The New College's System

This year all assignments are very important and valid to our area of study. I’m saying this because in the previous years we used to have that one or two assignments per semester which weren’t that important to our area of study. However, today I look back positively that I managed to pass and achieved decent grades although they were challenging to me. Such assignments were also preparing me to tackle challenging situations where I wouldn’t much relate to or don’t like.

This year although all assignments are very important for our preparation to the future career, I can still mention some things which aren’t being tackled well, probably because of the new system. Last year we were starting this new course (Spatial Design) which is now not related to the BTEC system anymore but now it’s being offered by MCAST for free, which is a positive direction for MCAST. Another positive thing is the new grading system, where previously the grading were only based on four grades the ‘Distinction’, ‘Merit’, ‘Pass’ and ‘Referral/Fail’, which weren’t that accurate. While the new system grades from 0 to 100, typically 50 being the pass mark. This is a more accurate grading system, while we also have the advantage of receiving feedback where students understands where to improve. However something I don't really agree with the new grading system is that if you fail an assignment, one has to do the assignment all over again in a very short period of time, and that no feedback is given after submitting a task from an assignment, it's only given along with the final mark.

Since we were the first to attend this new course, we felt like we are being ‘guinea pigs’, because they made lots of changes from the BTEC course and some changes weren’t ‘tested’ previously. So, this was a disadvantage for us because it made us feel frustrated at times when things weren’t going well. Last year we also had to stand together and literally use ‘power from below’ to show our voice about issues that we were facing to the administration. Sometimes we managed to have a suitable compromise and sometimes not so much, and lots of things still need to improve within the new system!

Due to our complaints and suggestions, this year for the same course (Spatial Design, year 1), I noticed that there were some better adjustments and changes in the course delivery.

At the same time this year, we are still first ones to be doing the second part of the course, and I still have the same feeling that we are being the ‘guinea pigs’. Few assignments aren't planned well and sometimes we feel misguided or lost. However one particular assignment which for the previous years (in the BTEC course) was being delivered in one semester is now being delivered in both semesters and it is planned very well, which gives us adequate time to learn and explore such subject, which is about 'Design Principles and Methods'.

Another new assignment which was introduced this year and is very important to our thesis for next year which is 'Critical Thinking and Research Methods'. For the previous courses (BTEC) this assignment was being delivered during the last year of the degree. So this is something positive about the new changes which is putting us in the advantage to start preparing us for our thesis earlier. The thing with this assignment is that it is only being delivered in one semester and I think it would have been better for us if it was delivered during both semesters, as we will have enough time to think and do our assignment properly.

An assignment which is about sustainable design should have been planned better, because it’s quite complicated as design which is being requested from this assignment. The first lectures of this assignment were about introducing the subject then follows some other information related to sustainable design. What I would suggest for a better delivery to such topic is to give us more information related to sustainable solutions (especially for Malta), materials, showing us other case studies, etc. Another thing is that a lot of marks have been allocated with one task and another task to which had fewer marks allocated to, had lots of work to be done.

Now that we have done half of the assignment individually and everyone came up with his own design, we needed to present our design to the client who is an engineer from the MCAST institute of engineering, and he had to criticize our designs according to how could it be working. Then from 24 students, only 6 had to be chosen and mine was one of them which I am proud of. Now for the next stage, we have to be in groups of four to further develop the design chosen. At this stage we haven’t established who will be working with who, as we need to have some sort of meeting with the engineer and our lecturer to assign us into groups. Something which we’re worrying about is that the meeting is going to happen right after the holidays and at the moment this assignment is put on hold for the Christmas holidays, which this time could have been essential to us to start working as groups. I hope that due to all this, we will be given an extension as lots of work still need to be done, and it is impossible to be done in just less than a month. Our knowledge learned from this topic should prepare us enough to be able to design sustainably, which is very important to our future career.

In addition, during the Christmas holidays I will be trying to have some relaxing time with family and friends and also continue to work on assignments to keep myself on track and on time hopefully. 

Thinking Critically

From the beginning of the semester till now, I have changed the way of thinking and I’m starting to think critically unintentionally to almost everything. Reflecting on my weekly blogs, I think I’m improving week after week. So in this blog, I decided to do some critical thinking on my previous blogs to reflect on my improvements and difficulties I am encountering.

During the first weeks of this semester I wrote on different topics, in order to make myself thinking critically about different topics. This is also helping me formulate constructive criticism, where one criticize in a manner that is valid and expresses own opinions.

