Time has come for me to leave the University of Mauritius. I have already given my notice and I’ll be leaving at the end of August after having worked as a lecturer in the Computer Science department for more than three years.
The main reason I’m leaving is that I am currently trying to obtain a visa for a foreign country but I’ll only have a definite answer in a few weeks… If I do obtain the visa, then we’ll have to move by the end of the year at latest.
Of course, there is an element of risk. If I do not obtain the visa, which is perfectly possible, I’ll have to get a new job in Mauritius. To be frank, I’ve not started searching yet.
Some people have been telling me that I should have kept my job as lecturer and then leave impromptu. I can’t do this because I don’t want to abandon my students in the middle of an academic year.
On being a lecturer
Being a lecturer is fantastic.
I love sharing what (little) I know to receptive students. I love having to always learn new things to keep the students awake. I love browsing and stumbling upon something that I immediately want to blog on and share with my students the next day. And I love having students who know what a university is and understand that they need to work hard to pass.
Another positive is that I also have a bunch of colleagues who share (more or less) my philosophy on teaching and having fun and we have managed to work on some cool projects during the past three years.
Of course, there are also some things I don’t like at the university like the lack of resources, the enormous workload imposed on us as compared to other universities and the pathetic Internet connection available.
But the one thing that bothers me most is the lack of passion and/or creativity and/or intelligence shown by some people. I guess outsiders may find this situation funny but I can tell you it’s really tough… Sometimes, you feel like having spent the whole day in a parallel universe where things look familiar but where few things happen as logic would dictate.
Some background
I come from a family of teachers. I would say that 75% of my family has done or is still doing some teaching either at secondary or tertiary level. Since I was a kid, my house was always filled with books and people willing (when they were not mad at me!) to explain things to me. My parents bought a set of encyclopedia when I was a kid and my favorite pass-time was to pick one of the books and spend an hour reading some articles more or less chosen at random. As a matter of fact, this is what I do now when I have some spare time except that I do it using my mobile phone and Wikipedia. (PS to my students: this is how you become knowledgeable.)
I was extremely good in school as I intuitively knew how to study and cruised. I obtained a scholarship to France where I studied for five years. And there too, I had no big problems being top until Christina and I realized that there were more important things in life as (only) being first in class…
I always felt that I was born to teach. I love to communicate. And share. Hence this blog I think (by the way, I wonder how people can manage in 2008 without blogging?!?)
When I returned to Mauritius in 1998, I started working as a lecturer at the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce & Industry for about six years and then joined the University of Mauritius where I have been working for the past three and a half years.
Awesome!
People who know me personally know I don’t like false modesty at all. So I am going to be honest and say that, for the past ten years, I have been an awesome, chill, cool, fun, exciting and daring teacher! Of course, I didn’t come up with those adjectives myself. Rather, they are what many of my students have told me over the past ten years. To be honest, some students have also told me that I am too elitist and too severe in marking (and not at all tolerant vis-à -vis stupid people.)
But I have to make something clear: I did not become awesome, chill, cool, fun, exciting and daring just like that. I spent days and days and nights and nights learning and practicing Computer Science as well as I could and find ways to restitute my knowledge in such a way that students could make sense of it all without falling asleep. Sometimes I felt so drained, at 2:00 in the morning after having uploaded a lecture I had just prepared, that I couldn’t sleep. But even so, at 8:30 the next morning, I was in my class doing my best to be a Jerry Lewis (lite) / Albert Einstein (lite) hybrid. And my students loved it. Me too.
All in all, I have loved being a lecturer at the University of Mauritius.
Big thanks to all my friends there. And lots of thanks to my students with whom I have spent so many hours of intense intellectualism and pleasure :-)
*gasp* *in shock*
ou p badiner ou?!
Good luck in your future endeavours, Avinash. I wish you all the best.
Eddy.
All the Best !
I know that there is an element of risk associated to moving to a different country. I’ve done it. Unlike you, however, I don’t have kids. But, you are a fighter !
You have my respect for not leaving your students in the middle of an academic year.
—
Patrick Ng
Congratulations for this bold move. It takes some balls to leave all your comfort and seek a new adventure. I hope that you find work in enterprise which is another world from teaching. You can learn/teach the ideal things but the reality of the job makes you become more pragmatic. I have to say that I admire your courage to go work in Mauritius after your studies unlike other “boursiers” who never return. If you’re coming to this side of the ocean, let me know. Cheers.
