When I moved to Arizona, it was my intention to get the best education I could
get in the field I wanted to study (Software Engineering). I was expecting cool
professors, people I could relate with, especially with regards to technology.
I expected that there would be a clear boundary between mentor and student, and
this is one of the many ways UAT has exceeded my expectations. My thought of
just about any school includes cliques where certain people stick together
keeping others out, where there are jocks or people that feel they are superior
to anyone else. Herein I describe further why UAT has exceeded my most daring
dreams.
The professors do not want to just lecture, they want someone they can share
ideas with, and get new ideas back. It is not straight forward lecture. Much of
my classes include thinking, not just critical but also other types of
thinking. The professors want to challenge me, and at the same time they want
to be challenged as well. They all have their claim to fame, but yet they are
accepting of students and their ideas, even if they are wrong at times, or just
different. At UAT one can get a friend-to-friend relationship with the mentors,
where information can be shared freely and criticism is given in a friendly
manner. The professors want to be here, they want to work with students.
I have heard from several other people that I went to High School with, or were
College students that their professors would just lecture, would not provide
help and in general were entire assholes. When I visited a school a while back
that was the impression I got as well (School will not be named). That
Professors did not want to have input from students, since they studied long
and hard to get their doctorate thus they must be right.
The entire friendship thing is portrayed throughout the entire student body. We
are all so called rejects, people that would get shoved around by the jocks,
looked down upon as a book worm, we all did not fit in with what people called
normal society because we liked to play computer games, program computers and
read information online all day. We did not play sports, nor looked like we
really could. Even then there are exceptions off course, but what all connects
us is the fact that we are all passionate about technology. There are no
cliques here, not a single person at UAT is critical of someone else because
they look different, act different, think differently. We challenge each other
through informal debates as well as trying to prove others wrong.
A friend of mine is currently attending a school up north near New Jersey and
he told me that people will not give him the time of day. He does not fit in
because he is ahead of the pack, dresses differently and has a different mind
set in terms of what he knows. They give him a hard time because he is not like
them, and they will not accept someone that is not their equal, or even worse,
ahead of them. I had visited the same College when looking around for colleges
to attend, and I got just bad vibes while walking around campus. Everyone was
separated, no general area where everyone comes together to all do work, or all
hang out and enjoy life for a bit between classes. The students were not
enthusiastic when it came to presenting their school, and the entire way the
staff acted did not "feel" right.
During 2004, while I was at NYLF:Tech I had the opportunity to go visit one of
the universities I was hoping to go to, but never quite got my grades up for
(ended up good though). This was Berkeley in California. Yes the same Berkeley
that created BSD. They had a tour guide who was energetic, was full of passion
about what was taught, about the professors, about campus, about the town, and
it's location. I also got to meet with faculty and ask questions and they were
just like I am now experiencing with UAT, down to earth, ready to be challenged
by a student, and ready to challenge them to become the masters like they.
UAT has one thing going for them over the other universities/colleges I have
visited, UAT staff is HOT!. Yeah, for some odd reason they have awesome staff
that is very good looking. All the staff is younger as well. They have just
come from universities themselves, or even if they are a bit older they are
passionate about one thing as well, technology and helping us (the students)
further their knowledge. Anyone that works for UAT, and is at UAT knows what
the mission statement is:
To educate students in the fields of advancing technology to become
innovators of the future.
Everyone at the university embodies this mission, as well as the core values:
__Integrity__
We promote positive social responsibility and good global citizenry, and we
always act with integrity, honesty and ethics that are above reproach.
__Quality through continuous improvement__
We recognize that our University and environment may be defined as a system,
and that each of its parts may be simplified, improved, innovated or
eliminated. We hold that all parts of a system are interconnected through
relationships, and that continuous improvement requires understanding all these
relationships. We pioneer new methods, meticulously plan, and rely upon
feedback systems.
__Life Long learning__
We understand that high performance and constant improvement require continuous
learning. We cultivate global-mindedness and promote the highest level of
student learning and success. We rigorously seek learning opportunities,
initiate and nurture individual growth, and expect ongoing individual growth as
well as organizational learning.
__Teamwork__
We communicate effectively, reinforce support for each other and build
alignment between students, alumni, employers, industry, community and
departments as well as individuals. We work in collaborative teams to
accomplish superior results through shared understanding. These are the values
of the University. What this means is that as long as we are part of this
community we will strive in all of our actions and decisions to be positive and
honest, continue to work to improve ourselves and our processes, to strive to
learn and never be satisfied with our current knowledge and work with each
other to achieve results.
Besides all this, who would not want to go to a school where there is an entire
contest in the student body that is Ninjas vs. Pirates. Even the staff are in
on it. During a presentation given by the Vice-President of the Student
Government (yes, capital since they are important) enrolment co-ordinators as
well as resident life staff ran into the theatre and stared throwing ninja
stars at the presenters and people in the crowd. Jokes are played on students,
and students play jokes on staff. It is an equilibrium. Staff and students both
have the same amount of fun, and that is how it should be, since it provides a
better environment to learn, get information and also be accepted by the people
around oneself.
I feel sorry for those of you that actually read all this, but then again good
on ya! I just needed to get this off my chest.