Aid

One of the biggest decisions to make as an international student is about your future. 

There are those who have taken loans and think about repaying them after they land a job. Then there are those who need to get back home to take care of their parents, because there's no one else. The ones who want to make money abroad and save enough to take back home to start a family. The ones who want to work, live and love away from their homeland. 

As graduation nears, that's one of the questions I will need to address. Even though I keep saying that I'll decide as and when the day comes, I know that at least some planning needs to be done in advance. 

I don't have an assistantship as yet, so most of my decisions are financially motivated at times. I even give out this blog address to my prospective bosses, wherever needed. I hope they find this post. Aid from the university always helps a student. A lot will depend upon whether I get aid this semester or not. My graduation date. My future plans. My next lapdance. :P

One of the courses I’m taking this semester is Cockpit and Crew Resource Management. It deals with communication and utilization of all resources by the cabin crew.

We were shown a video today in class to highlight the importance of following procedure. The captain and flight engineer were old buddies and had flown together before. The first-officer, however, was new to the game. They prepared for approach, and the captain was very slow and nonresponsive. The first officer immediately noticed that they were below the glidepath. He pointed it out to the captain. At this time, the engineer asks the captain, “Hey Jim, what’s the difference between a first officer and a duck?” The pilot seemed to think about it for a few seconds and then said, “I don’t know. What is it?” The engineer then replies with a smirk on his face, “Well, a duck can fly”. They both giggle about it in front of the first officer. The aim of this joke was to put the first officer back in place. They wanted to show him who was in charge.

The plane crashed a few minutes later due to an unstabilized initial approach. The first officer’s last words as recorded on tape were, “I told you so Jim”.