ALL THINGS NEW-YEAR

Have you ever wondered what makes New-Year a new year? Why people make New Year's resolutions? Why is October the 10th month in our calendar? Continue reading if you want to know why! 

Image Source: Yahoo! News

#1. WHAT IS A NEW YEAR?

The earth takes approximately 365.25 days to make a full revolution around our star, the Sun. Hence a year has 365 days, and we make up for the lost 0.25 day by adding a leap year. So a New Year (Solar calendar) is the start of Earth's orbit around the Sun. 

#2. NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION 

New Year's resolution is not a modern social phenomenon. Muslims seek forgiveness for past wrongdoings, mend ties and reaffirm relationships on Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of fasting. In the same way, the ancient Babylonian made promises of self-reforms to their gods at the start of each year.

This human urge to reflect upon one's actions over the year, to seek forgiveness for wrongdoings and work towards improving oneself, is universal and it continues till today regardless of the calendar we follow. 

#3. OCTO-BER  

Octo means eight in Latin. An Octopus has eight arms while an Octagon has eight sides, so why isn't October the eighth month?

Actually it was! In the old Roman calendar, the Calendar of Romulus (Romulus - First king of Rome) the year started with Martius (March) and October was the 8th month in that calendar. Today however, we follow the Gregorian calendar which starts with January. October became the tenth month with the inclusion of January and February.

#4. GREGORIAN CALENDAR 

The Gregorian calendar is today's international civil calendar and is commonly known as the Christian calendar or Western calendar. It is a solar calendar with 365 days in a common year (366 days in a leap year) and 12 months with either 30 or 31 days in a month, except for February which has 28 days (29 in a leap year).

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

It is named after Pope Gregory XIII who introduced it in February 1582. Prior to that, Europe adhered to the Julian calendar. Everything would have been fine except Easter would fall further away from the spring equinox*. The Julian system had miscalculated one solar year by 11 minutes hence the Julian calendar had fallen out of sync with the seasons.

*Equinox - is one of the 2 times in a year when the sun crosses the plane of earth's equator.

#5. LEAP YEAR - NOT REALLY ONCE EVEY 4 YEARS

Here are the 3 criteria to take into account when identifying leap years:

1. The year has to be evenly divisible by 4; 
2. If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is then not a leap year; UNLESS
3. The year is also evenly divisible by 400

The last leap year was 2012 and the next leap year will be 2016. 

#6. OTHER CALENDAR SYSTEMS

The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar and hence no not correspond with seasons. Each lunar month varies from 29.26 to 29.80 days, and there are 12 months in a lunar year. 

The Hindu calendar and the Chinese calendar are lunisolar calendars. This means that both systems are based on a combinations of lunation and the Sun cycle. 

There is also a fiscal calendar. As the name suggests it is about money. A fiscal year is a period determined by businesses and organisations to  calculate annual financial statements.

The calendar list can go on!

Happy 2014! 

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year's_resolution

http://www.timeanddate.com

http://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-gregorian-calendar

http://www.ghazali.net/calander/Linar_v_Solar/linar_v_solar.html

How to excel in Poly?

A little about my Polytechnic Experience

I entered Temasek Polytechnic (TP) in 2007 and I graduated with a Silver Medal for the Diploma in Microelectronics (Merit) with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.91/4.00. I was also in the Dean's List (TP's version of Director's List), and my Final Year Project (FYP) was exhibited in TP's annual Engineering Project Show (EPS); my FYP team and I won the commendation award. After TP, I was awarded a scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Business Management at Singapore Management University; expected graduation Apr 2014.

Coming January will be Semester 2 for my Polytechnic friends. These 10 poly-success secrets will definitely make your Polytechnic journey a memorable and fruitful one. 

#1. PLAN, PLAN, PLAN, and EXECUTE. 

