Aerodynamic Class Reflection Journal

Greetings to whom reading this, my name is Jannah Zamri. So, as stated in the title box above, this is my self-reflection journal. It was requested by my lecturer so I am going to share with you things that I see from my point of view while reflecting back to myself, my response to thoughts and feelings, positive and negative event(s) that I experienced, what it means or meant to me, and what I may have learned from that experience. Now let us play with the Golden Circle concept by Simon Sinek. 

First and foremost, why did I choose Aerospace Engineering? Usually, when people ask me this type of question, I will simply answer “because it is unique”. Nonetheless, as we dive deeper into that statement, there is something hiding behind it. You know people say “there are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of the child. There are seven million”. When I was little, my ambition was to work with NASA as a scientist. I love space, indeed. As I grow older, I become unsure. Well, only children believe they are capable of everything. There are too many doubts about playing and running here and there in my head. It affects my decision. It affects my obsession, my passion. I often tell myself that I could never make it. After SPM, I wanted to go to study abroad. Studying at Cambridge University was one of my dreams when I was young. Because at that time, I did not know that life could be this hard, this difficult. Where sometimes you cannot even make a decision for yourself. There are too many constraints you have to consider. At last, I ended up in matriculation and pursuing my degree here in USM. To be honest, I love Biology more than Physics. I love medicine more than engineering. The only reason I go for the engineering course is that I cannot see people with serious injuries. Doesn’t mean that I cannot see blood or faint at the sight of it. I can deal with blood. But seeing people bleeding and feeling pain, even when they are hurt because of the smallest wound, I feel sick……. and sympathy. Perhaps it is because I am a soft-hearted person. I can’t tolerate those tragic accidents, situations. I would simply cry at the sight of it. So that is my ultimate reason for choosing engineering course. 

Now, why Aerospace Engineering? As mentioned above, I love space. If I cannot go to NASA nor  Cambridge, at least let me choose something related to it - something that is worth learning, something that; when I tell people every time they ask “what course do you take in university?”,  they will hold their breath in awe. Before applying for UPU, I did not know about this course, at all. I didn’t even know it exists. I was scrolling down the engineering courses when my eyes suddenly landed on “SK15 - IJAZAH SARJANA MUDA KEJURUTERAAN (KEPUJIAN) (KEJURUTERAAN AEROANGKASA)”. I directly clicked on it, applied for it, put it as my first and second choice in UPU. After that, I searched in Google about this course. Then I learned a bit about aviation, astronautical, aeronautical and national defence systems. Still, I know nothing about robotics; structural design, instrumentation, propulsion, communication, or navigation. Or maybe I do. Just a tinge of it after learning aircraft subsystem elements with Dr Musfirah. I am always interested in an opportunity to learn something. Mahatma Gandhi once said “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”. Aerospace engineering is a broad field. Choosing aerospace means I can learn about space, satellites, rockets, planes, other flying vehicles, UAV’s as well as gliders. I can learn how those things fly, what makes them fly, how can they resist the gravitational force? Fascination is one step beyond interest. Interested people want to know if it works. Fascinated people want to learn how it works. To say the least, I am fascinated. I am eager to learn more on the subject and THAT is why I chose Aerospace Engineering.  

Moving on, let us talk about the second question which is “What is your hope and dream?” Well, everyone has hopes and dreams because the future only belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. I have plenty of it. An abundance. Can’t share them all though. But I will list you some of the accomplishments I plan on achieving. 

Firstly, choice and control. I hope one day I could make my own choice. Choices that make me happy, free and to be at peace with myself. I hope one day I’ll be able to figure out what I truly want in life. So I can lead my life the way I want it. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”-Charles R. Swindoll. Choices and decisions.   A choice is a right, power, or opportunity to choose while a decision is the act of or need for making up one’s mind. Choices are more difficult. At times, we cannot gather and compile all the data, analyze the preferences, and reach a sound conclusion. Time escapes us to “close off” certain course of actions because life choices fit a divergent model. Hence, my choices of a decision on how I should react to something is significant considering the fact that it may haunt me, it may change my life forever.  

Secondly, relationship. Human beings are naturally social creatures – we crave relationship and positive interactions, just as we do for food and water. So it makes sense that the better our relationships are, the happier and more productive we're going to be. I honestly hope I could build strong, positive relationships with everyone throughout my life. No matter whether it be with family, friends, colleagues or even strangers. Even so, people will always have their opinion on you despite who you are and what you are capable of. Terry Mark says “No matter how good you are, someone is always going to be against you. But never let them be the limit of your success.” So I will try my best to surround myself with people who will appreciate me for who I am and keep my head up in front of those who don’t. If they can’t see the real value of me, it’s time for a new start. 

Next, functional and lifelong learning. Knowledge, like air, is vital to life. I want to learn, learn and learn anything from everything to broaden my horizon because learning anything is good, regardless of immediate results. I want to learn from my mistakes, learn from my fall, learn from my failure, learn from my surroundings and learn from my past. All these to set up a promising future, so I can shine brighter like a Polaris. Learning everything is an ambitious goal and even impossible. I probably take several lifetimes to completely learn all that is there in the universe. Despite all that, from the bright side, the more you learn, the more you figure out why things are the way they are and why people act the way they do and at the end of the day, you will become a better person, by just learning. In the fourth place, work. I really hope I could secure a job placement before I graduate. I don’t want to disappoint my parents considering how much money, effort and time they spent to get me into university. To achieve that, I’ll sort through the clutter and focus on realistic goals. If opportunity doesn’t knock, I will build a door. At this moment, I want to be an aerospace engineer or project engineer. Up till now, I still don’t know which area I want to specialize in. Mayhap, later I’ll spend some time to sit down and think about it. After all, a job isn’t worth doing unless you love it. 

Last, I want to become an unstoppable person and be the best among the best. I promised myself that I won’t stop. I promised myself I will keep on trying. No matter how many times I fall down, how hard I hit the ground, I will always get up to see what's next because nobody learns without getting it wrong. We all know that the road to success isn’t easy, it isn’t fun and it isn’t without sacrifice. The beginning is always tough yet I won’t stop, no matter what happens. At least not till I achieve everything in my wish list, not till I’ve conquered my mountain and not till I lead the life I deserve. I will adapt, I will improve and I will grow every single day. I hope one fine day I will be sitting at the top of my mountain and be grateful that I made that three words promise to myself. 

Finally, we’ve come to an end. The last question. “How is your learning experience in ESA 244 Aerodynamics so far?” My studies in Aerodynamics is going well and since it entails hard work, I have been trying to put all my effort into learning this subject. I love the way my lecturer teaches, the way she makes that two-way interaction and the way she indirectly pushes us to; think. Aerodynamic is one of my favourite subjects. One of the subjects that truly provide me with the knowledge that is related to aerospace. 

We learn on the subject of aircraft, my interest. Without understanding aerodynamic, we cannot understand why aircraft fly. Now I know why those things can fly, how the mechanism works. This subject is complicated yet interesting. Aerodynamic makes me understand better about the design of something. For instance, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, race cars, missiles, rockets and of course, aircraft. I seriously cannot wait to start doing our glider project. Later when I go back home, I can teach my brothers how to make it. 

The only challenge I faced in this subject is time. Time to do extra exercises and practices. I am still learning how to prioritize my tasks so I can balance my academic with curricular activities. Therefore, I will implement a time management system that will help with my organization skills so that I have time to do extra practices and questions. Overall, I learnt something of lasting value from the class - do your best in everything, but prepare yourself for the worst. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great”- Zig Ziglar.