To yves montagnat: Not at all ;-)
To the others: Thanks for your encouragements.
Hi Avinash!
It’s been really great to have known you for the last few years as a student and at LUGM. All the best for your future life (including your family).
And continue sharing what you like with passion!
Cheers :)
Good luck Avinash, I’ve personally known you at the MCCI during 2 and a half years and I must say you impressed me, and somewhere where I am right now I owe a big part of it to you. ;-)
Thanks Dilraj and Asvin.
It’s true that we’ve shared some great moments together. Remember, Asvin, when you started your first DT classes at the MCCI? Was that around 2000? And, Dilraj, what about my first (and last) MSc class: Software Architecture?
One thing I liked to do a lot as a teacher was to tell my student: “Today, we won’t learn about X as prescribed in the syllabus. Instead, let’s talk about Y which I’ve just read about on the web.” Some students called this my “parentheses.”
I’ll miss that :-)
Great news!
You’ve made the right decision not to leave your students right in the middle of an academic year. It shows your level of professionalism, moral obligation, and dedication to your students!
Whatever happens to your visa (although I’m confident you’ll get it), it will be the perfect chance for you to step back and reexamine your career prospects.
We’ve only met a few times, but still, your openness and passion for learning/teaching/sharing has always been part of what I felt, at least, makes you a great and inspiring teacher/mentor…too bad I was never one of your lucky students! ;)
Anyway I wish you and your family, all the best in your new country, life and career.
Gutes Glück mein Freund!! :)
you’ve been a mentor and inspirational figure for many students.
As i said before, your classes are never boring
the thing i like the most about your lectures was that you it would never be the same as the year before, ex Erlang was included this year and was a great hit. you always innovate, even if it meant putting extra load on your schedule..
its been really nice working you, all the best.. :)
Yeah that was around 2000, since then the moustache and the beard has gone ;-)
Thanks to you all for your nice words :-)
I’ve always thought that you know that you are somewhat on the right track in what you do when you derive immense pleasure doing it.
Frankly, the fact that I earned a salary teaching was just a bonus. What I love is teaching :-)
Thats what I call a brain drain. People who can make a real difference move on and status quo prevails. Its a vicious circle.
You inspired and will continue to inspire many of us. All the best.
Gold Luck , dont worry be happy everything gonna be alright[my favourite wish xD bob marley style]
hehe still remember the first class you took :D (Communication skills… and still remember how you asked a friend if he was bluffing in that false interview :D…)
In 10, Vicks says it all….i was always amazed how you managed to make us (I :D) jump from sleepy mode from the previous classes, late night sleep to a fully conscious,alert for any little movement :D in brief, an awake student ready to listen and learn…man it has been fun…OS class was a pleasure to learn…..and last i heard is the PL students -_-…for sure, you will be missed in here….
Some of us had the feeling it would be for abroad for you aiming ^^ bt now its confirmed :)…would have been good if you could get the answer for the visa before….
On the topic, i have something to ask…i guess you are doing this for the children, and i kinda agree, i wouldnt want my kids to live in a society where they would learn “what” to think bt isnt it a risk….because i know several ppl who went abroad and it turned into working hard (i guess the only exception to this is if you are good and get a nice salary) hard hard and one side effect is that due to the pressure, it can become hard to manage…Dnt you fear this type of outcome?
But as we know you, I am sure you have seen worst and would emerge a winner, whatever situation you are put in and i wish you all the best in it…. Best of luck ^^
*crosses finger*
United States is ur next destination!, that’s for sure. Good luck and don’t go to Detroit, nor California. But wait, you haven’t got ur visa yet. Even though, good luck, Mr. Bald Sir !
Firstly, everything depends on whether I secure a visa. Secondly, we are not trying to leave “because of the kids” or “because of the money” and not even “because we are fed up with Mauritius.” The main reason is that Christina and I are still (relatively) young and want to try something new after having spent 5 years in France (verdict: cool) followed by 10 years in Mauritius (verdict: ok).
Of course, we are both aware that things are not going to be easy abroad but we’ll manage. Don’t worry :-)
awww wrong guess -_-…i would have ruled out “fed up of mauritius” and “money” from the start anyway ;)…wrong guess :)
Whatever you do sir,as long as it keeps you and the family happy, it all that matters :).
