A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #3 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Day 3 was quite a hectic one. A 1pm start with a 1 hour lecture on Programming Practice and Applications followed by an hour’s break and finally, the 3 hour introductory lecture on Foundations of Computing.

A quick side note on lectures, usually the timetable states there’s X lecture at Y room followed by Z tutorial in room Y. Everyone simply assumes it’s just a 3 hour lecture when it’s actually a 2 hour lecture immediately followed by a 1 hour tutorial in the same room where you can ask questions and whatnot

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So, in actuality the entire session is only 2 hours long and the optional tutorial is of course, optional. If you’ve understood the lecture and haven’t dozed off then great, you have no need to attend the tutorial. However, if you’re sitting throughout the entire lecture completely clueless about what is transpiring then it’s probably a good idea to use the tutorials for additional support.

Anyway, the first lecture at 1pm was quite interesting. Being introduced to a new IDE (BlueJ) which most people had never encountered before in a thorough way was a great method to get everyone to familiarise themselves with it (especially since a lot of students on the course have no programming background whatsoever).

The hectic part of the day came during the hour break, where a paced walk towards collecting the required Arduino kit for practicals was a confusing one indeed. Route planning between buildings is essential if you want to get to classes on time. On top of that, I made the rookie error of the year by forgetting my ID card so accessing buildings became very annoying as I had to sign in every time. A mistake I shall never be making again InShaAllah.

Oh and here’s a bright idea. Don’t waste your phone battery on meaningless activities while travelling to university since I can guarantee from experience that 90% of the time it will die on the way home. An alternative (and costly) solution is to get a power bank but I’d rather utilise the former means of maximising my battery life.

For the last part of the day, the intro lecture on Foundations of Computing, the lecturer was kind of difficult to understand to say the least but I expect this is common at every uni so I digress. Again, the content was very repetitive and similar to A level content so it was very easy to get distracted. Occasionally there was something new but on the whole, it was pretty elementary.

Again (not that I’m complaining), the lecture finished rather early (4:40 if memory serves) so you could either leave or wait for the tutorial and obviously I chose the former. That’s all for today, be sure to check out day 4’s blog coming up next.

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #2 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

Well, it's been a busy few days to say the least which is why I haven't posted since Monday but anyway. Day 2 had a shorter schedule than Monday especially since the discussion with my personal tutor was moved to next week since he's in Barcelona for whatever reason.

So, instead of starting the day at 1pm for a 30 minute discussion followed by a 1 hour and 30 minute break to the 3pm lecture, it just started at 3pm. Obviously, it not being an early start definitely helps with the journey since it's outside peak hours.

The lecture itself was on Computer Systems and was 3 hours long (supposedly). I know I've mentioned this before, but doing A level Computer Science makes the first year of uni very repetitive. I had already read this somewhere but didn't really believe it but I sure do now. 

There is a silver lining to that so to speak, you can spend less time studying in the first year and actually do more extra curricular stuff like becoming student representatives (which I'm actually considering), joining societies and so much more.

Back to that supposed thing about the lecture. The timetable, as far as my understanding is so far, is not set in stone. This is probably true for all universities. If the timetable says a lecture is between 3-6pm, doesn't mean it will actually be till 6pm. Sure, it will start at 3, but lectures can finish earlier (or sometimes later) than the time specified. On Tuesday for example, I finished around 45 minutes earlier and on Monday, as previously mentioned, it was an hour and a half earlier.

Maybe it's because this is the first week so they're starting off slow but I certainly hope that's not the case. The surprise of a lecturer ending the lecture early is definitely a pleasant one. 

That's all for for today, be sure to check the next day's blog!

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #1 (ADITLOAKCCS)

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

The first day (which hasn't even finished at the time of writing) has been busy to say the least. I arrived 5 minutes late to my first lecture which was on programming practice and applications which was annoying since I'm usually quite punctual. Anyways, actual teaching didn't even begin until the second hour so it didn't matter much. 

Even more interesting was that the lecturer or professor should I say, announced that lectures actually start 5 minutes later than what is scheduled on the timetable and also finishes 5 minutes earlier. So, in actuality a 2 hour lecture is only 1 hour and 40 minutes discounting those 10 minutes and the 10 minutes break time at the hour mark.

The lecture itself was definitely more interesting than the induction lectures since it had information which was actually useful. Although, having done A level Computer Science did make some of it repetitive which will probably be a recurring theme throughout the first year.

Ironically, the projector actually failed about halfway through the lecture so the remaining hour had to be delivered without a screen which was extremely annoying since we were learning to use BlueJ (an IDE to write Java for the uninitiated). A positive was that the lecture ended half an hour early but it's the first week of the year so not a lot of actual teaching goes on, mostly just admin stuff.