There were blogs which I know that should have been written better, particularly their written structure and arguments. Although it’s a short task that I have to do weekly, sometimes I find it difficult to find the right time to write properly. Sometimes my difficulty when writing in English is my vocabulary, which I know that it could be improved, at the same time, I feel that I’m improving from time to time by practice. One of the reasons I struggle to find the appropriate vocabulary, is the lack of reading during the last summer holidays, because reading is a very important practice to flourish one’s vocabulary.

Building up arguments is a bit challenging, especially now that I’m aware of the methods that could be used to have stronger arguments. I still find it difficult when it comes to building up well-structured arguments and I’m aiming to work on that to improve further in the coming weeks.

Parking Issues in Malta.

Currently the situation of parking in Malta especially in some certain localities, is quite huge. I’m one who experience this problem of parking quite often but not on a daily basis, because when I go to college, somehow I manage to find a parking space. Although it’s becoming quite problematic and usually have to find a parking space quite far from the institute. Cars are always increasing and many students are preferring to get a car licence and go to college by their own car rather than using the public transport. When going back home, the problem of parking isn’t that much next to my house, although cars are also increasing by neighbours living nearby.

Central localities around Malta are very problematic to find a parking space, such as Valletta, Sliema, St. Julians, Birkirkara, Qormi, etc. When I need to go to such locations, sometimes I choose to go by public transport which I really dislike because it takes longer to travel. The poor system of public transport is one of the reasons, people are choosing to own and use private cars which also leads to more traffic in our roads. Although, I believe that there were few improvements within the system, people are still choosing to travel by their own cars. I think by having a better public transport system and maybe introduce incentives to people who make use of the public transport, people would start using it more. In some localities there is also the option of parking malls, which reduces the parking problem, but sometimes their parking fee is too expensive and makes it more difficult to people who don’t afford to pay such amounts.

On the other hand, there are people who park irresponsibly, which will cause unnecessary inconveniences towards other road users. For instance, I frequently notice drivers who double park in the middle of the road with the hazard lights on, just because they need to have a ‘quick’ stop while causing danger to other drivers who need to overtake them and risk to crash into traffic coming from the opposite direction. Other instance is when drivers who just find a good parking spot while ruin other parking spaces by not using them correctly. Even though people might get a fine for such mistakes, they still keep doing them and it’s something that we as a country need to take care of. 

Books vs. eBooks

Nowadays technology is always evolving in everything and people are choosing to read a book on digital devices. Not long ago, I have tried to read a book on a tablet and didn’t really quite enjoy it, as much as a printed book. This concern can be debatable with various people having different opinions and I’m one who don’t agree much with the use of eBooks, I’d rather enjoy reading the old-fashioned way... Both have its own advantages and disadvantages. Although, I have to admit that I never was a great fan of reading, but every once in while I would love to read a book that keeps me focused and wouldn’t want to leave the book before I finish.


I’d rather prefer using such digital devices to watch a movie rather than reading. I’m also aware that E-books has also advantages such as; less paper is being used, quick downloads of a book (saving money), no shipping costs, font could be adjustable, ease of accessibility, etc. However, an eBook can cause eye strains, can be expensive depending on the software used, will not have that user experience, etc.

My views about using an eBook is more about the sensory aspect whereby having a printed book can be felt and smelt, therefore the user experience. In other words the “tactile loss” according to an article I found. (Rosso, S., 2009.) I believe that reading a printed book is more effective, and I also like the idea of having a collection of books which could be kept somewhere which will later remind you of its reading experience, whereas having a book on a digital device you will not enjoy such emotional aspects.

theawkwardyeti.com, 2014.

Reference:

Rosso, S., 2009. What are ebooks? Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Books. [online] Available at: https://whenihavetime.com/2009/03/09/what-are-ebooks-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-electronic-books/ [Accessed 02 December 2016]. 

Accessibility in Malta

In this blog I’m going to discuss briefly some issues of the lack of accessibility in Malta.

Accessibility is not only for mobility impaired people who use wheel chairs, but also for people who use pushchairs/prams, elderly people who make use of walking strollers, etc. But the most people who really need accessibility are wheelchair users, people who needs their independency when using public pavements.

Most pavements in Malta, especially in central areas are typically inaccessible. Mostly because roads are so narrow that there isn’t space for pavement. For example the town where I live (Rabat), the pavements are really narrow that wheel chair users couldn’t pass and alternatively they pass from roads which might be dangerous for them. 

