A Fresh Start.

To think that at the time this picture was taken, many of us could hardly wait for school to end. Well, well.

A few weeks ago, my peaceful hiatus of roughly four months from formal education was finally halted. The time had come to leave Dreamland and make my first steps into the real world.

Everything had been more or less put on hold since school ended. I needed time to relax, to take a break. I felt that after eleven years of school I had earned it. This wasn't the time for life-changing decisions. Those would have to wait.

And now the longest holiday of my life so far is coming to a close. After deciding that I would study Actuarial Science for my tertiary education, the next step was to find a suitable institution, and a suitable program.

At first I was attracted to the American Degree Transfer Program. Through it, I wouldn't need to undergo any Pre-U nonsense, as I would be jumping straight into my degree. Two years at a local college, followed by two years in a university of my choice in North America. It was like a dream, and not just because I would be given the chance to return to the country of my birth. The holistic American education system also excited me, as I knew that I would be learning much more than just the skills required for my chosen future profession. There would also be a bunch of cool stuff like Psychology and Basics of Film-making.

However, its only downside was the insane cost. A scholarship would have put any worries to bed, but there was no guarantee that one of those would suddenly come knocking at my door anytime soon.

Then my mother got a call from a company that promised an overseas education, plus the guarantee of a JPA loan. It seemed too good to be true. Why not, we thought. A meeting was arranged at the company's office in Kuala Lumpur.

The meeting turned out to be quite fruitful. The proposal went like this: a year's foundation in KL, followed by another four years at Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) in Indonesia, with a study loan from JPA for my second year and onwards. The plan seemed perfect, but for one problem - Indonesia.

Of course, I don't claim to be an expert on the country, its culture, or its people. But, with all due respect, it just didn't seem as enticing as the US. However, my mother managed to talk me into it. I realized that overseas is still overseas, and I'd have to take things one step at a time. Maybe I could eventually end up doing my Master's degree in the States, you never know.

So anyway, I begin my tertiary education next week, at Nirwana College in KL. After visiting the place earlier today, I found the campus to be quite nice. Even if it didn't have any futsal courts. They do have a pool table on the top floor, though.

College promises to be a new experience, and hopefully one that I'll always remember for all the right reasons. It's time to get rid of the old habits - procrastination, sleeping in class, laziness, etc. - and turn over that new leaf I've been meaning to turn over for a while now.

They say in football, and indeed in other sports as well: if you don't shoot you don't score. If you don't make an effort, then there ain't no way you'll get want you want. And here I am, taking the plunge.

Here Goes Nothing.

The days since the SPM results were released have been somewhat eventful, to say the least. A nice change from the mind-numbing boredom I've been experiencing since leaving school.

It just wouldn't do for me to write down all that's been happening. I won't force myself. What's done is done. I suppose the one noteworthy thing I did since 21st March was to pass my driving test, and thus (finally) receiving my driver's license. Aside from that, well, I don't really feel like rambling about that.

One thing I do feel like rambling about, however, is the fact that I've recently noticed that I can be a pretty stubborn person. But in what sense, though?

Well, I have been to three educations fairs so far this year. And I now have my heart set on going for the American Degree Program offered by certain private colleges, in the field of Actuarial Science. The plan is to eventually end up at the University of Michigan, located in the town of my birth.

But there lies the problem. What if that doesn't work out? What if I don't land any scholarships, which are key to the success of this plan? Only recently I felt a new low when my SPM results didn't turn out the way I had hoped. If I didn't achieve my latest goal, would I be able to handle the disappointment?

Well, no one likes disappointment. Sadly, life has its way of ensuring that everyone gets a taste of it. Fair enough, I suppose. However, not everyone can handle disappointment properly, and that's why so many people fall along the way to success. Handling disappointment, for me, is knowing that you can't always get what you want, but what you do get is what you need.

I've just returned from a road trip - yet another sleepover in Rembau, which preceded the school's Majlis Anugerah Cemerlang. This time there were only four of us, and we had planned on getting some scholarship and career advice from the school counselor. And we did. Well, at least my three friends did. Engineering and Dentistry are easily more popular choices than Actuarial Science. And besides, I didn't really ask a lot of questions about my chosen field. I already knew what I wanted, and the stubborn part of me refused to let me change my mind.

It was just as well that during the MAC I happened to talk to a friend who was also taking Actuarial Science, and he had already received a scholarship from Maybank. Those five minutes or so were probably more beneficial to me in terms of my upcoming tertiary education than, well, the rest of the trip. Hey, at least it wasn't entirely wasted, huh?

Hopefully things will have gotten a lot less hectic, now that I don't have a whole lot planned for the next week or so. All that remains is to wait and pray that my scholarship applications were selected. Till next time then, folks.  

Ugh.

I haven't been posting anything on this blog for a while. This, I can attribute to a number of reasons - laziness, lack of inspiration, no mood, et cetera.

However, as a direct consequence of this inactivity, I fear that some of my knack for writing may have worn off a bit (maybe the sharper ones among you may notice that this is what I have implied in the seemingly-uninspired title to this post). Usually, this wouldn't be much of a problem since I'm not exactly doing anything academic for the time being.

Unfortunately, one of the scholarships I am currently trying to apply for is requesting that I submit a 500-word essay as part of my application. Besides the usual "Why this scholarship is for you" dross I also have to write about "How would you contribute to the good governance practices and leadership development of Malaysia?".

Yes, it's the Khazanah scholarship. After a bit of research on Google I have reason to believe that for the past four years at least, potential applicants have been writing about the exact same thing while applying for this exact same scholarship.

"So, what's the big deal?" you may ask. Well, frankly my task has gotten a bit more difficult, thanks to this small bit of information. How on Earth am I supposed to come up with something original for this essay? Something eye-catching? Something that makes me jump off the page? Something that at least four years' worth of applicants hasn't thought of yet?

Well, firstly - chances are, the ones reading the essays this year probably aren't gonna be the same ones who did it last year, or even the years before that.

Secondly - everyone's got a different story to tell. If I can avoid the cliches, maybe I'll be able to set myself apart from the other applicants.

Thirdly - and this one's a very, very long shot - most people will have turned away from the scholarship because of the essay. Thus, the competition is narrowed down. Although this would quite likely mean that the ones left are the really good applicants.

Well, writing this post is one way to get the creative juices flowing again. The deadline for the scholarship application is April 1st, this Sunday. Hopefully I'll be able to carve out a masterpiece by then.