Again best of luck for that and hope all goes on smooth :)
Hey avinash good luck in your future venture :-)
As marguerite yourcenar say it well in french ‘ il faut un coup de follie pour batir son destin’
cheers
@Kailash: At this point, it’s no longer a brain-drain, but a true exodus. People of my generation in the neighbourhood where I used to live in Port-Louis have all moved to foreign countries. In one family, only the parents and grand-parents are still in Mauritius, all the children having settled in America and Canada.
Why this mass exodus is happening, I can only speculate, but I think the government should make this a priority issue.
At the same time, two close friends with their young children will be leaving England to settle in Mauritius in about two months. As they say, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Eddy.
“Some people have been telling me that I should have kept my job as lecturer and then leave impromptu. I can’t do this because I don’t want to abandon my students in the middle of an academic year.”
That’s very brave and magnanimous of you, may God bless you and your family with success in your endeavour.
…long pause [no words coming out]….
… realizing it….
…ok
You’ve been a cool lecturer, and also your classes were the one that I made sure to always come [considering the amount of classes i used to bunk], for your classes, I used to make sure that even if I may be late, or i might end up coming 15 minutes before end of class, I just couldn’t miss the class because it was addictive and well… your class was THE perfect class i always had in mind [pas al gonflE asterrrr]. I may not have been great at scoring marks and all, but hell I had the feeling that i get 1337er and 1337er in your classes.
Am only sad that I was unable to do the PL modules with you.
Sincerely, i never found your classes tough at all it was fun fun fun [non am not claiming to be a great student, you know very well that am not that], but hell your classes were just PERFECT. from the system software module to the parallel class, :p i just felt only one need after getting out of your class… read more about it and google it up for more because i sense i got the meaning of it and i can finally wish to satisfy my thirst for more knowledge.
Ofcourse your “parenthese” made the class even more fun, and as far as i can remember, there was not even 1 class which was boring, since whenever it was getting near to boring, you give a “parenthese”, give real life examples/talks/etc.. about the stuff that just makes things more logical.
:p hell, you even made me understand what integration is all about and I find this just tooo simple now… and for me… any maths thing is considered evil and gibberish to me.
Come on… you are old.. accept the fact, you’ve even lost your hair :D
Anywayz.. if you are leaving, I can only wish you and your familly luck, am glad i was able to once be your student [plus i have a story to count to my grand children about the great bald lecturer :D]
have fun..
Anywayz, wtf am i talking, everyone’s talking like we won’t hear from you anymore…. we are in 2008 and everyone is just a mere keyboard hit away, so keep on blogging :p
and…. to finish it up…
Thanks you made a difference.
+$3|v3n
I never had the chance of being one of your students, but I heard about you from my friends. First of all, good luck for everything, and I sincerely hope everything goes on fine for you because there aren’t many lecturers who would leave their job in concern for their students.
For people who don’t blog, they read other people’s blogs :-D … like me for example, I can’t understand how can people live without reading blogs.
And just a side note, could you possibly be related to someone named Mr. Jainarain Meetoo? I remember hearing he was Mauritian ambassador in France, he had a red toyota, and I happen to be one of his students at secondary school….Well, I’m just asking since….wow 75% of your family
Thanks Selven for your extremely nice words… I don’t think perfection is of this world. My classes were far from being perfect but I acknowledge that I really tried to make students feel they were really learning something important, useful and interesting.
Kevin, as a matter of fact, Jaynarain Meetoo, the ambassador, is my father. He is also considered to be an excellent teacher. Maybe that’s from where I have learnt the trade… FYI, my mother is also a teacher. As is my wife. etc. :-)
hmm, i guess nepli ena gran raison pou al fa cse uom aster :P
but seriously, u’ve been the best lecturer i’ve known at uom, n i do fink that ur leaving is gonna be a big loss to all those new kids out there.
Mais bon, morale de l’histoire…ur never too old for a new challenge! :P
May the force b wiv ya mate!
I’m not old :-)
thats wat we’d all like to believe :P
Good luck for your future. I have a friend at uom who had class with you and from what I heard…is that you’re a real cool lecturer…and its HARD to miss your classes…as they are always interesting :-) Unluckily I didn’t had class with you. I am in IS. So wish you all the best for your career and future.