I frequently notice a lady who uses an electric wheel chair nearby my house, who uses the road on daily basis independently and I notice some of the struggles she meets along the way. Form one point of view it is a positive thing to see a physically impaired person being independent, but on another point of view most of the pavements aren’t accessible for her, so she has to use the road which is really dangerous for her and car users, which are at risk of causing an unfortunate accident.

Simple ramps are surely necessary for wheelchair users, there should be multiple of them along a pavement for an easy access. Some pavements that can be accessible and wide enough for wheelchair users, will also have obstacles such as having poles installed at the middle of the pavements (especially during the feasts lots of decoration poles). Other common obstacles in Malta are holes, trees, garage slopes, damaged pavements (which are made of cheap materials and sometimes take weeks or months to get fixed), etc. Traveling around Malta, one will find lots of these obstacles. Another thing that we might also take for granted is how car users tent to park randomly on the pavements causing a temporary obstacle. So, I think educating the citizens is also necessary to respect these people accordingly.   

For me as a person who do not need any of these aids such as a wheelchair, I don’t really understand the difficulty a wheel chair user might encounter along his/her way. I believe that if the authorities put themselves in the shoe of these people by testing out the Maltese roads by literally get on a wheelchair themselves, I think there might be solutions to more improvement in our roads when possible. However, I don’t really know if they already are conducting similar tests to understand their needs. Although, sometimes I can see that when a new project is being done, they are now taking into consideration accessibility, which I believe that it’s a step forward in improving physically impaired people’s lives, who needs to be independent as everyone else.

In addition, hotels and restaurants in Malta are improving and adapting for everyone’s needs, by designing accordingly to accessibility, which is another way for them to be competitive and user friendly. 

Reference:

Cutajar, K., 2014. A walk on the pavement. Times of Malta. [online] Available at: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141128/opinion/A-walk-on-the-pavement.545941 [Accessed 25 November 2016].

Meeting Ali Ferzat

The meeting with Ali Ferzat was quite interesting and inspiring. The fact that I got to know about him and his works before the talk, made more confident to attend this talk with some background knowledge. For me the subject is now clearer and I got to know better the true reasons behind his drawings. I must say that it was an honor meeting him, and feel his true passion and experiences. 

During the talk, Ferzat talked about his drawings in relation to the ongoing events and situations happening in Syria. He mostly focused his talk on the war happening in Syria rather than his drawings themselves. He seemed to be very passionate about the subject and how he express the society’s voice through the caricatures.

He is an artist who really practices what he believes in and that he wants a change to happen in his country. He also believes that by time his country will be great again and most importantly, he wants his country to be democratic (“freedom and liberty”) again. Art is a form of communication which he believes that it is more powerful than words. An interesting point he made is the comparison between him and the government, where he states that he only carries a pen which is more powerful than the weapons that the government is using. By this he is saying that he wants back the democracy and hoping for an end from the dictatorship happening in Syria. He mainly wants to give voice for the minorities and try to reach a powerful message for them. He wants everyone in the world to know about these situations. So, he is free to have anyone use his drawings in protests, magazine, anywhere. This should bring more awareness about these civil wars and hoping for a better, peaceful country to live in.

A quite catchy and powerful statement Ferzat said during the talk was that “Politicians are licking their own blood”. Honestly, I didn’t quite get what he wants to say by that statement, but I’m sure that it has a great meaning for him and his country.

During the talk he talked about when he was kidnapped, and after that incident he believes that now his drawing are more powerful than before. He talked about how only one drawing had shaken the regime that led him to be abducted and beaten almost to death, which resulted him to have some bones from his hands broken. This shows that when drawing in such way, he is constantly risking his life and he doesn’t even fear that, what all he wants is for the Syrians’ best.

I really admire him for the courage he is showing, after all he had been through, and this also gives courage to Syrian citizens, while he fearlessly still continues to critically draw against wars, corruption, mafia and dictatorship.

This talk made me realize about the situations going in Syria, which most of us might not be aware of or might take for granted. I also made some brief research on the wars happening in Syria, which I felt really devastated knowing that thousands of people had died during the previous years, and more people are still dying every day because of these civil wars. These are tragic realities happening now, in the year 2016, which I believe that it’s not acceptable when we are living in an advanced world and I really hope that such drawings will continue to have a powerful voice towards these people who are suffering physically and emotionally, the deaths, the hunger, and poverty which no human being deserve!

