The life of being a scholar in Uniten was not easy for me. I have a poor mastering of English, totally illiterate in computer usage and have weak stamina. The period of studying for the SAT and TOEFL in my first trimester really pulled me off, terms like “SAT words”, “Toefl Integrated Speaking” and “Toefl Listening” always swinging in my mind. The experience was very terrible.
After the terrific first trimester, the second nightmare came. That time was the US colleges’ application. During this period, I had to think of the title of the application essays and tried my best (in yet poor language) to write it out. In addition, many documents such as resume, high school result transcript and teachers’ evaluations had to be prepared (in between still have to study for Foundation subjects). For those universities which require an interview, the scholars even have to work harder. Luckily with the helps from my friends and counselor, I survived the transition period.
For third trimester, I still cannot escape myself from the “busyness”. I joined the Chinese debate team and was involved in the preparation for the debate competition at Tun Hussein Onn University. My teammates and I can barely sleep more than 5 hours each day (sometimes even worse) during the preparation (also have to cover for the Foundation subjects). Try to imagine what kind of life it was as a scholar.
However, every time when I think back of these terrific memories, I smile. I smile not because I was driven mad by these memories but I felt “excited” of what I did throughout the year; it was like roller coaster, frightening but exciting. I experienced something that I never or seldom do before: immersed myself in English, went through a long yet troublesome college application, got to know my personalities and targets better as well as prepared for a debate competition. But most importantly, I did all of these with my teammates, my partners, my friends. We burned the midnight oil together, hang out together, made blunder together, got scolded together, gave motivation to each other along the way and etc. These were the terrific yet precious memory that will accompany me in my coming life in US.
I still remember the first day I came to Uniten, knowing nothing about what the university would be, looking everyone and everything as strangers. But now, I make friends with these strangers and appreciate what the university has offered me till this moment as I just came back from my first time visit to the swimming pool in the campus. From introvert, I became willing to speak, and I believe I can be better with these memories.
Albert Stewen Tan Jiunn Wen | MIT-Massachusetts Institute of Technology(Class of 2015)
No comments:
Post a Comment