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Student Story: A Bertelsmann Technology Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence

As part of the Udacity Bertelsmann Technology scholarship, I was asked to write a student story to provide feedback on the overall experience. There were 3 questions on a Google form and these were my answers to those questions below. What do you want the world to know about you?   Loving husband and father to two wonderful kids. My passion is academia and enjoy the journey of learning. I have accumulated many certificates, diplomas, and degrees over the years. Some from self-study, some from traditional brick-and-mortar schools, and more recently from online/distance learning platforms like this Udacity challenge. I enjoy the adventure offered by learning something new to better myself and those around me. I learned this from my father and hope to pass this love of learning down to my children as well. Why did you apply for this Scholarship? I wanted to learn more about Artificial Intelligence and was already on the waitlist to get to Georgia Tech CS 7638 AI4R course at that time, so
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Tong Louie Family YMCA gym opens this Friday

My neighborhood gym is finally opening its doors at the end of the week. I am so excited because other fitness centers like Club16, Fit4Less, and AnytimeFitness have already opened their facilities. I can't wait to get back to my regular fitness routine and pick-up where I left off on my strength training regime. I received the welcome news via email last week with this statement and was asked to reactivate my membership which was put on pause from March to June. "We are excited to announce that we are reopening the Tong Louie Family YMCA on Friday, June 26th at 2:30 p.m." I filled in the reactivation web form on Friday and received confirmation today with details on what to expect. Gym visits are staggered to ensure physical distancing and only possible with advanced registration through the MindBody scheduling website  https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ . I didn't want to be the first at the door at 2:30pm and appear to be too eager so I booked a 3:30pm Fitness Flo
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Home for sale in a culdesac at Sullivan Heights

I just noticed a for-sale sign today on the front yard of my neighbour's house. We live in a very nice culdesac so whoever snaps this up will have hit the jackpot. I looked at the BC Assessment for 15053 61B Avenue and saw that the realtor is selling it for less than that. I think that the COVID-19 pandemic has relaxed home sales which is a great opportunity for buyers. It’s a 4 bed, 4 bath, 3044 square feet property and we both moved in to the area in 2006 to a brand new development by a respected builder.  My brother also mentioned that there was another house for sale in the same culdesac at 15009 61B Avenue. This one is a 5 bed, 4.5 bath, 3659 square feet property and am saddened to also hear about this because I have attended some neighborhood block parties with them in the early years when we first moved in to the area. I have known both these home owners for 14 years and will surely miss them when they move. 
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A Nightmare on 56 Avenue & 152 Street

I had a very bad and stressful experience at the TD Canada Trust branch Sullivan Square plaza in Surrey, BC. I was working on renewing my mortgage with a refinancing agreement with a mortgage broker in early March 2020. The incident really started Tuesday April 7 when I had to step into the branch to meet with an incompetent personal banking associate to sign the paperwork for my mortgage renewal which would sit inside a new home equity line of credit (HELOC). Part of the application required closing a few credit cards by having the branch pay for them on my behalf and then writing each merchant an account closure letter. I said that the balances recorded on the paperwork were from beginning of March 2020 and therefore inaccurate. She asked for an updated outstanding balance from each credit card to be emailed to her the next day and she would pay those latest outstanding balance instead. I also said that the paperwork didn’t have the correct bank information to withdraw my future bi-w
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Nuisance Bylaw prohibits feeding of peafowl

A resident on 62nd Avenue said that a couple of RCMP officers came knocking on his door last weekend. They handed him a business card and said that someone had intentionally reported to the city that he was feeding peafowls in the area even though he was not doing that. At first I wondered why that was an offence but thought about bears, cayotes, and other wild animals. Although beautiful creatures, peafowls can be a pest, scratching up cars and windows, and making god-awful noise at 4am. I looked up the fine for feeding a peafowl and it’s $250 from a “nuisance bylaw” instituted back in 2018. It started that year when another neighbor cut down a tree in his yard where the peafowl supposedly were nesting. I didn’t know about this bylaw until my neighbor mentioned the visit from bylaw officers. If you didn’t know before, DO NOT FEED and DO NOT KEEP the peafowls if you see any of them around the neighborhood. You are welcome.
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Suspicious characters dump unwanted clothes at curbside

There were two suspicious characters on Saturday May 30, 2020 at 4:30am in the morning who left a few clothes on the curb side of 150th Street & 62nd Avenue. They sorted through three bag of clothes they carried with them in the dark and sorted through the bag under the street lamp to lighten their load. They left with two smaller bags and left what presumably didn't fit them. They were captured on cam but can't quite make out their faces. If you recognize the clothes in the picture or in the cam, please comment here. Be alert too if you see these two around the neighborhood and report them to the authorities. They were seen headed south on 62nd Avenue after this, presumably to take transit.    
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How Has Biking Helped me during this COVID-19 Pandemic?

I purchased a bike from Canadian Tire many years ago to use to commute to and from work.  The Supercycle hybrid was on the low price range and had a lot of issues with it as expected. Over time I replaced many parts and tweaked various components so that it was more enjoyable to ride. The last maintenance work was at MEC in Langley to replace the bottom bracket. I was very pleased with the service because the techs didn't just do the work asked but also replaced the  left crank, fixed my breaks, added missing chain guards, and lubed up the gears. A complete major tune-up for just $30 at the beginning of the year, just in time too as the COVID-19 pandemic forced bike repair shops to close.  The pandemic made me realize how grateful I was for the services these local bike businesses offer. I was handy with the bike and can order bike parts from online retailers like Amazon but it has taken me over 5 years to get my bike just right with the visit to MEC. I have been working from home
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