Reference:

Rodgers, L., Gritten, D., Offer, J. & Asare, P., 2016. Syria: The story of the conflict BBC news. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868 [Accessed 18 November 2016].

Ali Ferzat - Cartoonist

Ali Ferzat is a Syrian cartoonist, who works for various newspapers, magazines and has his own magazine named al-Domari, and also won international awards. His drawings are very controversial within his country, which most of his topics addresses militarism, corruption and women’s rights, also against dictators.

His drawings are another form of communication with the goal to express opinions, emotions and people’s rights in which citizens and other people around the world can relate to, at the same time giving them voice and hope.

“I speak in all languages without speaking any language”- (Ali Ferzat, The Guardian interview, 2013)

The cartoon drawings are a very good example of ‘Power from Below’. These drawing are simply drawn by just pen on paper and are very powerful, through their meaning. The way these drawings are drawn are to show powerful meanings through metaphoric caricatures, only created by one individual. One day, Ali Ferzat critically drew about Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, this led him to be seized and beaten. This event shows the power of his drawings.

Theme: Violence (Ferzat, A., 2002. The Guardian)

This is one of the most drawings which I think has a powerful meaning, which consists of a simple gun, with its trigger in the shape of a blade and a piece of finger cut below it. Its main message is that while one is using a gun against someone to physically hurt him/her, at the same time it is actually hurting the one using it, subconsciously and mentally. His approach to this drawing might only be targeted to his fellow citizens, but I think anyone around the word recognizes and relates to the message being interpreted within.

Theme: Women's rights (Ferzat, A.)

 This drawing is about the women’s rights. It is showing how women are typically used and manipulated by men in Syria. It’s like women has to do only what men orders and that they don’t have the right to speak or express their opinion. This drawing is just showing the current realities, with the aim to make people realize that it’s not the right thing to do and the fact that he’s a man is also giving hope to women that not all men should behave that way.  

Theme: Dictatorship. (Ferzat, A., 2002. The Guardian) 

The meaning of this drawing is that all dictators are giving more importance to their own benefits and having enough money to buy weapons, while at the same time treating their people badly by starving them. As soon as I saw this image, I didn’t get what it’s meant to communicate, it actually made me confused. Maybe it’s because I’m not experiencing any of the mentioned issues their country might be experiencing. Well, when I actually understood the scope of this drawing, it actually made sense as it is very metaphoric and could have a powerful message to which citizens can relate to.

Now that I saw some of his drawings and their powerful meaning and the impact on society it made, I really think that drawings are a powerful way to reach great criticism. This also reminds me about the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine (satirical magazine), where a number of the magazine workers were killed and beaten because of the high criticism the magazine company was showing through cartoon caricatures. This incident also is a great example of how art is actually ‘Power from Below’.

References:

Stelfox, D., 2013. Ali Ferzat, cartoonist in exile. The Guardian [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/19/ali-ferzat-cartoonist-exile-syria. [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Stelfox, D., 2013. Ali Ferzat's cartoons – in pictures. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2013/aug/19/ali-ferzat-cartoons-in-pictures. [Accessed 11 November 2016].

Power From Below

There are different definitions and meanings of power. Being a politician is a type of power. Other power is more different as it might involve numerous people of groups which forms into mass or crowd, by different individuals, and that is ‘power from below’. Power can be both positive or negative, depends on how it is being used. Below I will be mentioning different types of perspectives of the term 'Power from Below'.

An example of power from below is when an issue that might not be addressed well during the governance of a country may cause to have individuals that forms a group to protest or sign petitions for it. In that way individuals, will be in power of acting/standing up for the situation being. Due to that, one individual will not have enough strength to express his/her own opinion, especially when people who are considered as middle class or lower class.

On the other hand, a government may seem to give power to its citizens, by showing the best picture of its governance and may start to give people money through reductions of things, etc. This way people gets manipulated to vote for the political party in government. However, the other political parties opposing the government may also show people a better picture from what it’s being delivered by the present government, also intending to manipulate people to vote for them too. In my opinion in Malta this matter happens a lot, which leads to have people to lose interest in politics. Apart from that, politics is always a large debate around Malta and sometimes I lose interest in it as well.

Money is also a source of power from below within society. For instance, having organizations collecting money for charity will eventually improve other people’s life by having individuals giving small amounts of money which eventually result in bigger amounts collectively.

