You've probably noticed that I skipped last week's blog. I tend to write blogs that will actually be interesting to you and I waited for some things to happen. And they did.

Last week, I got a notice that I got Summer RA position. You might think this is not so important, but I'll tell you why it is very important to me. First of all, it is a reward for my continuous efforts to be a good Resident Assistant. I got one of 8 positions that were open for this summer. Secondly, this will enable me to continue helping students on campus this summer and stay a Resident Assistant till the end of my education here at Wentworth (if we take in consideration that I've already got Senior Resident Assistant position for the next academic year, my last year at Wentworth). Getting a Summer RA position was one of my primary goals for this semester and I fulfilled it.

Now, my second primary goal is CCNA certification (I wrote about it in my previous blogs). The new thing is that I've scheduled the exam for April 11, which means I am studying really hard these days. I would really love to pass this exam in my first attempt. I’ll try to do my best and I am sure you will be the first to know what happened.

Another nice thing happened to me. Since I managed to squeeze three semesters into two in my freshman year, I was a little bit off course when it came to my educational curriculum. That issue followed me through all of the previous semesters, but I always managed to find a solution. Finally, I had 11 courses to take to graduate, and I wanted to complete them in two semesters. That meant that I needed to take 6 courses one semester and 5 courses in another. That would be achievable theoretically (20 credits each semester), but in real life here at Wentworth, it is very difficult to create a schedule that would allow you to take 6 courses in one semester. Most of the time, there would be some overlapping between the times of the lectures you could take. Well, I needed to find a solution for this. Before coming to Wentworth, I was studying Economics back in Serbia. At the time I passed 7 exams, and among them was a course Principles of Management. One of the courses that I had to take in my last two semesters at Wentworth, was Management 505 (Principles of Management). After the meeting with a Department Head of Humanities and Social Sciences, and going through my transcripts and a description of the course curriculum, I was allowed to transfer credits for this course. This decreased the number of the courses left for me to take to 10, and significantly increased my chances to graduate in May 2009 (a semester earlier that according to the curriculum).

These past two weeks were so good that I needed to celebrate a little bit. And there is no better way but spending two days in New Your City with your friends. A dear friend from Serbia came on a business trip to NYC, and two Serbian friends from Boston and I met with her there. The weather was beautiful and we walked around the city. We went to dinner to a nice Mexican restaurant Blockheads at 499 3rd Avenue (Midtown East) and had a really nice time. We didn't go clubbing this time We spent a night at a hotel and had breakfast together the next day before I left to Boston.

All in all, these were very nice two weeks for me. We’ll see what comes next week.

Posted by Dejan Petrovic at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is CCNA? CCNA is abbreviation for Cisco Certified Network Associate and it is the first level of Cisco certifications and is a prerequisite for all advanced certifications, including Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE).

After completing the requirement for the CCNA, candidates are prepared to install, configure, and operate simple-routed LAN, routed WAN, and switched LAN networks. In order to achieve CCNA status, candidates must successfully complete the CCNA expert exam. As a computer networking major, this is a must for me. Furthermore, if I would like to get a second coop rotation at Cisco Systems Inc., I need to pass this exam and get the certificate. However, this is not an easy task. Practically, all the networking courses for 4 years of college are summed up in this exam. I have two books with total of 1400 pages to study and prepare for this exam.

I also have a lab setup at Cisco in order to have a hands on experience needed for the test. These last two weeks I managed to establish a satisfying pace in studying and that is why I skipped one week of blogging. All my free time I used to study for this exam. I have only 7 weeks left to pass this exam, since I need to complete it while being on coop. It is very difficult because most of the coops at Cisco are there for 6 months, and I will be there only 4 months (Wentworth Coop Semesters last for 4 months only). Therefore, I have whole 2 months less to prepare. Beside the coop, I am working as a Senior Resident Assistant and Desk Attendant, so I really have a limited time to achieve this. Nevertheless, I am sure I can do it and I will let you know if I succeed.

You might think that this certification is important only if you want to work for Cisco. Well, that is not true. CCNA or any other Cisco certification is an excellent proof of your expertise in computer networks, and affects your entry level paycheck right after college. When I say affects, I mean in positive way of course. Therefore, if you can, step on it as soon as possible. I know that even if I do not make it in these 7 weeks, I won't stop until I get it.

Posted by Dejan Petrovic at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Being a Senior Resident Assistant (SRA) brings along certain obligations, among which is organization of a Resident Assistant Community Enhancement (RACE) event. In Spring semester, each of the SRAs needs to organize one of the following RACE events: Passport to Diversity, Writing on the Walls, Talent Show and Take Back the Night. I applied to organize Writing on the Walls.

The purpose of this event is to target all kinds of discrimination issues and emphasize the importance of diversity.

When we speak of diversity, we mean much more than just racial or ethnic diversity. We also consider socio-economic, geographic, international, intellectual, artistic and athletic, political, religious, sexual orientation, and many more. All these are areas in which we differ from each other.

Why is diversity important?

Diversity enriches our educational experience. We learn from those whose experiences, beliefs, and perspectives are different from our own, and these lessons can be taught best in a richly diverse intellectual and social environment.

Diversity promotes personal growth, and hence a healthy society. Diversity challenges stereotyped preconceptions; it encourages critical thinking; and it helps students learn to communicate effectively with people of varied backgrounds.

Diversity strengthens communities and the workplace. Education within a diverse setting prepares students to become good citizens in an increasingly complex society; it fosters mutual respect and teamwork; and it helps build communities whose members are judged by the quality of their character and their contributions.

Diverse environment recognizes and values talent. It eliminates barriers and ensures that everyone is treated fairly and has the chance to reach their maximum potential. Diversity encourages the exchange of ideas which not only broadens the scope of problem solving, but also improves the possibility that the problems will be solved.

My fellow RAs and I wanted to emphasize the negative consequences of discrimination, and use a radical approach in increasing awareness about importance of diversity. We created presentations which showed statistics about discrimination of all kinds present in the world today.

We also created a big WALL, a WALL of hate. For two days, we asked students to write hurtful, offending statements they heard someone said to them or to their friends. We let them express their pain on the WALL. This wall was covered at all times until our main ceremony.

In front of the audience of fifty students and staff members, we revealed the content of the WALL.

IT WAS SHOCKING!!! (The sole purpose of these photos is educational. I do not intend to offend anyone with the content in these photos, but to increase awareness about the negative consequences of discrimination, prejudice, and hatred based on diversity.)

You would think things that were written on the wall happen somewhere else and to someone else, but then you realize that every one of us experienced some sort of discrimination in our lives. After couple of minutes, when we allowed people to look at the wall, to make them feel and understand the pain of their peers, we reached the climax of this event; BREAKING DOWN THE WALL.

We gave everyone hammers and we invited them to join us in physically break down the wall, but symbolically start THE FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION and start EMBRACING DIVERSITY.

I thank everyone that helped us organize this event; the Housing Office, the Dean of Students Office and the Physical Plant (for building the wall). According to many positive reactions from the students and staff, our event was a complete success. A picture of a student breaking down the wall shows the emotions we managed to build up in people. This is just the start in our fight for a better world, and we have a lot of work to do.

Posted by Dejan Petrovic at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)