Overview of my life in SBS NTU

OVERVIEW OF LIFE AT NTU SBS.

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This post should actually be ” How not to make your life suck at NTU SBS “. Well, mine did, but yours shouldn’t. I was a direct second year student, which means I spent 3 years in uni. I am glad I got to save those few sems.

First year in uni, you are kinda fumbling around, getting used to the system, afraid that your poly stuff is not enough to survive uni (Honestly, poly was way slacker). But, it was okay, it’s just a little harder, maybe a few more hours per week. This is the year, your chance of getting hall space is 100%. I stayed at Hall 16, which was awesome! The best thing staying in hall, was my roomie. We liked the same things, had the same personality, had lots of fun till today. The both of us didn’t like the hall committee, they pushed people out if you weren’t from their hall camp. If you wanna blend in, join the hall camp! My block was the nearest one to the main campus, which means that I could steal some naptime in between lectures, do my very overdue assignments, sleep late till school. To get hall points, there is this whole complicated system. The system, simply put is to do some major flattery to people who matters. Hall life outside of my room is generally boring.

Then! I got to know about the exchange program in NTU, was called INSTEP then. You can only apply for an exchange program in your second year, my third year. So, okay, with all the dilly dally, I went for exchange during 2nd year, 2nd sem. WHICH! btw, was a fantastic idea. The modules that we had to choose from in that sem was dry and boring, well, at least to me they seemed like, so I was really glad I could skip them. So, I went to HKUST for one sem, modules are easily matched by Dr. Li, so all my modules for that sem were S/U-ed (pass/fail). I get to play and get credits! How great is that? But, SBS is young and ever-changing, please check if they did any changes to the system. This is actually the best experience I had in NTU. It doesn’t matter which country you go to, just choose your favourite.

Advanced courses in the third year were way more insightful than the tons of other modules you have taken. You learn more and I slept lesser in class. I took, immunology, evolution, muscle biology and genetics. There is no easy way out of this, just choose the modules that attracts you more. Enjoy your classes, this is your last sem of lectures in NTU before FYP. You will not have to study as much during your FYP, but at least to me, it wasn’t all that easy. So not easy, I have to dedicate another post for it….

Have fun in UNI. Remember to actually LEARN. It’s something I wish I had done more now that I in the “real world”.

The beginning or the end?

As a recent graduate from NTU SBS, I feel like I have a responsibility to guide my prospective or current juniors about my scientific career, though really really atomically tiny, I hope this blog helps anyone who needs it.

I am an example of a kid who did really badly in my early school years; primary and secondary school. Although my "O" levels were okay, mainly because my results were bad and my secondary school forced me to take easier subjects, that kinda changed my life, I guess? I vaguely remember how much I hated studying, failing tests with no regrets and just winging every class. Until... I felt the thrill and reaping my rewards for something I put so much effort into. That was the start and the end of my lazy days. Despite scoring well enough to get into Junior College, I chose the more "unfavourable" option of attending a polytechnic, SP DBS, which is the best decision of my life. My grades were good, not fantastic but good enough to get me to the direct entry to year 2 in NTU SBS.

That ended my student life and started my real life. "Real" as in, now, I have to put my knowledge to actual use. The very limited knowledge that I have. So minimal, it's driving me crazy. I want to do a PhD, I went to take my GRE test 2 days ago, yet, it still feels like my life is getting no where. I believe it's not something depressing, it's just the beginning of yet another part of my life's journey.