Inspirational

As I said in my previous blog post, I consulted my lecturer, regarding the material he covered that day, which is basically the ANOVA table. I'm somewhat familiar with that table, having done it before, but I remember that it wasn't a course I fancied, back in UiTM.

Anyway, during the 30-minute consultation, he also gave me an e-mail contact to final year student from Malaysia, doing Actuarial Studies here, who also 'transferred' from home, i.e. straight into second year. Now that I have "thicker skin", I went ahead and e-mail her, looking for guidance and tips on how to succeed better in this course.

I am totally grateful for it. Her reply to me was very warm and understanding. The details she mentioned in the e-mail, almost exactly reflected to the situation I'm dealing with right now. For once, I felt like finally someone is empathetic to my feelings and stress. Then, I extracted the main points of her advice and posted it on my wall.

• Interest + passion
• Determination, positive thinking and never give up
• Ask, consult and share
• Never compare

The last point especially, struck me, and I see how true that is. Not only am I an international student, I'm straightaway into my penultimate year, and I'm all on my own. No parents here to prepare my meals, watch my health, do my laundry, etc. added to the changes in environment and lifestyle, which is quite different from home. Just like one picture I remember seeing in a gadget shop at eastgardens: "Your mum doesn't work here, so clean up!"

Work won't get any easier, stress levels are still at its peak, but at least, I'm not alone anymore...