Pre-MDM: A challenge worth taking!

Written by Peiming (Septim) Xia, 2019 Cohort

Pre MDM was an unforgettable and beneficial experience for me, especially after experiencing two semesters in the MDM program. When I think about how pre-MDM changed me, I think I have a lot of stories to share.

Back then, every day was busy and challenging. Not only due to the courses and assignments but also due to the pressure that came from the IELTS academic test.

Most courses were focused on introducing the basic formats or types of documentation and offering a lot of hands-on exercises.  Those were very practical since we actually need to write technical documentation during MDM and even in our future careers. As ESL students we had the opportunity to level up our English in specific technical contexts and this was a novel experience for me. 

Also, the group assignments that we needed to complete in small teams took us through prototyping phases and soft skills. Some of the assignments were pretty challenging and even became viable portfolio pieces.

One of our greatest challenges was that due to IELTS academic pressure, we couldn’t spare too much time on our technical courses and assignments. Yet, since I heard that IELTS is no longer needed in the curriculum for current and future pre-MDM students, it would be nice to see that they could learn more English in technical contexts, which is a lot more useful and applicable than English for testing.