By Liyana Sheridean
Another pit stop it is for new ‘graduates’ of matriculation, O-level, STPM (Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia) and perhaps diploma holders. That’s just natural, as everyone begins from the starting line and anticipates to see the finishing line.
As if it is a mile away, the finishing line might look as though it is at the end of a calm straight road. However, throughout the journey forward, we must expect to face a number of obstacles and challenges.
To first-year students who have recently completed their Taáruf Week upon joining this university, congratulations on completing your orientation week, and welcome to the Garden of Knowledge and Virtue.
There is no doubt that most of us share the same goal, that is to graduate and become someone successful in the future – academically, professionally and socially. Imagine a straight road known as ‘goal’ with different routes leading towards different directions. Everything seems perfect under the bright sunlight and the blue sky.
A straight path, with a signboard on both sides, ready to assist and guide those who wish to achieve their respective goal. A route that leads to creating hands-on society, a route towards survival and building greater confidence, and a route towards expanding connectivity internationally. These routes are some of the means towards achieving the many goals that we desire to obtain or we set to achieve.
Challenges may be faced physically, mentally, and even spiritually. These are the things that will jump out of nowhere along the journey. The most common challenge that every freshman will have to face is the illness of being ‘homesick’. This is a very common sickness that happens to almost everyone, including graduating students.
Time management is the second most common problem that students will face, especially when you are not used to being a morning person. The excuse for oversleeping has become a norm among university students. Try doing this if you want a ‘love letter’ to be sent home to your parents as souvenir. Thus, campus life would give students certain freedom and privilege to organise their own schedules on the basis of what they think best.
The first thing that comes to mind when you see the word ‘priority’ would be to focus on your studies, to graduate with first class honours, and to enter the working world with success, and to live a life as if it’s a fairy tale. That would be a piece of cake if we were living in a world full of candies and ice creams as well as unicorns.
Reality strikes when you have to work hard and give your fullest attention to achieving your goal. Students should start their campus life by joining clubs, societies or even volunteering works to gain experience in leadership and organisational skills. Bear in mind that these skills are really crucial to get yourself prepared before stepping into the real working world upon graduating from the university.
Let’s just say that you were given the choice to be either a nail or a hammer, which one would you choose?
Would you be the nail, a person who is pushed around and told to stay that way, or would you be the hammer, which is far more ‘superior’? However, to survive in this world, both the hammer and the nail play an important role as each tries to balance and shape one another. ***