At World's End

...The year Mayans predicted the world will end. It was such a big buildup to D-day, 21st December but over a week later the Earth is still rotating as it should. Mankind survived; not that there was an apocalypse to survive in the first place.

Been so preoccupied this whole year especially this past semester that I haven’t gotten a chance to write as much as I wanted to. Testament in the huge gaps between one blog post to another and that I've only managed to write 9 posts this year comparing to the 41 that I wrote last year. Today being the last day 2012, thought I'd sit myself down and write my traditional end of semester/end of year post (past ones that I've written: 330 days into 2011, 105 days of summer, and 4 months after, life as a UNIVERSITY student).

For most parts, it has been an excellent year. 2012, thank you for being good to me.

Top 10 highlights? Top 10 highlights!

(Chronologically ordered)

1. Moving House – 15 January 2012 (Sat)

Because for the first time in 21 years, I now have my own room – a place I get to call my own, the little retreat that I get to go to at the end of each day and be by myself when I feel like shutting out the world. I love my room. 

Photoshop skills at its best

2. Parent’s Perth Visit – 3 to 25 February 2012

Because for the first time in a long, long time (longer than my memory can immediately recall), all 4 family members were together for an extended period of time. Had a great time while mom and dad were here. Got to visit many places and see many things. Reason for visit: sister’s graduation. Congratulations, sister for obtaining your Bachelor of Pharmacy and subsequently throughout 2012 obtaining your PR and passing all your exams to be a qualified, licensed Pharmacists – doing what you love most. 

Overlooking the Southern Ocean (or possibly the Indian Ocean) at Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, Yallingup – one of the many places family traveled to during the summer

3. Paintball – 14 April 2012 (Sat)

Because this has been something I wanted to do all my life and I finally got to experience shooting a pallet of paint at 91 m/s. Went with sister to Delta Paint Paintball, which is situated at the edge of civilization (it was a long drive) and though we were playing with inexperienced kids (hey, so was I but these kids clearly did not understand that it is not cool to shoot someone at close range) I had a good time. Nasty bruises at the end of the day (sister got the worst of it) but I always like them battle scars (or battle bruises in this case). Good party story as any.

Base camp at Delta Force Paintball, Muchea

4. CPEC’s 1st Engineering Graduate and Vacation Networking Evening – 15 May 2012 (Tue)

Because it was the first time that I (together with the rest of the committee) organized something this big and successfully did it. Like most event planning, we faced many, many difficulties when trying to pull this event together. Possibly the biggest hurdle was this being the first time our club organized such an event, we were "doing so blindly" without any point of reference to speak off. We had no guidelines and no company contacts to start with. Nevertheless, after weeks of planning (on top of having other university commitments…assignments to do to name one), on 15th May we pulled in 10 engineering companies and had an attendance of a little over 100 students at the event – success at its best! Being appointed masters of ceremony by the president was a nice icing. A night to remember.

Organizing committee at the end of the night

5. Poet’s Corner – 26 May 2012 (Sat)

Because my submission made it on the UWA digital sign on the corner of Mounts Bay Road and Hackett Drive, Perth. With a restriction of 21 characters per line for three lines, whipped this up:

Infinitely beyond

Past what is gone;

A lost man’s torment.

6. Malaysia Holiday – 1 to 24 July 2012

Because (and there really is no better way to say this) people visiting Malaysia from Australia eat like kings. No doubt Malaysia has some of the best foods around at (when compared to Australia) an astonishingly cheap price. And as always, getting to see mum and dad was really nice.

Sate for dinner at Sate Kajang Hj. Samuri, Selangor - one of my all time favourite dishes 

7. 3rd year, 2nd Semester of University – 30 July to 2 November 2012

Because despite this semester being the hardest, most time consuming semester I’ve had in 3 years, I am finally beginning to see the light at the end of this long, pitch black tunnel. It was a good knowledge gaining semester. Really like the four units that I took this semester (Special Topics in Mineral Processing, Mining Management, Process Synthesis and Design, and Unit Operations and Unit Processes) because these units showcase real world applications for Chemical Engineering. No idea what it meant to be a Chemical Engineer in my 3 years of university but now I do. I’m seeing a bright, bright light. Hats off to dad for being a great study buddy throughout semester.

8. Appointed Vice President of CPEC – 21 August 2012 (Tue)

Because it is an honour given to me by my peers. Very few know how much The Chemical and Process Engineering Club of UWA truly means to me (I’ll get to that in another blog post when time permits) and being entrusted a top position is simply ace. Won by one vote and since then I can truly appreciate the difference a single person can do. May the club go to greater heights next year.

9. Alcoa of Australia Site Visit – 11 October 2012 (Thu)

Because this is the best site visit that I’ve ever been to. Visited Huntly Mine, Pinjarra Refinery, and the Alcoa Discovery Centre. Learned a lot from the site visit. An invaluable experience! On top of that, wrote an article on the site visit and got it published in The Western Australian Joint Chemical Engineering Committee's (JCEC) end of year edition newsletter. Sweet!

Screenshot of the published article

10. Professional Practicum/Vacation Work in a Gold Mine – for 12 weeks starting 3 December 2012 (Mon)

Because I now have something to look forward to at the end of my degree. The number one thing that I learned from this experience is that I like working out in the field. Being both outside and in the office is a good combination. I like that I get to "touch things". If I am fortunate enough to be employed in the mining industry after I graduate, then that will just be the bomb diggity.