Social media is a very powerful tool, that society has, which can be considered as power from below. It can serve as a good tool or sometimes a weapon. For instance, trends start from one person, most probably a celebrity and influences the society to act to a certain way. It may seem to be something which is small but will turn into something big once it is into social media.

Another form of power from below is when a small misunderstanding or misinterpretation happen, it may lead to rumors, that might affect a victim’s life. It may cause bullying towards an innocent person who will be the victim of a rumor. It is a tendency in us humans that when negative news or gossip is happening, we tend to show more interest and give it more importance than anything positive. I think that education, may do a huge difference, to educate people to act in certain manners in different situations, this will eventually change the way that new generations start to think.

Reference:

Fox Piven, F., 2008. Can Power from Below Change the World? American Sociological Review, Volume 73. Official Journal of the American Sociological Association. Available from: http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/images/asa/docs/pdf/2007%20Presidential%20Address%20(Piven)%20ASR%20Feb%202008.pdf [Accessed 5 November 2016].

Students' Perspective of the MCAST Institute for Creative Arts

I’ve been attending the MCAST Institute for Creative Arts for the last four years, and now I know the system of the college very well and in some ways, it improved. Although, there are still several issues that didn’t improve or became even worse.

Starting off by the issue of the lack of hygiene around the school. First of all, I have to say that I appreciate the cleaners team of the school for their hard work. On the other hand, my concern is the lack of rubbish bins around the college, also most students don’t seem to respect the environment and keep it clean. So, I think that introducing some strict policy would improve the school’s hygiene. Another thing is also the hygiene in the toilets which most of the time aren’t very well kept mostly because of the students' bad behaviour. Another thing that really bothers me (and for some people is taken for granted) is that students smoke within the school premises even though it is prohibited and I suggest that the administration should reinforce the rules.

Secondly, another thing that annoys me is that the library isn’t open all time and during free hours students need somewhere to work. Although the library is not large enough and the number of students that can stay there is limited. Another thing is that there’re too many students for such small space and I feel that there should be a solution. It is a good thing for Mcast for having increased the number of students, but the lack of space within the institute make it difficult to learn in. 

There are other problems regarding maintenance which haven’t been done since a long time. Namely air conditions not working and chairs broken in lecture rooms are one of the main things I get frustrated most about, which leads to lack of health and safety towards the students which it is ironic for an Institute that is supposed to teach students about it. In addition, I always hope that more funds will be invested in college for the comfort of the students and lecturers.

On a positive note, I must say that most of the lecturers are always willing to help students and do their job very well with such dedication, sometimes they also spend extra time beyond their allocated work hours, which I truly respect and appreciate. 

Another thing that I like is the location of the school and the greenery of the surroundings which might serve as a good inspiration for students’ projects.

Architecture & Spatial Design Controversies

Controversy is a way of showing disagreement to a choice or an argument. It can be a disagreement of a group of people who are expressing their opinion about the subject being discussed. (Merriam Webster, n.d) 

Below I listed a number of controversies in spatial design in Malta and also globally.

Local

The New Maltese Parliament

The New Maltese Parliament has been controversial since its announcement. Most of the controversy is political and also about its design. Some argues that it is an eyesore compared to other Valletta’s buildings. Others argue that they like the design as it is showing improvement and innovation in the Maltese architecture. Either way the debate is endless.

Royal opera house

The Royal Opera House has been a debate for decades on what should happen to it in the future. But recently the controversy has been heated, due to the new design it has been done, which is to serve as an outdoor concert area for public events/performances. Some people argue that it should be built again and others say it should have stayed as it was, demolished by war.

The Mriehel Towers

The proposed high rise of the towers in Mriehel has arisen some debates, most of them being political and also for causing an eyesore to the Maltese skyline.

Globally

Antilla Residential Tower

This tower have been into a middle of a controversy because of the fact that it is a residence for only one family (the owner is a billionaire) which never used it and that it was built into a middle class town where it makes them feel insulted.

The Walkie Talkie

The design and form of this tower have created a number of problems towards the nearby residents. Such as melting cars, bicycles, etc. because of the strong sun reflections from the reflected glass it has. It also creates lots of wind gulfs because of the curvatures it has.   

The Portland Building

The structure was built on a low budget and it is causing technical building faults and it’s very expensive to repair. Local people’s concern is that if demolished of reinvested, lots of jobs will be lost and also the cost to be repaired will be very high. There are other issues about the building that is causing controversy.

