pre-stroke - higher education (7)

i very quickly settled in cardiff, amid size old city, where the university nestles itself in various part of the city, one faculty was right up in the high street and the medical faculty was quite far-off. the engineering faculty, mercifully was along newport road, a mere 15 minutes walk from my room in northcote st. centre of activity was at the students union building with it's own cafeteria, bar, pool room, bookshop and other amenities. this became the focal point for me and my group of misfits.my professor was professor markland, a kind gentleman who was very approachable and there was one other lecturer named mr bates, so naturally we addressed him as Master Bates.professor markland's most memorable words, one that i can still vividly remember till today was, now hear this all you foreign students you are not going to invent anything new,so i am only going to ensure you grasp the english language and master a bit if law, as when you go back you are most likely going to end up as a manager somewhere. true to his word, he made the the engineering subjects he lectured easy to grasp and pass in exam time.i had another malaysian in my mechanical engineering and energy studies course, my erstwhile housemate in grimsby and also now in northcote st., suhaimi from temerloh, pahang. so suhaimi being the studious type became my source of lecture notes, he took them down and i just copied it from him later in the evening. similarly with practicals, he was the one who did everything, i just copied them off him.didn't do badly at all, mind you, i ended with an honours degree, third class though., but i am getting ahead of myself now, the graduation would be another four years away within which time many things and episodes had to be experienced, enjoyed and surmounted.