed the typical 3 hour contact period. 2 hours of a lecture on Foundations of Computing followed by a 1 hour tutorial. 

Speaking of tutorials, today’s timetabled actually scheduled one in the morning between 9 and 10am but we specifically got an email stating that it’s an optional “surgery” (whatever that means).

Obviously, 9am starts are every students nightmare and since I already done the worksheet for the tutorial due to previous knowledge, there honestly was no point in going. With that said, the lecturer did say she was surprised how half the cohort ended being there particularly since in previous years the numbers were significantly lower.

On to the lecture itself. I expected a reasonably repetitive lecture with content I had already learnt but to a pleasant surprise, I was wrong. Most of the material was somewhat unfamiliar with the occasional accustomed content.

This was also the first time (excluding the time on the very first day of the very first lecture) I intentionally sat at the back of the theatre. It was a fascinating experience indeed. Firstly, the guy to my right completely knocked out as soon as the lecture started until the 1 hour mark where a 10 minute break is customary.

Secondly, sitting at the back had more leg room than anticipated which was a plus and it wasn’t too hard to concentrate on the lecture either contrary to popular opinion. That’s also subject to the people around so for instance, if you’ve got neighbours sleeping and students in the row ahead playing games on their PCs or shopping at amazon then that’s a whole different kettle of fish.

Regardless, I was unfazed by my distracted peers since new content is often enjoyable when you’ve been hearing the same stuff in lectures that you already knew. Sadly though, this is also the first time that I left a lecture early to get to the placement networking night. Don’t get me wrong it was definitely worth it but it’s not something I ever thought I’d do.

As far as the remainder of the day was concerned, my routine was simply to go to every stall at the placement night, take advantage of all the freebies available and most important of all, ask them the million dollar (or pound should I say) question: Does one set themselves up for employment better with an integrated master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree with a year in industry.

For apparent reasons, one would think the latter is more attractive in the eyes of companies since it builds actual experience in industry; something a master’s student would be completely unaware of (unless extracurricular experienced was gained of course).

There lies the conundrum indeed. Some company representatives said the former whilst others the latter and some suggested it depends on the company which wasn’t helpful at all. 

Logically speaking, a master’s is more prestigious since only the most academic of students can complete such a rigorous course but you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking a year in industry is difficult hence showing several transferable skills of students which could make them more attractive employment wise.

I could go on to justify both sides but to be honest, I myself am still a bit puzzled so I’ll just leave the aforementioned arguments above. That’s all for today, be sure to check out tomorrow’s blog on day 8!

A was just about to end this post and a fellow commuter just sat next to me with the whiplash film on his phone. And it’s on the best scene as well! Yeah, you know which one I’m talking about. Just an interesting occurrence.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #7 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Day 7 can be summarised as an absolute shambles to use the London vernacular. Remember when I mentioned about leaving earlier the longer you travel in day 6’s post? Yep, you know what I’m talking about. If only I had told myself that to avoid being late for the first time.

When it comes to being late, you can either do 2 things: A) walk as quick as you can or run to make up time lost on transport where saving time is impossible or B) don’t rush, you can’t be late twice right? Yes, I got that from a meme. So I decided to do a bit of both. I walked, but done it at a slightly quickened pace. Ingenious huh, I get the best of both worlds; being late and rushing for no reason.

Anyway when I finally arrived to the first programming practical I didn't miss anything (thankfully). They were just going through introductions and I arrived just in time to introduce myself.

The 2 hour practical itself was a waste of time in my not so humble opinion. The whole practical consisted of going through some Java exercises in the course textbook which were rather elementary to say the least.

I'd rather not go into how dull it was so I'm going to end this post with a positive end note since the journey home was very smooth indeed. 

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #6 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Before I start day 6’s post I just want to give some quick advice to my fellow commuters. Don’t leave at the last minute. Ever. If I were to summarise this in a theorem of sorts the simple formula would be the longer you have to travel, the more time you should leave for error. 

For instance, if your journey takes 5 minutes then leave a margin of 10% for error i.e. 5 minutes and 30 seconds to be exact.

However, if your journey is supposed to take 1 hour long, do not leave 1 hour to complete your journey. You should be leaving an hour and 6 minutes to get to your destination. This was basically my case, on day 7 which is today but I won’t get into too much detail for day 6’s post. Bottom line is, leave earlier than you need to.

Moving on to day 6. The first period of contact was supposed to be a 3pm lecture but our personal tutor who was in Barcelona doing research last week, had to reschedule the discussion we were supposed to have last Tuesday. Anyway, he also happens to be the lecturer for Elementary Logic with Applications so that was convenient.

I guess it’s synonymous for all personal tutors to be nice but then again, none of us had met him in person before so maybe he’s just nice always. Or, it could be a deceitful façade (just kidding). The premise of the discussion itself was immaterial in many ways since it’s all just admin stuff we’ve been told before.

Additionally, my group (which was about 16 students including me) was very quiet so I had to do most of the talking. All in all, it was mostly a one sided conversation; almost like a lecture but occasionally some brave soul had the courage to ask a question.

Following the 30 minute discussion there was a 90 minute break till the 3pm lecture which was utilised very well if I do say so myself. The majority of the time was primarily used for emails and other things like studying (that’s a thing, right?).

The purportedly 3 hour lecture on Computer Systems was actually masquerading as a 2 hour lecture and a 1 hour tutorial. This actually happens a lot, but the 2 hour lecture ended up being around 90 minutes which meant staying for the tutorial (was is optional if you need extra support) meant waiting half an hour.

Me being me, I pretty much done the tutorial worksheet so decided to beat the rush hour traffic on the way home and leave early. I think I’ve mentioned this as well before but if you can do all the work in a tutorial beforehand, do it and save yourself an hour or so.

The difference in time, cost and convenience between a journey in peak hours and one outside said hours is truly amazing. There I was in the morning rush, struggling to get a seat on the train and now here I am with essentially the entire train to myself.

That’s all for today, be sure to check out day 7’s blog tomorrow InShaAllah!

Hope this helps!