Hello Avinash
Good luck in what you’ve decided to do.
I must admit that I’m a bit sad that you’re leaving UOM because I feel that it needs more people like you. And I encouraged my niece to take Bsc Computer Science and Engineering at the UOM with the hope that she’ll have classes with you and learn for herself what computers and passion are about.
But as you rightly say, there are times when you should think of moving on, I’m sure the UOM and Mauritius are losing one of their best resource.
Best of luck.
Raj
Hi Raj,
We talked about this before. I’m sorry that I won’t teach your niece but, on the other hand, there are actually some quite good lecturers there.
A scoop: this year, first year students will learn programming using Python and the one behind this initiative is a good friend of mine called Gavin Sathan. I’m sure he’s going to do an excellent job and I believe your niece will greatly benefit :-)
UOM will miss u..u hv been a great lecturer.
Hi avinash, i intend to do computer science when i’ll go at the uom. Is that true that we need a very a high level of mathematics to do programming? [i usually got 15/100 in all my maths test at college] Will i be able to do computer science?[i used to get over 70/100 in computer]
Hi “Im sick” (I wonder why people use pseudonyms… it’s somewhat immature),
Advanced maths is not required for basic programming. You need to have common sense though and know a little bit of arithmetic.
But advanced algorithms (like the ones used on social networking websites, search engines and games) require a very good level of maths.
As a matter of fact, Computer Science is a branch of discrete maths and some specific topics (like logic proofs, complexity, compilation, signal processing…) might be impossible to learn for someone allergic to maths…
Its not immature. Its just discretion. Well, its just like ur forcing me to suicide! I’m very good in computer studies and i don’t what to do apart from that. :-( Apart from programming,which i suppose keygenning,cracking and maybe hacking fall in this field(which require maths) what else can we do in computers at advanced level?
From Wikipedia,
I like to tell my students that
Je ne peux que vous souhaiter bon vent et bonne chance….life continues….
hmm,,,
first of all,,i wud like to say dat u come from a family of teachers,,very talented ones…i have done classes in the past wid ur mum,..madame meetoo,,the french teacher in my college day,,n i got distinction in french..great teacher!!
then did system software classes wid u last year..one of my favourites of all time…(will never forget the presentation dat u made us made,,,the best of my life!)
you really have the essence of teaching in your blood sir!!
well,,,also wanted to wish u good luck for your future career abroad!!
Good luck in your endeavours. Hope the VISA process works well in your case, mine did not quite fare well since I finally gave up on where I was to be employed (a very respectable & big international corporation, a brand you should have found on almost every PC today). Where that company is, it’s not a software development company where most Mauritian programmers wish to work…
It’s where they get the best out of your creative ideas… Life may seem too hellish for me (perhaps I’m too attached to stay a few more years at home, anyway), but I never give up on whatever my aspirations are, something that also applies very well. Nobody is too old to take one big step and move on with life! ;) Looks that you’re not too old by now…
Exactly! I am not old :-)
To be precise, I was thinking of leaving the University for some time now because I didn’t like a number of fundamental changes happening there.
When we were told about the opportunity to work abroad by a friend of mine, my wife and I quickly said “Yes! Let’s try!”
Bon Courage.
Are you considering to work for Google?? :)
I have noticed a number of departures recently from the UoM. Even during the Orientation, it was shocked to hear from the programme coordinator “I am actually looking for a job in Dubai !”.
Does this mean that the fundamental changes is causing a Brain Drain at the UoM?
Hello,
I am an ex student of computer science and multimedia. Frankly speaking i like the job you are doing in and outside university. Its great that you are sharing. Very few university lecturers do that.
Well if you are going abroad thats good and maybe in terms of your career it will be fruitful. But if UOM keep letting there talented lecturer go what will happen in the future?
UOM is not producing that good kind of students anymore who can work in any envt like before.
Btw as an ex member of the computer club… i would like to know if the club still exists??
It was a society created basically for computer science dept but i am not seeing it anymore.
Thanks
Regards
Ally
To Ashesh:
I must confess that I am not currently trying to obtain a job at Google.
