Making hay while the sun shines...

The life of an engineering student is often wasted with classes,assignments and exams...The importance of practical training and industry exposure is missing in our education system. But who am I to question the system? I am not even a graduate yet. I decided to not merely be a drop in the ocean but to be responsible for the course of the stream.I did something differently to decide my own journey.( I must admit Shiv Khera's advice of doing things differently than doing different things certainly helps.)

I decided to attend seminars in my free time(especially in holidays) both to have fun and broaden my horizon. Make hay while the sun shines kept ringing in my ears. I started off by deviating(slightly) from technology. I decided to attend a product management workshop at IIM-B throwing some light on Technology Adoption Life Cycle. The lecture kicked off with an interesting presentation stressing on INNOVATION by Mr.Suhas Kelkar from BMC!! I thought that Saturday morning could not have started in on a better note. This is when I realised that I do not need to necessarily invent something to innovate. The talk by Mr.S. Ramesh of Confianzys Consulting was based on TALC model which has innumerable applications in the field of technology. Google+ , Microsoft, Sony vs JVC, Amazon Kindle were a few of the case studies discussed. I would certainly thank Mr.Ravi Padaki from IPMA for this experience.

The lecture was the serious part. The element of fun was the journey to IIM-B,sitting in the Management Development Centre where the classess in "3 idiots" were shot, having a look at the tank which has a few epic scenes from the movie and the library where the lesson of not merely mugging but enjoying learning was potrayed(remember how Chamatkaar became Balaatkar). The journey ended with having a taste of the food of the IIM-B canteen!! The day followed with having some more fun spending time with seniors who shared their experiences giving us guidance as to how we can shape our future.

We have all heard about "Opportunity strikes the door only once." But exactly a week later, I got my second opportunity. An experience to be among the software testers having great industry experience at the monthly testers' meet. I was nervous with loads of apprehensions as to what would be in store for me at a place where the best of the best interact. What would I, a college student, understand and gain from it?

Nevertheless, I chose to strike the iron as it was hot. I went ahead and attended the meet. Not surprisingly, my friend and me were the only college students there. The biggest positive was that at no point did we feel out of place. Both of us could perfectly relate to the talk by the VP of Mindtree, Mrs. Sylvia Veeraraghavan. She gave us presentations on testing and its applications. More importantly, she shared valuable experiences of her life making it a great intro for the long session ahead.We even exchanged a few words with her over a cup of tea.

The moment of inspiration had still not arrived. We were then introduced to the best tester..also the best test blogger from India, Mr. Pradeep Soundararajan, the co-founder and director of Moolya Software Testing Pvt Ltd. Two hours of his stage presence seemed like 20 mins.More importantly, my inspiration to start a blog. I learnt many lessons from him. The best of all was importance of lateral thinking and to never underestimate yourself(even in front of your boss) when you feel you are doing the right thing(Though, I agree more with Mr Rahul- We need the skills too).. The talk was certainly about testers and test blogging but on analysis, I learnt that all that he spoke about can be applied to life,at large.Thanks to Mr.Rahul Verma and the "Tester Tested".

We always got an edge over the others in both the seminars for being college students in a pool of industry experts. And I admit, we loved it.

Waiting to attend a few more events like these in the coming weeks before the education system loads me again with exams,projects and placements in my final year of engineering. I hope, I can convincingly say "I'm an Engineer",a year later, when I have some wealth of practical experience in addition to the theoretical knowledge that I flood my brain with!!

Right now, Yahoo Hack is on the cards for me!!

P.S :
1. This is my first post in my new blog. I am a novice and completely open to criticism. Pardon me for grammatical errors,if any.
2. Thanks to the Tester Tested for inspiring me to do this.( You added Moolya in my life..Yes, I found my guru..Just like how you found JB and MB).
3. Hope I have the patience and skills to continue blogging and sharing my experiences.