My Journey Through University
I feel like an old man, although I’m only 23 years old. However, in university terms, I am considered an “old man”. I’ve been at UCSI University since 2018. I am currently in the last semester of the fourth year of my degree. To be honest, it feels sort of like a farewell tour. A very stressful, final-year project-filled farewell tour.
Being the “old man” at the university, I wish to tell you my story about my younger days, which was about 4 years ago. Being a new student at this huge two-winged university (North and South Wing), university life was so different compared to school. It was a major culture shock for me. I was dumbfounded, bamboozled, flabbergasted and all the other synonyms for shocked. It was a big change from being in a small school.
When I first joined UCSI, block G was still under construction. Every day I would come and watch the people conducting the construction. I mean, as a Mechanical Engineering student, it was pretty interesting. But the best part was that we were getting more parking spots. When I joined, the parking fee was RM5 to park for the whole day, by the way, but now it is RM 6.
As a student, I admit that I could’ve done more. I could’ve joined more clubs, attended more events, or even talked to more people. But I don’t regret anything. When I first came to university, my only goal was to go home after my classes were finished. I know now that it was my introverted self that made me do this. But as the years passed, I noticed that I started to want to stay back at university to hang out with my friends. It was a small change for me, but it made a big difference. I started feeling natural talking to different people, and I made friendships that lasted until today. Of course, there were friendships that ended as fast as they started, but that’s just life. People come and go, and you shouldn’t expect everyone to stay.
During my first years at UCSI, since I was a scholarship student, I had to maintain a 3.5 CGPA or above to keep my scholarship. Studying hard was not an option, it was a necessity and it paid off. I am currently chasing first-class honors, which is the best outcome I could have hoped for when I came to university. I never expected it when I first came, so it is a pleasant surprise. Although I have stumbled on some subjects, I managed to pick myself up and push myself until it did not matter anymore.
As I have noticed, the points systems for scholarship students can also be a hardship. The intentions are good, but sometimes they can weigh heavily on some students. To me, this system has its pros and cons, but to me, it was a good thing. It helped me with time management and trained my discipline, which certainly will help me in my working life. It might be a painful and stressful time, but as the saying goes, “No Pain, No Gain.”
I remember hearing someone say that when you’re at school you could be the best at something. Let’s say you were a high jumper who always got the gold medal during your school sports day. But when you enter university, you’re no longer the best at it. There were people who had been training every day who were ten times better than you at the high jump. It might be a sad thing to hear, but it is true.
I always thought I was talented at playing the guitar, but going to UCSI, which has a music faculty, really humbled me. I was no longer amazing on the guitar. But after a few years, you will realize that you don’t need to be the best, you don’t have to be amazing at everything you do, but you must find enjoyment in it. Don’t think about what other people might say, just do the things you like and you’ll be happy.
So that’s my experience, being at UCSI for 5 years. I hope that your time there will be as good of an experience as my time there. I’ve had many ups and downs through my journey, which is all part and parcel of university life. Whatever happened certainly made me stronger and ready to face the outside world after I graduate. Thank you UCSI, I am but a small cog in this huge machine, but you have changed my life forever.