A coin for a thought

On 13th of December 2018 which is the last day of this semester for GNCT lecture our lecturer gave us a different but very important activity. First of all our lecturer collected a coin from each one of us and the coins were put into a purse. Then our lecturer explained the activity.

Then the purse was rotated through the class and the moment where our lecturer tapped the table, the person with the purse had to takeout a coin and he had to say the year that was printed on the coin. Thereafter the person with the coin had to tell his or her memories that related to that year. This was very entertaining.

The session was going awesome. My fellow mates brought out their remarkable memories when they got the chance to present their memories. Those were very funny and some are very interesting.

Unfortunately I haven't got the chance in this time. But I enjoyed this session by listening to my friends' stories.

So the last session for first year was ended by this activity and all those sessions gave us valuable lessons and good precious memories. So all these sessions were awesome.

Culture

On 6th of December was a very special day. The reason for that is during that day in GNCT lecture we had a different experience that we never faced. First of all we were divided into two groups and lecture explained the scenario. The title that was given to this scenario was culture. The scenario was each team had to create their own culture which includes customs,language,songs,dance etc. Also that should be unique to each team.

Our group planned an activity with a different kind of scenario. That occasion was an event with some entertaining events which were happened according to our own traditions and customs. We were given about twenty minutes to prepare for the event. After some preparations we came up with the event and it gone totally wrong due to our own mistakes. But other team performed their act in more organized way comparing to our act. It got good feedback from us and also from the lecturer.

Then our lecturer explained things that went wrong for both teams.

This awesome activity helped us to identify different aspects of a culture. And also how to deal with other cultures and how to respect other cultures. Those are the key points that we got from this activity and this activity was very entertaining.

Leadership

On 29th of November 2018 we had an interesting session in GNCT lecture on Leadership. Initially our lecturer explained some key points of leadership using a presentation. From that we got an idea of what was that day's scenario.

In that presentation there were some awesome life stories of great true leaders who lives and who had lived in the world. This small scenario made the session more interesting and more valuable.

After this we were divided into two groups and our lecturer told us to perform an act in front of the class regarding leadership. Two instances of leadership were given to two groups and we got about fifteen minutes to ready for the act. After the preparation both teams acted for the given scenarios.
Our group had to act a scene of how to handle the situation in a meeting of presenting a presentation when one of the important slides is missing. In this act we were not quite successful. But other team performed their act superbly.

Finally we discussed how our act gone wrong. Our lecturer explained how things should be going and it really helped to us.

After the activity was finished our lecturer told us to write a blog about our most inspired leader.

                     My most inspired leader

In my life my most inspired leader is Lord Buddha. As being a proud Buddhist, our leader is Lord Buddha. Being our religious leader is not the reason for above mentioned situation. There are many reasons except being our religious leader.  The teachings of the Lord Buddha is the main reason why I consider him as my most inspired leader. Lord Buddha is a leader who never give up on any thing. 

It is not easy to become a leader. It requires many dedications and qualities. All Buddhists know the life story of Lord Buddha very well. Lord Buddha achieved many things through numerous dedications. By the way what I admire most about Lord Buddha is getting bad people into right path through simple teachings. A simple leader can not do such a big thing. Those teachings are very helpful if we want to be a good man to all man kind.

A leader should have a vision and a mission, the most essential ingredient in leadership. A vision is a clear picture of the future. It defines what one wants to become or achieve as a goal. Above mentioned features were displayed from Lord Buddha clearly. Also a leader needs to have knowledge, rather be more aware than the rest of the people. Leader could keep followers cool in adverse situations, and care for the welfare of the followers. Leadership is indeed a challenging responsibility. But Lord Buddha overcame all the obstacles successfully.

Following are some unique characteristics of Lord Buddha,

• Serving any kind of man kind without checking the persons' status.
• Explaining any kind of matter at any time if someone wants to know.
• Not getting angry in any kind of situations.
• Very peaceful. 
• Tolerate anything.
• Dedication.

Above those characteristics are the things that I admire most. 

The Buddhist concept of leadership as it is exemplified in the life of the Lord Buddha has many unique features in addition to the usual leadership qualities. The most important was that Buddha never gave the impression to his followers that  Lord Buddha was imposing leadership on them. Lord Buddha wanted to maintain that there was the possibility to his followers to attain the same heights and become Lord Buddha's  equals.  The role Lord Buddha wanted to play was that kind teacher who showed the way for excellence which was not an impossible goal for the followers.

If we talked about Lord Buddha's life we can not end it easily. There are so many things and facts regarding Lord Buddha. 

If we considered only about leadership part I think there is no any other leader like Lord Buddha. So I am greatly inspired from the teachings of Lord Buddha and very proud to have a leader like that.