Then followed a 4 hour break which I'm still in so I guess I'll just do a part 2 post for the second part of the day. Alternatively, I could just save this bit and write the rest of the train home but I digress.

Immediately after the lecture ended, everyone went to the library hoping to get all the reading list books for free and that meant it turned out to be a race more than anything. There were only around 30 copies of the core textbooks and about 500 students or so taking the course so they ran out pretty quick. Luckily, I did manage to get my core copies but renewing them every week is not something I look forward to.

As far as the rest of the time spent during this unusually large break is concerned, you could say most of it was spent walking between buildings or at least it felt like most of it. This actually brings me back to the aforementioned point on why lectures start/end 5 minutes after/before the scheduled times because the buildings are quite some distance apart. But for now, I finally rest in the library waiting for the next lecture to begin.

I've decided to change my mind about splitting the post into 2 parts and will just continue this post like nothing happened (even though I'm at home now). The lecture at 3pm after the 4 hour break was the introductory lecture on the Elementary Logic with Applications module.

Again, we didn't do much learning since all the lecture content was just an overview of the module and whatnot. Logic itself is quite an abstract topic so the lecture can get quite challenging but, and this is the key for all lectures, looking at the content beforehand makes a world of difference.

The lecture ended an hour and half earlier than scheduled since this is the first week I guess which was great in fact since it meant my day could end at 4:30pm instead of 6pm. As a side note I must confess, I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon one a lot more than the morning lecture.

Anyways, I guess that's all for today. Be sure to check tomorrow's blog InShaAllah

Hope this helps!

A Day In The Life Of A King's College CompSci #0

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

This is a brand new series which is quite self explanatory in the title that I will be updating everyday till I graduate InShaAllah. This first entry is for day "0" since term hasn't started yet so I thought I'd cover the induction day as well.

There are loads of events in welcome week, some obligatory and some useless so the key is to pick the ones that you'll actually be interested in by reading the event descriptions. I'll be honest, I wasn't keen to visit any event that wasn't compulsory so I just had to book those ones strategically so that I would only have to go one day.

You may find spreading them out over the week is more beneficial but since I didn't live on campus and the commute was seriously exhausting (not to mention expensive) I decided to get everything done in one day.

So here was my schedule for the day:

• 10:00-11:00 Undergraduate induction
• 11:30-12:30 Undergraduate Computer Science Information Session 
• 13:00-14:00 Life at University Induction
• 14:00-15:00 Collect Student ID Card

It's safe to say there was far too much information given during those sessions but thankfully the slides used for them were uploaded online so you could give them another read. 

If one were to be brutally honest, the inductions weren't really worth attending for the most part since the professors were essentially reading off the slides and who can blame them, it was very boring indeed.

The only absolutely essential event for the day was collecting my ID card which only took about 2 minutes since there was no queue. All in all, the day did present many benefits but also had several disadvantages. Did I regret going? Not really, I got to know the "ins and outs" of the building I'd be spending most of my course in so that was helpful amongst other things. 

Anyway that's all for today, be sure to keep an eye out for tomorrow's post with the actual first day of university.

Hope this helps!

Yet Another Textbook Update

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

I know I haven't posted in a while but hear me out, I've done 40 of the intended 100 pages of my textbook in basically a week. Extrapolating this data, I think I'll be done (hopefully) before the end of this month. With that said, I may decide to change certain things and therefore take a bit longer to complete it but in ideal circumstances, expect it to drop this September InShaAllah.

Hope this helps!

GCSE Results Day: My Story

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

It was a cold Thursday morning in the suburbs of London where I temporarily resided in my summer holidays. The once green trees and colourful flowers were all but gone as autumn crept its head once again to remind all students that their freedom would not last much longer.

Unsure of when to collect my results, I woke up slightly earlier than intended with an amalgamation of senses; fearful but excited, anxious yet relieved. The culmination of high school solely rested on this day, a day where stress can suffocate one to the point where white hairs begin to grow, a day where fear of failure can envelope one with all sorts of thoughts for the foreseeable future.

Imagine for the better part of 5 years you've been indoctrinated with the notion that the rest of your life will be dictated by a piece of paper with a few letters on it. A crude way to put it but no less true for the thousands of 16 year olds whose hopes and dreams rest on one day alone.

Not only did I have to deal with the tension of getting my results, I also had to deal with the tension of getting to school since I didn't live at home at that time. However, like any human being with a survival instinct of at least 0.1%, I planned my route the night before. 

