Foreword
This blog was written back in March of 2018 by Alice Neow. At the time, she was a MSc Finance student while taking on the role of Chairman at a high school PTA while being the proud mother of two children and working a full-time job as a financial consultant; she is my mother. The purpose of this blog is to inspire others that nothing is impossible as long as you are determined to achieve your goals. Also, glad to have her on the SeanTheG team as a Senior Associate Editor!
In our family, we have 3 students of different levels. Younger child is in high school, her older sibling is an under-grad while I’m a post-grad student. The kids are cheering me on for PhD! As a firm believer of life-long learning, yes I hope I could do so as it has been my wish to do my PhD before I kick the bucket. For now, let me settle my Masters first.
Based on my experience, being a college student at the young age right after high school was much better than being a mature student. When you are a young college student, all you really, seriously need to worry about is making that grade at each exam. Your time is spent mostly on attending classes, studying in the libraries, meeting friends, traveling during the semester breaks and occasional parties. For some, with the inclusion of part-time jobs.
As a mature student, with family and a job, it is tough to try to fit in as many tasks as I wish, into the same amount of time everyone has. Weekdays are spent doing full-time job, attending to family and weekends for full-day classes. There is no break in between as all 7 days are taken up. Most time, studies get attended to after doing works which I’m paid for. Family is important too, and will have to settle the kids first before I get to do my assignments. My take is, if at all possible, study as much as you like before you settle down with a family. Studying while working is not easy but you can handle it best when you are single.
I started my course when my son was still in high school. Usually most part-time mature students complete their masters within 2.5 years. I’m not that model student. It has taken me 5.5 years to finally complete my MSc Finance (pending thesis approval). At the beginning of the MSc journey, I went through all the required 10 courses, core and electives combined, as scheduled; but I ‘wasted’ 3 years after that, lying idle – where my thesis was concerned. Those 3 years I spent every wakeful hours, with very little sleep doing financial advisory works for my clients and being active in the PTA at my children’s school. At that time, I felt that my job and the PTA needed my attention more than the thesis. The only sin I committed was getting too committed to my job and executing my role wholeheartedly in the PTA. Of course, there’s my family, occupying my 24/7 – on top of the list.
Finally, in December 2016, I left the workforce hoping that I could switch my focus to completing my thesis while serving the PTA. That move certainly took away quite some weight off my shoulders. Where the thesis was concerned, it was tough to pick up from where I left off. Kind of like the engine had gone icy cold. It took some time for me to warm up to resume writing.
When I first started writing my thesis, the abstract to be exact, I thought I could write just about anything, easy-peasy. I was so wrong! My first dissertation was done way back in 1997. Today, at post-grad level, the expectation and standard of writing is much higher. I admit that I was struggling a lot with it, moving at snail pace. Finally, a friendly lecturer advised me to read between 50 to 100 journals before beginning to write my thesis. I was reluctant to stop writing to make a u-turn to reading more journals. I didn’t get her then. When the same advice was repeated by other lecturers, including my supervising professor, it started to dawn on me that, like it or not, I had to do just that if I wanted to complete my thesis. Yes, it was dry and boring stuffs, reading almost similar contents over and over again but by different authors. Dozing off while reading was a normal scene, even with a cup or two espresso to accompany. Reading relevant journals wherever I was, whenever there was a pit stop while sending and fetching daughter for her school activities and running chores. Now the best part…Having read through past researches, I discovered that the more I read the clearer my mind became. Ideas started pouring in and a structure was slowly taking shape in my mind. Finally, after all the hard work, right before the PTA AGM 2018, I completed my thesis. Yay!!!
For students reading this, whenever your teachers advise you to read more books, you know why now. It helps to enhance your writing skill and boost your creativity. It also helps you to see a clearer roadmap ahead on how to write your essays, project papers or thesis. There is a standard pattern to academic writing. The only difference between one author to another, is incorporating your thoughts or personal opinion into your writing. How we perceive a certain subject is different from the next person. That is why we cannot copy others’ works and treat it as ours. Treating others’ works as ours is committing plagiarism. It is a very serious offence in the academic world. Therefore, be mindful when you write your papers. I believe in my own work regardless how long it takes me to complete it, no matter how imperfect it may be. I’d like to look at the finished product with pride in my eyes and clear conscience in my heart. It takes a bit, or rather much longer in my case, slowly but surely I completed it. That’s what matters.
Being a student is FUN. Yes, you read me right. If you think it sucks, you have not entered the workforce yet. Part-time isn’t really into the workforce yet. Almost there but not there yet. That’ll be another post to cover. Right not, enjoy being a student with exams, assignments and projects to worry about. Take a step at a time. If you ever have any issues, always talk to your counsellors or advisors. Some unis have student advisor, some unis assigned academic advisors and career advisors to their students. Meet with them often to seek guidance. Be not afraid to admit that you are weak, for the ones who seek are the ones who are actually strong. There are always people around you who are willing to extend their hands to you. All you need to do is grab that hand and let yourself be led till you get yourself on your feet again. When you do well, volunteer to help others.
I hope you get to learn something from this post. All the best for your studies. Take a break when you need to but do not give up!
Cheers~
Alice
Read full post at: https://mytrove.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/life-as-a-student/