Today was my second lecture for this semester and both were of the same module in fact. It's the first time I actually signed up for a cross faculty module offered by the Faculty of Engineering, outside School of Computing.
There is this guy, a first year Engineering graduate student, by the name of Jason, whom I just got to know. This initially thought okay person turned out to be the ugly Singaporean! To make things simple, this Jason shall be labelled J.
The story goes like this ...
Lecture 1: Friday, Aug 6
The professor wanted us to form a group of 4. Okay, J approached me to form a group but then I already have got a group of 4. The other 3 are inseparable because they have been together working on same projects for the past 2 semesters. I am perfectly fine with J joining if the professor allows 5 in a group.
Towards the end of the 3-hours lecture, I happened to notice a familiar face - an overseas School of Computing student from India. Okay, so she is here knowing no one like myself, taking a cross faculty module.
I had an idea. I suggested to J that we should spin off 2 groups of 3 each - first group consisting of the inseparable threes, and the second group consisting of J, the Indian friend and myself. My reasoning was it's easier to recruit one more instead of risking the fifth person left without a group. Let's consider this proposal and decide on the next day.
Lecture 2: Saturday, Aug 7
In class, the professor re-emphasized his preference of group of 4 again. Okay, that is it. What do you think of the idea of 3 in a group?
I could see it clearly from his body language, his eyes and his expression that he was very much reluctant of the spin-off. He very much preferred to be in a group of 4 or 5 so that he could stand a 50% chance of be in a group of 4. I was more inclined towards splitting.
J: I would like to stay with the other 3. This is my first semester and I would prefer to be in a more stable group.
I: For me, everyone is here to learn and I see everyone equal. I am perfectly fine to work with anyone.
What really puzzled me was what made him made the remark that by joining the other 3 would be more stable. Is it because the Indian friend and I are cross faculty students? Why the perception? The module is not even an Engineering module per se, it's a management module! That J just did not do his homework that the Indian friend and I are both in IT Project Management specialisation and our core modules are mainly business-related.
What really pissed me off was the J actually just made a fool of us Singaporeans in front of an overseas student. Can you be less selfish in the future? We are after all students, here to learn from one another.
National Day is coming soon. Amen ..
