I promise this will be a long post.... I've so many things to share here.
Firstly, this week I've made a very important decision (to me at least) which is to take a second major. Initially I wanted to take one major (Marketing) only and even planned out my remaining semesters nicely.
That was until I chanced upon the second major requirement for Political Science. I realized that I could get the 2nd major by taking 2 additional modules (37 in total as opposed to 35) because many of the PS modules can be counted doubly. However, it also means that I need to plan my modules carefully now if I still want to go for exchange and graduate in 3.5 years.
Actually this brings me to the second point that I want to talk about. After I told some of my friends that I want to do PS as 2nd major, they asked me why the sudden decision. Well, interest obviously plays a part. However the main thing will be the self-realization that maybe my interest does not lie in the ultra-competitive business world.
It seemed that business wasn't the perfect course for me but I'm happy that at least I am not in accountancy. Numbers and digits don't turn me on although it is not very hard for me to work with them. Finance is a definite no-no; half the time I did not understand what the professor was talking about. (The other half I would be surfing net and not paying attention.) Luckily at least marketing seems to be quite an interesting major.
While it was not too late to switch course, I didn't want to spend so many years in school. I will be approaching 25 when I graduate; that's probably more than 1/3 of my life gone. Having stumbled on the 2nd major requirement and reading about some of the modules' course outline, I got really excited. And I had to make a decision fast.
I will need to take 7 political science modules; during the overseas exchange semester it will be quite difficult to clear any of those modules. Hence I will have only 3 semesters to clear all 7 of them. If I haven't started clearing any by next semester , all of my remaining semesters in SMU will be spent reading all the politics stuff.
Hence I have to make up my mind fast. However it is not fast enough. I didn't know that I need to declare my 2nd major before the bidding starts so I can't bid for any of the PS modules in the earlier rounds. I also have to abandon some of my earlier plans because of those modules.
Well, this is just a small price that I have to pay for something that I want. As Wai Hong has quoted in his blog, nothing worthwhile comes cheap. True indeed. Certain sacrifices will have to be made.
Enough of academic stuff. Recently I found a worrying trend among some of my friends. They have something in common: they all love to blame themselves and I found it scary.
This shows that they are all responsible bunch of people but who in their right mind will like to get blamed? No one should shoulder all the responsibilities in a team. Team means winning and losing together.
I really look forward to the coming holidays.
5-12 Dec: Myanmar OCIP trip
I think that it will be a good experience to see such a mysterious country. Although I don't think that we are going to change the lives of the people much, we will be the ones who will benefit more from the experience.
12 -15/16 Dec: Thailand??
Am thinking of going to Thailand after Myanmar so that I can save on some air- tickets. Thinking of going outside of Bangkok (Kanchanaburi or Ayutthaya) for a change of scenery.
16 Dec: Liverpool v Man Utd
Biggest fixture of the season. 'Nuff said.
18 -22 Dec: Mt Kinabalu?
I think this is a very highly probable trip. If it does go through it will be the first time I'm going overseas with the army guys. Also a good chance to remove any regret from 1999 when I didn't manage to reach the summit.
Anyway Liverpool has been stuttering for the past 2 months. And last night they suddenly whacked Besiktas 8-0. I'm happy but not too carried away. Only if we play with the same fluency for all the remaining league matches, then we may still stand a chance for the league title this season.