Leaders should be morally integral, compassionate and must have a clear vision and mission. They should not abuse their leadership for self glorification or personal gains. They have to be good communicators and be able to represent the group as persons able to talk for the group.

Personal Goals

On 15th of November 2018 GNCT lecture we had to display our personal goals on a bristol board and had to present that in front of the class. We all prepared that previously as our lecturer informed about this activity in last week session.

Following are main points of my personal goals.

• My first goal is to be graduated with a first class in Software Engineering degree in 2022. Also before graduation we have internship period in 2021. If I will get internship at WSO2 company it will be a great moment in my life. 

• After graduation my main goal will be securing a job opportunity in 2023 at recognized IT related company. If that company is WSO2 it will be great. At the age of 28 or 29 I will get married. By 2031 I will build my own house and I will buy my own car as soon as possible. Because it is my one of main goals. As the progress goes on I will have two or three children. 

• Also I have an idea of building my own company which will be related with IT field. That is my main goal besides above mentioned goals in my life.

• Also I will visit overseas for some considerable time period. 

• I intend to retire from all my career activities at the age of 60 and may be before that. After that I will spend my remaining life with my family and grand children. 

Those are the key points of my personal goals. There may be many other goals in addition to above mentioned goals. 

From this activity we all were able to identify our goals and how to adapt to those goals in order to achieve those goals. This session was very fantastic and it really helped to identify our inner thoughts well.

Standing On The Paper

In GNCT lecture in previous week we had to perform a small but very useful as well as a funny activity. It was "Standing On The Paper". First we were divided into five teams and each team had 7 members. Then our lecturer gave us a paper for above mentioned activity & then gave rules of this game.

They are,

• All members in the particular team must stand on the paper and can not touch the floor.
• Can not tear the paper.
• After standing on the paper we had to do some tasks that our lecturer said to do.

After game was started, in the first round two teams were eliminated from the game, because they their papers were teared.

Each team tried new thing to stand on the paper.

After first round then the paper was folded into half and selected teams had to stand on that new structured paper.

In this round our team was eliminated. That was because our paper was damaged. 

In the final round of the game it was very hard to stand on that paper because again the given paper was folded into two. But however one team won the contest with their own strategies. 

This was very entertaining and very good activity. We all had a fabulous moment with this activity.

The good useful points which we got from this activity are,

• Time management
• How to adapt to the situation
• How work with co members in the group 
• Team spirit
• How to give individual co-operation 

After activity was ended lecturer discussed above facts with us and then discussed the how above facts affected to individual group.

Lava River

On October 27th we were scheduled to do a small game called LAVA RIVER during our GNCT lecture. In this game we were divided into four groups and each group had 5 members.

After that small introduction our lecturer gave us rules of this game. Also she gave us 4 rounded card boards to use them as rocks.

We had to do following during that game,

• Crossing the river with rocks and all team members should cross the river together.
• We can't lose the human touch with the rock, if we lose the human touch with the rock we lose.
• If any member touches the lava, team is lost.

But each team had 3 chances to cross the river.

When our team start the game initially we lost one rock. Then we had to start again. After this incident one of our group member touched lava and from that we had to start again due to that mistake. But after two unsuccessful attempts in that attempt we crossed the river successfully. Also we crossed with less time period in that attempt. So we got second place. We were very happy because we did that correctly in our third attempt in less time period.

By the way our group members were,

•  Dilan
• Zeena
• Anjana
• Ashen
• Kesavan

From this game we gained an new experience also many things, those are

• Team work & team spirit.
• Facing challenges successfully.
• Work according to the situation.
• Doing this with limited resources.

Bata Puzzle

Before two weeks on GNCT lecture we done a new game which is called "Bata Puzzle".  First of all we were divided into five groups. After that two members from each team were summoned and they were ordered to cut a piece of cardboard into 95 pieces which was given by the lecturer.  While one was cutting other one counted those pieces and had to put those pieces into an envelope. After this process was done then all the envelopes were taken by our lecturer. Then Lecturer gave us a brief description about this game.

Then she took 10 pieces from each envelope and mixed those pieces with other simultaneously. Then after that our relevant envelope was received and it consisted 10 pieces which were not belonged to us. In this game we had to was complete the picture which was in the cardboard piece. The picture was very clear before the cut. By the way after it was cut into pieces and it was very difficult  to match that picture. Also we had to identify mixed 10 pieces first.

In our group we were again divided to two to do that task efficiently. One group tried to make the picture and other one searched mixed 10 pieces. After finding the 10 pieces two members from our group went to other remaining groups and talked with them about the mixed pieces. Then we exchanged our irrelevant pieces and finally we had all the pieces.

Then we tried our best to make that picture in given time period.

