Friday, August 24, 2007

the struggle.

With the introduction of the fourth publicly funded university in Singapore, one might question once again, the value of a degree. As mentioned by the PM, the fourth university will take in typically around 2400 students for their pioneer intake. With the surge in the number of degree-holders-wannabe in Singapore, the overcrowdedness problem is going to raise concern again. I foresee in the near future, the minimum requirement for a normal job might be inevitably raised to a Masters,or equivalent. Whilst the Singapore education system encourages pursuance of higher education, the government or rather the society must instill, in their citizens and budding leaders, that paper qualifications are merely a piece of the puzzle.

In my course of study,i see a constant struggle when it comes to grades. I feel that there is an accountant in us. We try our best to squeeze for that 0.1 or 0.2 in grade point average, and in the cause, we have neglected and overlooked the more important aspect of life, which includes character building and skill development. While all these seems generic and least important, they are still nevertheless the testament to one 's overall ability.

Those who have read up thus far might just think i am a sour grape. True enough, i did not score overwhelming results nor been shortlisted for any elite awards in my Uni life till date. Well..but i am not a sour grape cos i do not envy nor feel jealous over them. Because i always believe in this principle in life which is,Always underpromise and overdeliver.Those who have strong paper qualifications to back them up, well, get to enjoy a smoother headstart in their career and those who have real substance shall sustain and those who dun have will just have to be eliminated. At the back of my mind, i do know of people who are solid in the course and i placed my bets on them to make it. not all though.haha

Already at year 3. One more year to the temporary halt of a student life. Not too sure when and where but certainly, i will be doing either postgraduate or try for other certifications. The millenium saw the global shift towards achieving higher education in a bid to stay competitive.In Singapore, we are always affected by the global economic climate. Not much choices but to follow the trend- study more! In a year's time, its gonna be a struggle once again. The leaving of Shaker definitely is a big discount on the value and the prestige of the aerospace degree. Be it that he had low EQ or poor social rships, he stood strong and unwavered in his continued promotion of this course. A good leader is not neccessarily a popular one. He certainly won my respect in his decision-making skills and confidence he exuded. His leaving is undoubtedly gonna be adverse to our degree programme. Yet again, I start to question if i gonna live on this degree and be an engineer or to settle for the likes of other industries.

aerospace is booming, but how booming is it for local graduates and diploma holders. I certainly hope it wun follow the footsteps of its predecessor like life science.