When There Is A Will, There Is A Way

Assalamualaikum and good day brothers and sisters.

Well, obviously, it's my first ever post in this blog. I've been following this blog for months and I felt like I wanted to contribute something to help the Farisians. It's just that, I have no idea what should I contribute since I don't even have any scholarships in hand and for sure, I can't speak of any interviews tips or scholarships because I failed to get one.

Anyway, I write this post because I wanna share some of my views and experiences about choices for future education and the decision making moment. I may neither have the best one or the worst one, but I'm pretty sure of myself that I made the right decision so far. I don't have any scholarships, so my spending here is restricted and I have to be careful not to spend my parents money on unnecessary things. But, yeah, still a kid, I foolishly spent on things that I don't really need. Haha. Lesson learned, pandai-pandai lah menabung.

Back to the main topic, I still remember the moment when I finished my SPM, I was so excited of the prospect of finding a job, work, hanging out and sleep anytime I want. The only thing I forgot, is actually the most important thing ; LOOK FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.

At the end, I missed a lot of opportunities to apply for some scholarships. Until now, I regret it but at least I learned a great lesson here.

You can enjoy as much as you want but never drag yourself away from the your path, your focus and your ambition.

Which, in my case, I was having so much fun ( really!) and I totally forgot what I should actually do for my future. ( Tu yang orang kata, enjoy biar ingat Tuhan!). For juniors, especially SPM 2010 leavers, mark my words yeah! Haha

So, after I got my results, JPA, MARA, Bank Negara and few other scholarships were all available for me to apply ( I suggest you apply for more private company's scholarships, you may get better luck with it!). So, I applied for JPA, Bank Negara, UEM and few others to do accounting and probably, my choice of study is one of the contributing factors I didn't get the scholarships because basically, the government are looking for those applying for engineering and medic. But, that's what I thought because anyway, I got rejected by Bank Negara and UEM too. So, I guess Allah wanted to show me something else and I have to work for it.

I went to almost all education fairs that were held around KL and Selangor. I found this education agent company, Studylink in Subang Jaya and that's how I found out about INTO Manchester, a college in Manchester. Currently, I'm studying foundation in Business and Humanities for 3 months already and 6 months more to go. Apparently, this foundation course is like a shortcut for me to start my degree in UK as northern UK universities accepts INTO College foundation certificate and instead of doing two years of A Levels, I actually shorten my period of study ( guess what, I'm happy because I don't really like formal study, haha) to start my degree. And it's actually easy as for me, I'm studying Economics, Politics, Mathematics and of course, English. Basically, this course guarantee you a place in university here even if you get C in your subjects but what's the point studying here if you just aim for a low end right? Some students here change from Maths to Business Studies because they already learned GCSE (SPM) level Maths. As for me, I don't wanna change it so that I can score as high as I can in Maths, it is called counting the advantage or opportunity cost of it. =)

So, with my foundation course, I can choose any university I want to study at based on the requirements and the expectations I get from my teachers for my final exams result. The better the expectations from the teachers, the better choice of university I can apply for. So, I made four choices ;

1. London School of Economics - Only 7 students in my college can apply for this university because we got all A's for our exams and we are expected to score A+ in final exams and I'm proud to say, I'm one of the 7 wonders. =)
2. University of Manchester - INTO Manchester students are given the priority for offers and that's why I don't wanna miss out this chance.
3. Manchester Metropolitan University - I have to make one safe choice, which means, if I fail to meet the requirements from the top universities, at least I'm guaranteed an offer from a weaker choice, a lower-rank university and MMU is my choice.
4. University of Newcastle - I have no idea why I choose Newcastle. Haha

I felt kinda stupid about that 4th choice, but forget it, I already submit my application form ( UCAS). UCAS is the form for students to apply for universities in the UK. UCAS website...

By the way, to tell you all, not only foundation in Business and Humanities is available, foundation in Science and Engineering also is provided here. If you are studying foundation in B&H, you can apply for any business and humanities related courses for degree at your preferred university e.g Law, Accounting, Management, Business, Economics and bla bla bla...
On the other hand, if you are studying foundation in S&E, you can apply for science related course such as pharmacy, medic, engineering and architecture.

The teachers here are so professional, facilities are awesome and one reason I would recommend Manchester to everyone is because Manchester is a student city. Student discounts are everywhere here, even for a haircut. Students here are treated nicely and Manchester itself is a modern metropolitan city with great transport system (the buses and taxis) and there is a lot of international and Muslim people here from all over the world. Moreover, there's a lot of Halal food restaurant and shops and the atmosphere here is great with great football pitch and crazy football fans everywhere. But of course, it's not perfect as the city is quite boring as shops close early, sometimes the weather is too bad and drunk people are everywhere every night. Anyway, it's still one of the best place to study.


So, that's about my college and Manchester. Now, to the main part. Early before, I mention about the course I preferred and actually I applied for scholarships being the reason I didn't get it, it maybe true. But that doesn't mean you have to choose the course that you hate or your least favorite course. There's nothing wrong in choosing any course but one thing  I learn is to observe the demand. As the government demand more science course students, I suggest you apply for it. You may say, I can't stand studying what I hate. Well, to tell you, some of the world successful people outside there, they don't even have a degree and some of them also have a degree which does not relate to their field they currently working. In the working world, what holds you to your job and what actually gets you the job is your personality.

Degree is just a passport to get the interview, to get the job and stay in the job is your personality.

Some business people, successful ones I mean, they have a degree, even a Masters in science or engineering. But they become business people simply because of their interest in business. So, there's nothing wrong in choosing whatever course that give us the edge and advantage to get the scholarship, it's just that, mind the consequences. If you choose to study chemistry but you always hated chemistry, you might face some problems studying it, because remember, university's subject is totally different from the one in high school. Imagine studying the subject you hate for 4 years, and don't blame anyone if you fail the course. But, at another point of view, we actually study subjects we never like in high school and still we passed it, so it's up to you. That's why the title of my post is when there is a will, there is a way. You decide your own future, your own luck.

About studying overseas, don't get upset of not getting it early, because you can always study overseas for your Masters or whatever your decision is, it's better late than never because one great thing about studying here, you can see the color of Malaysia from outside and that will widen your view. Have a plan B, in case you didn't get what you want or expect, and always be positive. Pray to Him and may He show you the path to success.



That's all from me.

Cheers~
Izzat Bin Mohamad Salihuddin

p/s : Adik2, kawan2, time2 cuti lepas SPM nih, try practice English. Malu bila dok kat sini, Melayu cakap English, sebut Coke jadi Cock. Bukan utk kegunaan study overseas je, utk di Malaysia jgk, as what I heard, most courses skrg blaja dalam English dah. Get use to it. Good luck! ;)