To Ally:
I don’t know anything about the computer club in the CSE department. I know that many IS students are member of the very prolific IS Society. I don’t think the CSE students are member of any club… except the the Linux User Group of Mauritius for some of course.
to “i am sick”
don’t worry, we have a club called maths haters…. maths is biased and we pwned maths kids all over the campus you may wish to join in.. ofcourse not knowing maths as in mathsers, entities that holds lots of obscure dark sided formulas in the head, we the anti maths are more realistic and use basic arithmethic and dumb reasonings to build on and come to our own sense of logic, so if you’ve got that kind of logic, am sure you’ll survive even better than those who claims to be good at maths (but who infact works day and night doing maths questions to “know maths”).
as far as the computer club:
that club was very biased and microsoft centric, with braggers who uses “hacking tools”
and for the CSE students having a club… they don’t seem to have any special interests other than passing in exams and get the hell outta here [that’s soo sad]
That sounds great, python being a great language (C is not bad either, really) – am happy I read that piece on it – coz i’ll be there in August too this year…
Sounds ok to me…cause at the end of the day it’s the certificate that counts, and no matter what extra stuffs you may have been doing, if your results ain’t correct (might be due to having “wasted” time with those extras), you ain’t worth much… (Learned that during my HSc…)
avinash pas koz kumsa!! There’s the engineering society, dont jT le président (i fink i’m still the president :P), enplus there were 3 other CSE students in the executive comittee…Didnt do much except organise parties, mais c tujur sa :P
To Fluxy:
Except that you are completely wrong :-)
Being at university is not only about getting a certificate. It’s more about coming to a place where (I quote) “intelligent people meet to share views.”
(As a matter of fact, the Internet has allowed us to communicate much more efficiently than before hence somewhat decreasing the importance of having a physical university. Consequently open (aka virtual) universities are thriving…)
To Vishal:
I didn’t know there was such a thing as an engineering society :-)
Oh well that’s sounds exciting! Wish you all the best and we’ll sure be keen to get more info about what you’ll be doing abroad :)
And I think we’ve been very lucky to work with you! Will never forget the glow on your face when you talked about Apple and Google… ;)
Thanks for sharing so much with us :D
Cheers!!!
It’s like a football match, it’s important to play to the best of your abilities, be fair-play, play nice football and live up to the spirit of the game. True. However if you don’t win, then it’s useless, because no matter what people say, nobody is going to remember the details, what counts is the scoreline… Which is why I believe certificate first, then, if possible, the rest, please. ;-)
Good Luck! Hope all works fine for you.
I’m for certificate, activities and meeting people. I don’t see why someone can’t have all!
I agree with cindy :D
that’s why those who lived their lives and studied in parallel instead of just keeping just to what the book says will always feel superior and call the others “zenfant lakaz” :p (no harm meant).
ofcourse there are those who just do extra curcicullar activities just to bunk classes….
now about the python :
i think am gonna jump in those programming classes then :D, wanted to learn python but didn’t have the time or motivation.
+$3|v3n
Um that wasn’t really what I meant. I meant that’s what I want and if you want to do something really badly to not let your studies (or parents, your friends, the tv, the prime minister, your religious leader, etc…) be an excuse. But if studying is what you like and you have no interest elsewhere, study all you can! It’s still living your life like you want it. Who cares what others think. As a clarification I have no problem with “zenfant lacaz”.
As for Python, it will always have a “special” place in my heart! Good luck to all future Python students lol
Well, you’re very enthusiastic and your efforts have been awesome @ uom: setting up moodle, CSE departmental website and much more you had envisioned i guess. well although i’ve not been your cse student (would have liked to be), heard many +ve feedbacks from my friends of upper level of cse. all posts related to your blog show another intuitive approach towards teaching. well all i can do is to wish you good luck.
I followed your lectures on Parallel Programming back in 2006 (I think it was the first time that module was taught in UoM) and I felt very sorry that I did not get the chance to follow more modules taught by you….;-)
You’re an excellent teacher and person, I’m very happy our paths crossed (even if it was only for 3 or 4 months) and I wish you lots of success for what’s coming.
Thanks Nadeem for the nice words :-)
I wish you the best things in life too.
That’s definitely a shock!!!
Well, anywayz, goodluck in whatever you are trying to achieve. And thanks for those fabulous parallel processing classes which has been of great help in the project i am currently working on @work