CNY has just ended - another chapter closed. There is no doubt that one of the common questions thrown at high school graduates is “What are you going to study for pre-U?”. And just like most of them, my brother too had no definitive answer to that question and was bombarded with lots of ‘helpful advice’ for the next 30 minutes - does this scenario sound familiar to you?
But here’s the thing, I'm personally not even working in the field I wanted to study, heck I wanted to be an engineer and and now I’m a freelance service provider. So, at the end of the day does it really matter what you choose to study when you're still finding out what your interests are?
Here are some self-navigating questions you can ask yourself before choosing your academic interest. If you’re already started your pre-U, you can still use these questions to reconsider your current pre-U choice.
What are you interested in?
Do you have the financial means?
Are you studying just because your family wants you to?
What is the goal for studying the subject or course?
What if I have no idea what I want at all?
What are you interested in?
If you have found your interest you should go study it, because at the end of the day you only learn best when you like what you are studying.
Do you have the financial means?
If your answer is no, don't worry! There are a whole host of universities which can offer affordable tertiary education without you having to sell a kidney. Some foundations will also offer no-strings attached grants or bonded scholarships for you to pursue your studies. Here are 4 things you can look into to help fund your studies
Foundation Scholarship (Bonded or Non Bonded) - If you can, non-bonded foundation scholarships are the best choice. However, if you think about it, bonded scholarships also do work well. That's because you can be guaranteed that your studies are well funded for AND you have a secured job right after graduating from university! Bear in mind that the bond period will depend on your sponsor's T&C. BUT personally, I think that's a definite win-win situation! Regardless, I still want to highlight that there will definitely be terms and conditions applied - you might end up not liking your selected course OR the job that you’re bonded for and if you want to resign, you will most likely be required to pay off the remaining amount/full amount of your bond. So, think twice if this is the right sponsor/path for you.
University Scholarship - Simplest form but you need good results, which I sadly DO NOT have
Local public universities or less prestigious universities - To be honest, knowledge is FREE but with higher education, you’re paying for education and certification. I personally think you should complete your studies and when you’re done, go out and hone your skills even more - whether it’s soft or technical skills. Apply whatever that you’ve learned in Pre-U/University into your life.
Government loan PTPTN - Listen, regardless if you have money to study or not you should just take the PTPTN loan, it’s a loan with low interest and you can slowly pay it off with discounts should you hit certain criteria.
Are you studying because your family wants you to?
This one is a bit hard because at the end of the day your family is your family…. but that shouldn’t be the thing to stop you from pursuing the career of your dreams. From what I can see there are 2 options here.
Study what your parents want you to study, just get that degree and hone your passion on the side.
Not Recommended but it’s the extreme path is to just study it anyways and hear your parents give you shit for the next 3-4 years and if you don’t succeed you got the I TOLD YOU SO speech coming… But at the end of the day I truly believe that anyone can succeed if you put in enough work and are committed to improve at every point of your career.
What is the goal for studying the subject or course?
Same as the above, you need to ask yourself are you studying because it’s your interest or because your family wants you to or just because it is a good profession and you heard from someone that it earns you loads of money. In order of importance I would say is
follow your passion (MOST IMPORTANT)
loads of money
because someone else wants you to (LEAST)
What if I have no idea what I want at all?
From personal experience, you should just join a foundation or matriculation program which you can pick from a whole host of subjects to see what interests you. This is the path I personally went through and it’s where I decided engineering was not for me… If you’re still unsure whether this is the career path for you, I encourage you to truly understand what you naturally have an interest in or you can talk to seniors or people who are in the industry to help you make your decision.
At the end of the day I'm just gonna leave you with this one quote
A college degree is not a sign that one is a finished product but an indication a person is prepared for life - Edward Malloy
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