But unfortunately all the teams were unable to complete the task. One major reason for that was all teams cut the pieces in very small pieces. So it became very difficult to build up the picture.

In that day time was not enough and lecturer again collected all the envelopes with relevant pieces. Before that we numbered those pieces and took a picture.

On last week we again resumed our game. After some time we made our picture to some extent level. But it was not complete. After time was over all groups were checked by the lecturer. No one was completed the picture. But all teams came close to end the picture.

So, finally lecturer explained why we had to consume more time on this game than the anticipated time period.

This was a very good and patient game as well as very entertaining. Also we did learn many positive points from this game.

Egg Cover

On September 20 2018 in GNCT lecture we did a small activity which is called EGG COVER. We all were divided into 5 groups and each group had 8 members. All groups were given one egg and 4 A4 papers.

As the name suggested what was to do in this activity it was to cover the egg beautifully. Also egg was to be protected by that egg cover. After we created that egg cover we had to drop egg with egg cover from a high place about 20 feats. If egg was damaged during that process that team was lost.

After those instructions we got 30 minutes to create our egg cover.

Following are some moments in that procedure.

 After our time was finished we went outside and did our dropping.

We got to learn many things during this activity.
Some of them are,

•  Creating a thing according to the situation with limited resources.
• How to do work with a team.
• Managing time according to the situation.
• Creativity.

And Finally we had a great fun with this activity.

Emerging Technology Trends

On 3rd of July there was an important session from a special person in our university. That special person was Mr. Srinath Perera who is from WSO2. As Software Engineering students we got a monumental opportunity to participate this occasion. By the way he was here to educate us about the Modern Technology Trends. That session was started at 10.00 am and ended at 12.00 pm. This special arrangement was organized by the our GNCT lecturer Mrs. Sarasi Senadheera . All the Software Engineering students got the chance to participate this occasion.

From beginning to end it was an amazing session because it was very attracting presentation. Another reason for that is the discussed segment is directly connected with our career. Actually we learned many new facts from this session. First our guest presenter talked about the history of trends. After that he discussed about Gartner Hype Cycle. It describes how a technology is gradually improving.

Following are some key points which are highlighted during his presentation.

Current Trends

• APIs - An application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications.
• Analytics & AI - Computer based new technology.
• LoT - Connect real world to digital world.
• Bots - Software application that runs automated tasks (scripts) over the internet.

Emerging Trends

• Blockchain - A distributed immutable ledger that provides trust without a third party.
• Sharing Economy - Extending per use idea from cloud to everyday life.
• AR/VR - Immersive virtual environments.
• Quantum Computing - Use the strange ability of subatomic particles to exist in more than one state at any time solve search problems faster.
• 3D Printing - Ability to produce a real world design base on a digital specification. 

Above details are the summary of what happened in that session. As I said earlier this was an amazing session and also like to thank our lecturer for arranging this type of meetup with the industry based personal. Also at the end we all received pens from WSO2. As well as we were encouraged to ask questions at the end of the session. We clarified some facts with a short discussion with our presenter.

Expert Game

• Expert Game
• Date  - 24/06/2018
• Place - B11 212 @ University of Kelaniya

      In this game lecturer divided us into 5 groups. There were eight members in each of the group. In our group there were 8 members initially. In the first day there were only 7 members in our group. They are,

1. Praneeth
2. Champika
3. Ashen
4. Dilan
5. Dinindu
6. Kesavan
7. Thadsayini

But due to unavailability of two members of our group in second day we had to take 3 members and they are Tharindu,Sampath & Rajeiha. Our team number is number 04. 

In our group all of the members had different kind of talents and experiences in some tasks. So it helped to us during the presentation. Initially we found out each one's talents. Then we cateogarized them to chose a topic for our presentation. One was clever at cooking. As well as there was another person who had experiences in working in a bank. Also one was clever at driving. There was another clever at social media promotion works. So we all decided to made a project about catering service by considering all the talents each of the group member had. With all the talents together we were able to present a good proposal. 

Then we discussed and took relevant tasks by ourselves according to our abilities. 

• The one who is good at cooking took the post of chef.
• The one who is good at financial activities took the responsibilities of the cashier.
• The one who is good at social networking took the liability of marketing side.
• The one who is good at driving took the responsibility of delivering products.
• Others were the supportive staff.

During the presentation each one of the group presented their respective responsibilities and liabilities. We mainly focused on traditional food because those foods are relatively not in the market. So as a solution for that with the help of modern technology we presented the way of producing and delivering those products. 

In addition to our group other groups too came with new innovative ideas. Those presentations were also very interesting.

From this task all of us got to know how to perform a presentation correctly. The abilities of students were highlighted during this game. Also we all enjoyed from this game.

