Exploring the Campus - Part 1

College life is real good. I began exploring the campus. The campus is not that big. But for the three branches that my college has, the campus is a pretty good one. I like the long lonely corridors and the stair cases. Best of all, I can get a good Ariel view of the city from atop the college. We’ve got a cricket ground, a football ground and a basketball court within the campus.

Considering the labs, especially, computer lab, they are state-of-the-art. As I said earlier, most of the computers run on Linux and that too the Debian flavor (not my kind of Linux. I’d have been happy with PCLinux OS or the Ubuntu Linux both of them with decent GUI).Debian looks crappy and sometimes acts crappy. My first impression of debian systems is not good. As soon as I learn Linux programming, I’m gonna change that crappy look. I’ve been also to the computers running Microsoft Windows XP and it looks like heaven for me. I’m not a Microsoft hater, but on the contrary a hard-core Windows fan. I like their innovations, visions and above all, their customer support. I can’t see why people hate Microsoft so much!

The computer that runs Windows is powered by Intel Pentium 4 processor with Hyper Threading technology. It has a clock speed of 3 GHz. Considering the net connection; it is slow for a broadband. It may be because so many people are accessing it at a time. Anyway, the speed is better than that we have at home. Hope it improves. Most of the high-ended systems there have LCD monitors and it is a sight to see.

There is also a media center in our college. Though I’m not sure what its function is, all the computers there have LCD screens and all of them are black. It is really a sight to see. There is also a seminar hall.

The library is on the ground floor. I was most curious about the library. But as soon as I saw it, all my fears and doubts were wiped away. It had more size than I expected. It is spread across two sections and has got a wide range of books, periodicals, magazines and project reports. It is a reader’s heaven. I’ve been to the library everyday since I first explored it. The library sits in a secure location away from all the ramblings and sounds of college. You will never know how much time you spend in the library if you are coming without a watch! I’ve so far completed two National Geographic magazines, one Linux for You magazine and one Electronics for You magazine. We’re not yet able to borrow books from the library as we’ve not yet received the identification cards.

By the way, on the day I joined college; I’ve also become a member of the IEEE organization and thus am eligible to get a copy of Spectrum monthly. The first issue is yet to come. I also subscribed to TechnoFIRST a college magazine primarily based on placement run by seniors of MEC who are members of the placement cell.

We’ve also been to the mechanical and electrical workshops. We do not have foundry. I also got the overcoat to be used during workshop sessions. In the mechanical workshop session, I’m in the fitting section. I don’t know what the hell they are supposed to teach me. Time will tell. The electrical workshop teacher asked us to buy important tools like wire stripper, combination pliers, pliers, screw driver and line tester. The workshop is very good. It is roomy and airy.

I’ll continue tomorrow about the classess