My tiny piece of heaven

(Yet) another lesson on thesis defense February 27, 2012

My Alma mater invited me again to be one of the panelist for the thesisdefense yesterday, and that day’s defense has left me on a sudden realization to many things…

All because I failed a group of students in the said class.

The thesis itself was a total mess. The document was full of grammatical errors, mispellings, image misplacements and lacks important information on their proposed project. Even their proposed system was lacking yet important details that they can’t even utter a word to defend their project…

And sad to say, I gave them a failing grade…and me along with my fellow panelist fave a failing grade also because of the poor standing.

I must say that it is a deserving grade to them but I can’t help but to feel sad for them for they are now graduating students. But hey, I’m just doing my job! And a good friend of mine told me that to pass a poor student who always rely on the good, intelligent ones is like spoiling them to be a bad kid as they grow up. Another one told me that to pass a negligent student is like passing a student who can be a bad example to our society.

Really makes sense. To fail a student is heartbreaking and stressful for me. But at the end of the day after hearing such words from my close friends, it makes me at ease.

After that failed group, somehow I can see myself in them, on how they had failed in so many places. On my part, I recalled the times that I failed miserably in my love life and at work, on how I can cope up with my past mistakes, to reflect on them and to how can I face the world again and back to square one. It is heartbreaking and of course it makes you think that you wanna give up – but it is actually a chance to realize your weakest points and to see what needs to improve, to eliminate, to add and to fix…so that on your second try, you’ll know how to face them with your head up high, and you already know how to succeed on your next try. This process may make time, but a day or two of silent recollection is a big help to help you think of everything that needs to done.

Going back to the university means everything to me. I can’t thank them enough for the things that they had taught me, for I had applied (almost) everything to my chosen field. Though when it comes to the thesis defense, I know in my heart that  did well (and also my co-thesis mates), that’s why this is my way of thanking them by giving back all what I’ve learned from them, by helping students to be a role model for all.