I signed out right after my final examinations as an undergraduate of the university I attended, but it turns out that the "sign-out day" is only a celebration of becoming a graduate in advance. Why? Well, it is because there is still a lot that goes on after the final examinations.
Since the time I leveled up to being a final-year student, I have been working on a project with my designated supervisor. The project is also in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng. ), alongside the two hundred examinations and one year of industrial training. And the project is supposed to be some form of final contribution to the department, I guess.
A colleague and I came up with the project topic "Development of an Automated Car Washing System using Programmable Controllers," and then we were paired together to work on it. We thought we knew exactly what we were doing, but as I sit here writing this, I realize that I clearly did not know what I was going to go through in carrying out the project. There was more than what met our eyes.
I had attended an automation academy and had spent about six months learning everything there was to know about automation. I got pretty good at it—to a point—and thought my project would be "a piece of cake." I guess my project partner felt the same too, as he also spent the same time at a different automation academy. In hindsight, I laugh.
 My partner and I working on our project... |
It is not that the project was unachievable—we just completed it this week—but that it is one thing to know how to program and how designing goes, and it's another thing to actually implement it all.
We spent a lot of money and had most of our time wasted because of some factors, such as some of the components coming in pretty late, and then some individuals we contracted to work on some aspects of the project (like 3D printing some parts) frustrated us with their shady practices. We kept going back and forth on the design and implementation because many of the things we had imagined were not what we found.
 Automated Car Washing System |
Despite the challenges we kept meeting, we still managed to see them through and get to this final stage where we could finally say we had achieved what we had set out to accomplish, after a whole year had passed.
I will talk about just how my project works, but for today I have come to celebrate its completion and successfully defend it.
There are four checkpoints on the journey to submitting one's project. The first is the "proposal," where we'd tender our request to begin the project, and then, after carrying out the necessary research and design, the next is the "pre-data," where we'd present our research and design to a panel and we'd be given the "go-ahead." After that will be the "post-data," where we'd be expected to have completed the project and then come tell them about how it works and all that. And then the fourth is the final defense, where an external examiner comes to, you know, examine us.
This week, we went through the pre-data and the final defense on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. And it was one of the most intense times in my days as an undergraduate.
Being the class governor, I had the sole responsibility of making things work that day. And "fortunately" for me, I have no deputy, so I do everything myself. And to top it all, we are all men in my department; for some reason, that made it all the more difficult to handle my department.
Despite all the pressure to "make things work," both days came and I defended my project really well. As we did our projects ourselves, it really wasn't a problem to expressly defend them. I am glad it went well.
I wish I could say that I am a graduate now, since I have submitted my project and defended it, but there are still some little things here and there to sort out, especially the clearance as a graduate. But at least, it's no longer far away; it's just right around the corner.
My activity here and with some other things has drastically dropped, as school has been demanding and taking a lot of my attention and requiring that it be adequate.
The final defense being the last time we may all gather together, we all arranged to take photographs, especially some as a department.
I have a brotherhood I am a part of, The Gentle-Bros. And we basically are just a group of tight friends, looking forward to co-creating something massive in the futre. We couldn't but take photos of ourselves.
 The Gentle-Bros |
We couldn't help but contain our joy as well as our hunger today during the final defense, so we transferred aggression to the donuts nearby. With joy and gladness, we devoured like we had not eaten for days. "Yummy donuts!"
Little by little, things are clearing up for me, as I have hoped for a long time now, and I will soon be a graduate, so the matters concerning the undergraduate lifestyle will no longer concern me. And then I can really focus on my goals.
All images are mine
ℍ𝕖𝕪, 𝕚𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕖𝕟𝕛𝕠𝕪𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥, 𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕣𝕖𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕘, 𝕠𝕣 𝕦𝕡𝕧𝕠𝕥𝕖. 𝕀𝕥'𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕.
𝒮𝑒𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉 . . .