"Write on a topic about how your past life drives you to chase your dream now."
A seemingly simple task such as this becomes quite an ordeal when one doesn't know what his dream is. At most, I have only a fleeting notion as to who I want to be in the future; I know that I love the sciences, I know I want to help those in need, and I want to make a name for myself in the research industry.
But I don't know who I want to be. I don't have a "dream", because I don't know what I'm aiming for.
A doctor? A scientist? A lecturer? I am unable to make a concrete decision; in the FiS program of IMU I am shooting in the dark at the moment. Surrounded by undergraduate possibilities that I have interest in, I told myself that I will be able to make a decision come 2020. I have to.
From the second last year of high school all the way till now, I've been surrounded by people who have a vision and a game plan; they know what they want, they know how to get there and they're confident that they can achieve it. Upon graduation, my classmates went up, down, left and right: the budding aerospace engineers went to New Zealand, the business people went to the USA, the graphic designers went to the UK and everyone else went to Sunway and Taylor's, keen on the A levels ticket that would send them to UG courses overseas. It seemed to me that not knowing what I wanted to be at such a late stage into my education was a big problem, and a big problem that only I was facing.
Of course I have since realized that this was a problem faced by many others, but every morning that I pull myself out of bed I know that I have one day less to answer what will be the most important question of my life.
My interests that culminated in me choosing IMU developed over the course of many years; from a young age, I had quite a lot of exposure to the sciences, with Biology being at the forefront of my curiosity. As I progressed from year to year, more and more things piqued my interest; science in high school became progressively more engaging, and I learned to use YouTube as more than just an avenue to waste time. It was here that I stumbled upon the channel Kurzgesagt.
While before my curiosity was still somewhat budding, their videos turned that seedling of interest into a flowering garden. I found myself wanting to know more, not for the sake of getting an A in the exam, but for the sake of learning because it was fun. My desire of wanting to help others meshed with my love for science, and for the first time, I looked to the future with a goal; I want to be a part of the healthcare sciences.
Fast forward to my second last year in high school, and I hit my first bump on an otherwise uneventful road; I was struggling in Chemistry, Physics, and to some degree, Biology. New concepts were being thrown at us at a pace that no one could cope with, and by the time the first semester assessment had come and gone, I was looking down the barrel with 2 Cs and a hard B for Physics, Chemistry and Biology respectively. There are some who will scoff and dislike me for making it seem like a big deal, and they are entitled to their opinion, but as someone who has a profound love for the sciences and has done consistently well in all the years prior in General Science, this was a bucket of cold water to the face. A nasty combination of procrastination, overconfidence and a big reluctance to ask questions in class were responsible for this, and looking back, perhaps this misstep was for the best.
Learning from my mistakes, I got back on track, and with the help of the greatest teachers on the planet, I got A*s for all three a year later in the IGCSE examinations. I do not pin this accomplishment on my chest; without the help of my teachers who answered my questions with infinite patience and care, I would not have overcome this hurdle to the same degree that I have today. With these results, my previous notion of entering the healthcare industry was fast becoming a real possibility, and as I browsed the degrees offered by universities both local and abroad, I realized that while I wanted to be in the healthcare industry, I didn't know for sure what part of it I wanted to enter.
And then I found IMU.
IMU offers a wide range of healthcare degrees all in one place, which made it ideal for my scenario; I would use the FiS to learn more about each aspect of the healthcare profession, and at the end of it decide on which degree to embark upon. And that's where I am now.
My affinity for science from a young age has led from one step to another, with each step higher than the next. Now, just as I had been all those years ago, I still can't see what the next step will bring. But that's fine; after all, I know what I need to take the next step. And that's all it takes to move forward.
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| A birthday gift from my parents back in Primary |
While before my curiosity was still somewhat budding, their videos turned that seedling of interest into a flowering garden. I found myself wanting to know more, not for the sake of getting an A in the exam, but for the sake of learning because it was fun. My desire of wanting to help others meshed with my love for science, and for the first time, I looked to the future with a goal; I want to be a part of the healthcare sciences.
Fast forward to my second last year in high school, and I hit my first bump on an otherwise uneventful road; I was struggling in Chemistry, Physics, and to some degree, Biology. New concepts were being thrown at us at a pace that no one could cope with, and by the time the first semester assessment had come and gone, I was looking down the barrel with 2 Cs and a hard B for Physics, Chemistry and Biology respectively. There are some who will scoff and dislike me for making it seem like a big deal, and they are entitled to their opinion, but as someone who has a profound love for the sciences and has done consistently well in all the years prior in General Science, this was a bucket of cold water to the face. A nasty combination of procrastination, overconfidence and a big reluctance to ask questions in class were responsible for this, and looking back, perhaps this misstep was for the best.
“A person who makes few mistakes makes little progress.”
―
Learning from my mistakes, I got back on track, and with the help of the greatest teachers on the planet, I got A*s for all three a year later in the IGCSE examinations. I do not pin this accomplishment on my chest; without the help of my teachers who answered my questions with infinite patience and care, I would not have overcome this hurdle to the same degree that I have today. With these results, my previous notion of entering the healthcare industry was fast becoming a real possibility, and as I browsed the degrees offered by universities both local and abroad, I realized that while I wanted to be in the healthcare industry, I didn't know for sure what part of it I wanted to enter.
And then I found IMU.
IMU offers a wide range of healthcare degrees all in one place, which made it ideal for my scenario; I would use the FiS to learn more about each aspect of the healthcare profession, and at the end of it decide on which degree to embark upon. And that's where I am now.
My affinity for science from a young age has led from one step to another, with each step higher than the next. Now, just as I had been all those years ago, I still can't see what the next step will bring. But that's fine; after all, I know what I need to take the next step. And that's all it takes to move forward.
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