Know when you will have a quiz, or a test. Print/photocopy the schedule (usually in your course-book), and stick it on your wall or somewhere prominent. Highlight the important dates and remember to check them. Ignoring them after having them on your walls, is equally useless. I used a google calendar to keep track of important dates and plan my study/practice too. Print all the past-exam papers early and start looking at the questions, EVEN if the topic is new.

#2. BE CONSISTENT WITH YOUR WORK. EVERY QUIZ, COUNTS.

Unlike during secondary school where one only had to BE SERIOUS when taking the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O'Level) examination. Things are CUMULATIVE in Poly; be prepared for every graded assessment. If its a Lab-assessment, go to the free-access labs and practice. If its a quiz, STUDY! If its Mid-terms or the Finals, study and practice! Past-year papers are very helpful.

#3. TIME MANAGEMENT

I was giving private tuitions while I was studying in TP. BE PRACTICAL, do not fully 'book' your week. You need to have buffer time too. I used (and i still use) a 4-quadrant task table. Like this below.

This way, you are more likely to do the 'Important' and 'Urgent' matters and not be trapped into being busy with low priority tasks.

#4. NEVER SKIP LECTURES, WORST ENTIRE SCHOOL DAY.

In my entire Polytechnic education, I missed 3 school days due to being critically ill. Yes, I did go to lessons late (bad move), but I never skipped lectures unless I was critically ill. Lectures are the best time to learn something. You learn better when others ask questions. These questions could be lame, but its better to have questions cleared now then later during the eve of a paper. Furthermore, being humans we can also identify topics which the lecturer seems to be more interested to cover. These topics are usually the ones that you can expect more tough questions on or are fundamental topics. Either way, just take note of these topics and you make sure you MASTER them.

#5. MIND YOUR BODY
Take care of your health and be mentally prepared for the Polytechnic marathon. Have enough sleep before a morning lesson. No use being in class when your brain is not absorbing anything. DO NOT FEAST before a lesson especially a lecture. The heavier a meal, the more likely you will be dozing of as Dr. Marks YaDown lectures away; have a light meal instead. Bring a water bottle, drinking plain water helps to keep you awake and it reduces the need to buy sugary drinks which will also induce sleep (after the initial sugar rush).

#6. FRIEND OR FOE?

Polytechnic is a fun place to study but it can also sometimes be too fun a place to study. Make sure, your circle of friends are matured enough and have an end-view in mind; like a GPA of 3.8 or 'make it to local uni', having goals will motivate you and your clique. If you can't find any like minded souls, then fly solo. Better to fly solo then to die in a pack. I was fortunate to have a few like-minded 'kakis'. We printed papers, exchanged notes (don't waste time into making your notes pretty), and did lab-practices together. These 'like-minded' souls are usually found in clubs associated with the diploma. :P 

#7. CCA MYTH

GPA is still your ticket to a local Uni or a great job. However, do pursue leadership roles in CCAs but always remember your primary duty as a student! CCAs are a great place to make new friends and to try things you always wanted to try i.e. rock climbing, etc.

#8. BE NICE TO EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY LECTURES

I am typically a nice guy and it shocked me that some of my poly-mates were rude to certain lecturers and lab-technicians. They paid the price when they needed help from these 'third-parties' for FYP or additional coaching (the lecturers were busier when these rascals approached them). 

#9. CALCULATE YOUR GPA

I used to do it by paper, until SMU made me more of an Excel enthusiast. So here's my gift to you. Download this Polytechnic CGPA Calculator for free! Having calculated your GPA and CGPA, you will know how much to score to hit your desired CGPA. It will keep you motivated and focused.
LINK: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8ebwvp19sllzm4c/TP%20GPA%20CAL.xlsx
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zkknas5n5nxcb58/TP%20GPA%20CAL.xlsx?dl=0

#10. KEEP THE END IN MIND

The Polytechnic challenge is a marathon. Keeping the end in mind will help you remain motivated. For me, it was to graduate with a 3.91 CGPA. I have friends who had 'MAKE IT TO NTU' pasted on their walls.

Have a great Polytechnic journey ahead! Cheers!