Other controversial buildings are:

• The Eiffel Tower (Paris, France),
• Guggenheim Museum (New York),
• Al Wakrah Stadium (Doha, Qatar),
• Sagrada Familia (Barcelona, Spain),
• London Garden Bridge, (Thomas Heatherwick),
• The Lens (St. Petersburg Pier). 

References:

Merriam-Webster, 2016. Definition of Controversy. [online] Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/controversy. [Accessed 22 October 2016].

Byrnes, M, 2014. Should Portland Save a Building It Really, Really Hates?. City Lab.[online] Available at: http://www.citylab.com/design/2014/01/should-portland-save-building-it-really-really-hates/8050/. [Accessed 22 October 2016].
Winston, A, 2014. Postmodernist Portland Building will be saved, says Graves. Dezeen. [online] Available at: http://www.dezeen.com/2014/12/29/iconic-postmodern-portland-building-saved-architect-michael-graves/. [Accessed 22 October 2016].

Frearson, A, 2015. Walkie Talkie blamed for powerful downdraught on London streets. Dezeen. [online] Available at: http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/23/walkie-talkie-skyscraper-rafael-vinoly-blamed-powerful-downdraught-london/. [Accessed 22 October 2016].

Hamill, J, 2015. Architect behind London's controversial Walkie Talkie building plans amazing rooftop park the size of 23 football pitches. Mirror. [online] Available at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/architect-behind-londons-controversial-walkie-6458876. [Accessed 22 October 2016].

MacLeod, F, 2014. The 9 Most Controversial Buildings of All Time. ArchDaily. [online] Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/573271/the-9-most-controversial-buildings-of-all-time. [Accessed 22 October 2016].

Longbottom, W, 2011. World's most expensive house Antilia in Mumbai lies abandoned. Daily mail news.[online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053231/Worlds-expensive-house-Antilia-Mumbai-lies-abandoned.html. [Accessed 22 October 2016].

Quirk, V, 2012. Despite Controversy, Michael Maltzan Architecture's "Lens" Will Go On. Archdaily. [online] Available at: http://www.archdaily.com/304544/despite-controversy-michael-maltzan-architectures-lens-will-go-on. [Accessed 22 October 2016].

Week 2 - Time Managment

During my past years at Mcast, I have to say that I learned a lot from experiences which made me become a more mature person. First of all I learned how to be an independent individual and how to deal with different situations.

As we all know all assignments have deadlines and during the first year at Mcast, I used to take them for granted and keep everything for the last minute. Which will then create a lot of pressure and the work will not be done up to standards. Although I have to mention that I never missed a deadline, I still find it difficult to keep up a good time management.

It is an issue where time doesn’t wait for anyone as they say. Last year I was also a bit tight by time during deadlines, however this year is going to be more intense which requires a lot of work in small amount of time. So reflecting on the past, I think that I am prepared to be more organized and motivated and will try to do my best not to fall behind this year. This also made me realise how much time is short not only for assignments but for my own personal life.

Reflecting on what I said, deadlines are there not to scare us as students but to prepare and train us for the future which I know that in my future career they’ll be very important. 

Week 1 - Returning Back To College

During the first week at college, I have to say that I noticed a number of issues that I have to criticise. My assumptions before coming back to school were that most of the things will be better than we left them last year. I feel a bit odd to start off the year by complaining, but as everyone else noticed, there wasn't much change in the school system and its premises. 

Firstly when we first had our first lecture in Art Studio 1, we were all annoyed by the fact that there is no air-conditions or any fans in the room which of course during this time of the year we are experiencing high temperatures that are not acceptable. To make it worse the only windows available for the studio were blocked by gypsum panels (which were used for the past exhibition) which make the room very hot and also obstruct the only natural light or ventilation the room has. Another thing to mention is that, the same classroom (Art Studio 1) has most of the chairs broken or not functioning well, which might be dangerous to the students who use them. 

However that is not the only room that doesn't have any air-conditions or fans, but there are several rooms around the institute with the same problem. Some classrooms does have air-conditions but do not function well.  What I was expecting is that the institute could at least afford to buy some fans rather than installing new air-conditions, which I know that they are expensive.

Another thing that I noticed is that a set of speakers were not functioning in another classroom, where a lecturer needed to use it due to showing us few clips as part of his presentation, but couldn't do so because there is no wires or anything to make it work. I really think that such simple things are very important to students, who need to study in a comfortable ambient. 

There are more issues in this institute that needs to be addressed better. I would suggest better planning, more organization and maybe more funds should be invested in the institute’s premises for the comfort of whoever make use of it.