PPD Life

Personal Progress Development (PPD)

Why we need PPD? Is it worth learning these things? At first I also wondered why we have a subject like this in the middle of such a busy schedule of lectures. We may go to different fields, we may do different jobs but there is one important thing. We all should have good soft skills and qualities where ever we go and where ever we work. From a subject like PPD we gain such things to our lives. They are invaluable.

We started PPD sessions at 1 year and it is 2 years time period up to now. We gathered lots of things which we can not learn from any other subject or from any other place.

As Software Engineers we always sit in front of a laptop and code. But there are so many things that we cannot gather from other academic subjects but essential in our lives. PPD showed us the path to learn those.

It was really helpful for us to come out of laptops and other stressful subject matters and relax our minds. We engaged in different activities which brought us fun, soothed our minds as well us added new experiences.

From the first day onward miss. Sarasi encouraged us to speak in English. Most of the students were shy to speak in front of the students. But in the PPD sessions we all had to speak in front of others which helped us to have confidence and improve english.

And also we did different team activities. It helped us to learn how we should behave as a team member, what are the qualities that we have to improve as a leader, how we plan things, how we should deal with the time etc. Managing things is a very special thing. We learnt to think and have quick reactions when we need, manage resources, make our mind to have innovative ideas.

 

Miss. Sarasi arranged some sessions which we were able to meet the personalities in the industry where we learnt lots of new things. She taught us how to make CVs also. It is the first step in our carrier ladder.

Apart to all these things we got lot of fun during this 2 year. We laugh together, we walked together, we shared things. It made us to one family where we all became brothers and sisters. Unlike other session we had lots of memories to take back with relax minds.

When I looked back at PPD sessions I really have lots of memories which are great as well as very important to my life. We will become Software Engineers one day and we will need almost all these things that we learnt from PPD sessions on that day. I am really happy to be a part of this session which is one of the sessions that I actively participated. Each and every person who goes through my blog posts can see what we learnt so far and I believe you also can added lots of things to your life also. I pay my sincere gratitude to miss. Sarasi Senadheera who guided us so far and tried her best to make our lives a success. It is invaluable what she rendered us. So I believe you enjoyed all the blog posts here.

 Have a nice day.

CV writing

Have you ever thought how important a CV is when you apply for a job position?
When applying you always worry about the interviews. But the CV where we give the first impression on us also plays a major role in selecting for a job.

Our CV is the first chance we get to make a good impression on a potential employer. A top quality CV will considerably boost out chance of getting face to face interview. So it is worth spending time and effort on the content and presentation. It will make all the differences= in obtaining the position we want. We must therefore highlight our skills,expertise and value.

It should be in our own format. We should not copy from someone else format. It should be concise and accurate. We should provide with true details. We should tailor it specifically to he job we are applying for and include the skills,qualifications and experience which are most suited to the job.

It is good to make the CV using word processing SW
Highlight the headings - different font size
Keep the email as a hyperlink
Do not mix font styles
Document should be able to copy and paste
Maintain the years in one line

CV should consist with many information.

• Photograph - should be a professional photograph with good dress. (Not with fancy dresses or a selfie) Head and shoulders. At the top right corner.
• Personal Details - Name and address, a phone number, and your email address.
• Personal Profile - A statement about our self, summarizing the skills and carrier interests
• Skills - Soft skills and technical skills
• Educational Qualifications - Write in chronological order a brief list of school and university qualifications, such as O/Ls , A/Ls , etc., together with the grades we obtained. Then list any further qualifications we have obtained, together with the names of the awarding bodies. 
• Projects
• Work Experiences - Start with current or last employer and work backwards. We should include the dates of employment,  job title,  responsibilities, duties and achievements.
• Volunteering, Conferences, Extra curricular activities, Training - Recent activities first.
• References - There is no need to write the details of your referees on your CV. Simply state that they are available on request, but make sure that you know who your referees are and that you have asked their permission to use them.

Trust Walk

As we live with other people or in other words we live in a society with different kinds of people. TRUST is something very important when we live with those people. We should not trust people blindly but with good understanding.

In last ppd session we were asked to find a partner (not a life partner .. hikz). Then we were instructed to cover the eyes of the partner. The other person had to give instructions to the blind person about the obstacles, paths, where to turn etc. So there the one person played the role of a listener and one played the role of an instructor. The instructor should navigate the listener to the final destination. This activity had two rounds where the listener of the first round became the instructor in the second round and vice versa.