Round Robin Task

During GNCT lecture on 19th of June we did a game called Round Robin. In this game we had to build a story. We were divided into three groups for this game. There were about 10 members in one group and there were 3 groups. Firstly one member of each group wrote one word in the white board separately.. Then others had to follow him and write a word one by one successively. Each member of every group got a chance of three times to participate this game. There were some rules in this game as well like other games, they are

• When one of members writing a word in the white board all of others should close eyes and remain silent. 
• Can only write one word once.

Following pic represents the story which our group was created.

Above story was,

            

         Girl is wearing a frock and she is ready to go the party with her boyfriend and he calls to his friend that party is going to be a birthday party which is awesome.

Finally we got a great fun from this game. Also we learned how to adopt to different occasions suitably.

   

          

The Bingo Game

There is a course called GNCT which is combined with our Software Engineering degree program. During that lecture we had to do a bingo game and it was very funny and helped us to know about our friends more. Following are the rules of the game. Basically there are three rules.

• First we had to fill the form which was given by the lecturer.
• The details which we are obtained from our friends has to be totally true.
• Finally after completed the task we have to go to lecturer and must say "BINGHO".

Those were the rules and marks were given to students who were completed the task on time.

Following pics are some interesting instances during that game.

Actually this was very interesting and gave immense joy to all of us. Following are the points which I knew from the game.

• Kavindu is a vegetarian.
• Nipuni has 4 siblings.
• Nandini is not on Facebook.
• Janaka goes by a nickname.
• Powsikan was a school head prefect.
• Champika enjoys camping.
• Darshana hates spiders.
• Sachindra still knows school anthem.

Like that all of us knew about our friends.

Above one is the paper which was given to us by lecturer.

My Best Friend

My best friend is a very special person. He is a very funny person as well. He is Ashen Weerasinghe. He lives in Mathugama. He has two sisters and they are twins. His mother is a good housewife and father is a director at NAITA. His birthday is on 17th September. He is very proud about his birthday because many great people have birthdays on that day.

I met him when I was new to CWW Kannangara Central College at Mathugama. After scholarship examination I entered that school. After entering to this school I faced an exam which was selecting students for English medium stream. He and my self both got selected from this exam when we were at grade 6. Since that we are best friends. But in grade 8 he left from English medium to Sinhala medium stream. Though he left our connection never ended and still goes on. Actually he is short. We called him as පානා. As well as he is a very famous character in the school due to his vocal ability. In OLs he and I got same results as well. He got 8 As and 1 C which is for English Literature. Till OLs we didn't participate same tution classes due to our stream change. But after OLs we went to same classes and sat on same bunches. We both did ALs in maths stream in Sinhala medium. Like school in tution classes he is also a famous character. In ALs we were not in same class but he was in our class when there was a free time. After 1st attempt we both got normal results. We both did exam again. In that time I went to his house and we studied together. Whenever there is a free time I am in his house though there are about 20km between our houses. We worked harder after 1st attempt he got 37th rank in district level and I got 140th rank. He was very upset about my rank than me because he thought I would get a high rank than him. But he is very talented. He got selected for Engineering at University of Peradeniya. I got selected for CS. But I did exam again and got entered to this university. He supported me alot at that time. Though we are in two different universities we are still best friends and we are waiting eargerly for some vacation.

We went many trips at that time. He is the trip organizer. We go trips definitely because he is the organizer. If there is no one to go a trip he goes alone. He is like that. He want to a work at any cost. I admire that quality very much. In recent we were unable to go any trip due to unavailability of time. Also we did many charity works in Mathugama. He has a different thinking towards anything. That is why I told earlier he is a very special person.

Now he is studying civil engineering at University of Peradeniya. Also in there he is a very popular guy. There are a set of friends as well in our group. They are also engineers. We worked together and this person is very special to me. Our friendship is now about 12 years and goes on. Also he has photography skills. Now he is our official photographer when we are going trips. Also he is our main internet supplier. When we are in Mathugama we never miss a chance to go his house. By the way he likes to sleep very much. I am the person who goes to his house and wake up him. After he waked up we are going to classes at that time. Still he is same.

He is not selfish. He helps always whenever I asked a help. After we both went to universities recently I was unable to visit him. But he calls me and asks about how's life at University and gives tips how to behave at University. Because he has one year experience than me and he tells everything about his university.

Due to these characteristics he is very unique and very special. I repeating this word special because actually he is a that kind of person. A direct forward guy who have many contacts with many people and I am very blessed to have a such person as my best friend. If he knows I wrote this much about him he will be suprised because myself and others are insulting him always. Those insultings are for jokes only actually. He is the most funniest and calm person from my all friends. Because I don't remember instances where he got angry.

There is a lot to write about him. His stupid works and there are so many things. So finally he is a good friend to have as best friend. It's a blessing actually.