6 THINGS I WOULD TELL MY UNIVERSITY SELF...
(Yes, that's ME...staring at my laptop and biting my nails because it was hectic time)
Instagram: livingwithmanahil
Instagram: livingwithmanahil
I have had my fair share of studying and living abroad. I moved to KUALA LUMPUR (MALAYSIA) to start my Bachelor’s Honors degree. Now you see, unlike the westernized culture, even if we live outside Pakistan, we still have some traits inbuilt that take a lot of time to be changed. But that’s a topic for another day. The decision for my school and course was made entirely by my parents.
Coming from a Pakistani family, it was a very daunting decision that my parents made. Yet the decision was entirely based on if we knew people where I was going to study. My mom and dad (being the very caring parents they are) did not want to send me to a place where I will be all alone initially. So, Malaysia was a safe choice since I already had a friend studying there who could look after this shy and timid small human being who was flying 7 hours away from home.
Being a science student in high-school, I wanted to pursue engineering (as expected) – aeronautical, to be precise. But again, inbuilt traits come into play and I ended up doing MULTIMEDIA TECHNOLOGY- as my parents said.
My first whole year (2 long semesters), I was still unsure if this was the right path for me. That’s when I started learning and understanding some things.
These are some of the things I would tell my First Year Self...
1. DO YOUR RESEARCH
I was too much of an ace math and physics girl, so engineering was as safe side for me. Moving away from that into the design world was a decision I needed to be sure of and was too scared to make.
I went around the whole of internet to find what else I could learn from my degree and what my career outcome would be like. Since I was doing Multimedia Technology, it was a very broad topic. The more I researched, the more I found areas I would like to focus on and really interested me. Get to know what degrees or components of a specific degree is future-proof.
2. IT’S ALL TRIAL AND ERROR
I say this because often students take up a degree and then quit because it is not what interests them. Apparently, we do not have that much of a room for such a decision. The sweethearts that my mom and dad are, asked me if I wanted to change to engineering after one year into my multimedia degree. By then I had done my research and I gladly refused. I chose to go along with what had been chosen for me and make it my own.
But if you just have that gut feeling that its not going to work, BE SELFISH AND CHANGE YOUR PATH… If you are debating though, GO FOR IT!
3. SOCIALISE
As students we juggle a lot with things. You will be surprised at how much you can learn from people who want to do the thing you are running away from. In my class, we were only 6-7 people, so socialising was not really a problem. It was amazing to see the diversity in interests and creativity. Like medical has a lot of areas, so does MULTIMEDIA – or any other degree for that matter.
For a good amount of time I had friends who were from engineering major and Its was holding me down to explore my own field. When I started to know my own classmate, I discovered, friends who were interested in 3D modelling or graphic design and others who leaned more towards website development and film making or animations.
4. ASK FOR HELP
There were times in my degree years where I did not know what I was doing. The assignments we got were just too out of my reach. I remember sitting with project management and 3D modelling assignments and thinking to myself, “this is not going to work out. I suck at this. How am I even going to pass this?”
Then, I asked for help from my classmates. To my surprise, they were more than willing to help and boost my confidence. They stayed and did components of my assignment with me on multiple occasions after that. We learned to HELP & GROW!
5. DON’T BURN YOURSELF – ACCEPT THE UNHAPPY ENDING
While studying, when each semester gets over, one question lingers constantly…NOW WHAT?...
What we need to know is, everything has its own time, INDEED! If you are set to fails a subject, you will fail. That C grade will be there and so will those A’s. FOCUS on the A’s rather than the C’s. It is okay to get that C or D sometimes AND its is okay to be happy that you passed all your modules as well. TAKE IT DAY BY DAY or EXAM BY EXAM...
6. DON’T LIKE WHAT EVERYONE LIKES & VICE VERCA
Everyone is going to have their own opinions and thoughts. Specially in those degree days when you are continuously exploring and learning new things. Make sure you take your time to evaluate yourself and not give into the cool opinions. I have a friend who is real good at this. He tends to put out his opinions clear and concise and corrects you if you are wrong without being taunting. I think that makes him more flexible. I’m still learning this though – making progress every day!
Almost 2 years later, as I sit here doing my masters and an internship (yea, not a job), I can say I do not regret doing what I did. Along the way I made many friends and learnt a lot of new things.
Don’t think where you will reach, just know you will end up somewhere.
ENJOY YOUR COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY JOURNEY
Your thoughts?
Any suggestions? (I'm still studying and learning)
…XOXO…
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