When we proceed the path we had to go over  stair cases where we had to instruct the blind person with the no. of steps and where to stop. There were white board markers on the path and if somebody put the leg on it, he or she might definitely fall. That is why we were instructed to listen the instructor well. At the first round we had to go along the path and tap a brick. While in the second round we had to tap on two concrete blocks and the brick. In the first round all most all the students walked and tap the brick with the correct instructions. But at the second round some students forgot what to do. Some forgot to tap on the brick after tapping he concrete blocks. 

Looking nice Saveen.....

When we trust someone we should not trust him or her blindly. Even though we can not see anything we have a brain to think and analyse. We can choose what we should do and what should not. We can instruct the other person when he or she does a wrong thing. In this occasion also some instructors forgot to tap the brick after tapping the concrete brick. If blind one communicated with the instructor well they won't do such a mistake. Miss Sarasi never prohibited the communication between the instructor and the blind person.

When someone keeps his or her trust on us, we have a responsibility of protecting it. Trust is like a glass. When it is broken we can't fully make it in to what it was. Some times some people keeps their life on another persons hand trusting him. In this activity also the blind one keeps trust on the instructor. If one step was taken in a wrong way sometimes the blind one may fall. So we should e a good instructor to the others. Protect the trust that someone lay on us.

Blind person also should give the maximum support. If he does what he wants to do, it is really disturbing for the instructor. We should be a good listener and trust the partner. Help hi or her to do their task. Correct their path when they deviate. 

These things are really important when we live in the society. When we work we have to trust so many people and follow their paths. Be wise. Trust the people. But do not blindly trust... 

Self Reflection

Have you ever wondered who you are? Just do one thing.
"CLOSE YOUR EYES, SIMPLY CLOSE THE DOORS OF YOUR MIND TO THE FUTURE AND TO THE PAST. FORGET EVERY THING AND JUST THINK ABOUT YOUR SELF. WHO ARE YOU?"

Take a little break from your stressful life and do this. Think about your self and you will find great deal of things that you never recognized so far. With the competitive world we use to run and run and run so on. We never take a moment to think about our selves.

In last PPD session we we asked to take a photo of our self. Selfies... Yeh, how many selfies we take in a week. But we never deeply look in to it. We were asked to look at our selves for 5 minutes. Then she questioned, "what you see ?"
Most of the friends said "nothing". But I recognized one thing. I could not believe it. I had a big pimple on my nose. Oh god how ugly i am. Should do something for that. Any how that is my way.

Yeh some replied with some special things that they recognized and some were blank. Miss. Sarasi asked another question whether we think or care about what others think about our selves. Almost all said yes. Yes we should care but to a some extend. We can get the ideas, advises from others. Some point out our faults. Yes we have to care. But do not depend on those thing all the times or do not make those as an obstacle to our dreams. Take the good reviews and throw away the bad. Accept all the things with a smile but we should be intelligent enough to classify good and bad.

It is really important how we live in the society. We are not alone here. We are surrounded by lots of faces. Always we have something to learn from them. May be a bad experience may be a good one. But we should be able to face those. Once we have a deep understanding about our selves we can climb to the top.

Once a week take some minutes and spend time to think. Go in front of a mirror. It is not a big deal. You can do it while you are in the bathroom. No one can see us and no one to disturb. Think about how you should behave and how you faced the new experiences you had throughout that week. Identify the things that you should improve.

Try to be the best person in every thing you do. Keep a smile on your face. Be a person whom the others wish to be. Whom the others wish to see every day, wish to have the companionship.
Be a recognizable character. Improve the qualities. Associate everybody. Do not leave as you did not exit. Make a space for you. BE A LEGACY  which anyone can't beat easily.

Find the Expert Level

"The day I missed "
In last PPD session Miss.Sarasi has instructed the class to engage in a new activity which has been very interesting. Unfortunately I was unable to attend.

On that day Miss. Sarasi has divided the class in to 4 groups and has asked to pick 3 areas that the group members are specialized in. Then come up with an innovative product which can be implemented with those specialized 3 areas.

When we work it is really difficult to find people with same ideas, same talents etc. We should have the ability to manage the abilities according to the need. It is really essential when we become professionals and perform as a team.

Our teams have come up with many ideas and presented it.

Team 1
       Areas: Handmade things, Bike riding, Reading
       Product: Eye glass cover

Team 2
      Areas: Taekwondo, Painting, Gaming
      Product: Taekwondo video game

Team 3
      Areas: Gaming, Chess, Painting
      Product: Chess video game

Team 4
       Areas: Cricket, Painting, Gamimg
       Product: Cricket video game

This activity can guide us to practice think beyond the box and make new products.