Final Day of Year 3 (20/7/2020)

I submit the final report, this marks the end of my university life. This semester has been challenging for all of us as we are stuck in the comfort of our homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic that is happening around the world. Before e-learning took place, the thought of e-learning is staying at home, we don't have to get up early to get ready for going to campus. It's similar to working from home. When the reality of e-learning came in this nightmare, it was harder than we thought. 

First and foremost, distractions from family members. