Flashback 1 -- After High School, Entering College (UTM)

After terminating the ASEAN scholarship for Singapore A-level, I faced some sorts of mixed feelings. I kept asking myself "Could I have forsaken a golden opportunity to receive outstanding education in Singapore?" " Am I going to spend two years for STPM should I am not offered a place in a local university?" In spite of those uncertainties, I knew that God had a plan for me and it would be the best plan I could have. UTM is the only college I applied since other private colleges would be too expensive, my parents simply did not have the financial means to support me other than local public university.

In one of the very warm days during mid-May, I received the admission letter from UTM. I could tell that my parents felt relieved knowing that I had been offered my preferred major --Chemical Engineering (Bioprocess). I thankfully received the offer and prepared myself for the four-year undergraduate education, not knowing that these four years could be the most important milestone in my life.

The freshman year of my college is full of both excitement and pressure. After surviving the tiresome official orientation, we were "welcome" with another unofficial orientation organized by upperclassmen of my major. Some of the "programs" organized were aimed at humiliating the freshmen because they were once ridiculed in such a manner. Somehow this evil cycle had become a "tradition" which some fearlessly defended.

After getting to know my chinese classmates, I found out getting 7 A1s was a commonplace amongst us. It was not difficult to imagine the level of competition we had during our freshman year when GPA meant everything. Unlike most of my classmates, I was very relaxed about my coursework because most of the syllabus had been covered during the five-month A-level courses. However, my life as a freshman was still somewhat under pressure. I needed to learn to manage my life away from my parents. It was also my first time living in a truly multi-racial dorm whereby I was a minority. On the top of that, I needed to learn to live with a roommate who had very different lifestyle from mine. I anticipated every Friday because I knew that in no time I would be back to my hometown, having supper with my high school friends at a mamak stall. Despite having different directions in life after high school, we made every efforts to keep our ties strong.