When once I would walk and take the bus a few short stops, I now had to utilise an unfamiliar transport: the train. If memory serves, I had embarked on several journeys via this long metallic vehicle but very rarely so. And I don't recall any of those being as straightforward as simply taking the all so familiar red London buses.

Regardless, I wouldn't let any obstacle stand in my way after counting results day down for a month with my more fortunate friends who had the luxury of being at home and knowing exactly how to get to school. I set out to the nearest bus stop from my house which thankfully, was quite near indeed. Since I wasn't precisely in London I employed the use of the buses operating in the local area. 

One benefit, amongst others, of being in the suburbs is that the traffic is minimal even at peak hours. I arrived at the train station sooner than anticipated and immediately saw what I thought to be my train with passengers entering in their droves before the gates of opportunity closed. Without hesitation, I boarded with the utmost certainty that this mode of transport that I was unaccustomed with would deliver my to my desired destination.

I was horribly wrong. After the small high of successfully mounting the typically overcrowded train, I came to the realisation that this train would skip my stop and take my all the way to Paddington directly. The distress on my face must've been evidently clear to see as a young lady standing next to me asked if I was okay. 

Slightly nervous yet alleviated, I told her about my tremendous mistake and that it was results day. She, like any other member of this society which idealises being ethically good, reassured me that everything would be fine. So now I'm in Paddington with no clue how to get where I need to be and on top of that, I'm late. Tardiness for me at least, is unacceptable. I don't consider myself a "goody two shoes" but I take special care to be punctual in all matters.

Despite having already been in this station a multitude of times, my heightened unease made it more difficult than usual to find the necessary platform in those exceptional circumstances. After essentially walking aimlessly around the enormous station for a while, I finally located the platform and embarked on a similar transport: the Tube.

I was even more unversed with this mode of transport but I arrived at the correct station with no hassle which was a 5 minute walk away from my school. It was significantly passed the time I wanted to be there and throughout my quickened stroll to the building where I once sat about 30 exams or so I could only think one thing; what if the incident with the wrong train is foreshadowing of what's to come? What if I didn't do well like I didn't do well in selecting the right train? What if all that has transpired this morning is to ready me for the inevitability of whats to come? A 5 minute walk with these toxic thoughts can feel 10 times longer so my pace hastened to the point where I was almost running.

I reach my school, the first familiar sight I had all day. I saw what I predicted, nearly everyone had already collected, seen and emotionally processed their results and the few that hadn't were immaterial to me at that point. I walk past the congregations of students into the hall where the teachers sat behind tables with manilla envelopes in alphabetical order. 

I receive my envelope and immediately knew I wasn't going to open it in or anywhere near school. I safely plant the envelope in my jacket to avoid detection and the quintessential question everyone has on their tongues, "how did you do". I find a secure spot; the bus stop, but before I can even get the envelope out the spot is compromised due to other students being visible in the distance.

I decide to endure a bit longer till my double-decker bus comes and whisks me away from this once common, now repulsive place. I venture to the back of the top deck which luckily, was completely empty. My patience had expired and any nicety that would normally be observed in opening the envelope was replaced with a swift yet accurate tear across the top. 

There were more pages in it than expected. The first being about resits and remarks which I rightly ignored and believed to be inconsequential. Then 2 more pages, both with a long line of letters and numbers which I could slightly make out through the back of the translucent papers. I flip them over and read...

I saw things I wanted to see and others I didn't. Perhaps my expectations were too high or I was just having a tough day. In the eyes of most, those results would be more than  perfectly adequate, they would be great, but I digress. On the way home I called my parents, informing them of the news and as any parent would say to their child on this day of dismay, "we're proud of you". 

My disappointment didn't lessen at whatever trivial words anyone could offer, but at least it was all over and I could spend the rest of the holidays with no worries. I wasn't exactly depressed about it nor was I really ecstatic. One could say it was a psychological zero sum game. 

Naturally, I was labouring under the delusions that I had jeopardised my whole life; my university, my career etc. but I needn't have since there's more to life than GCSEs. I don't have much regrets about it today but I still know deep down I could and should have done better had fate been kinder but alas, that's life and there's no point crying over what's been spilt.

So whatever ensues tomorrow, good or bad, just remember it's for the best! 

Hope this helps!

OCR A Level Computer Science 2018 Grade Boundaries Leaked!

As Salamu Alaykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh World!

I know it's been far too long since I last posted but I will make it up InShaAllah with a very special post next week. Anyways, I just found the 2018 OCR new A level grade boundaries and decided to share them with you.

Whatever happens tomorrow don't worry, there's more to life than A levels!

Here's the link: OCR new A level grade boundaries

Hope this helps!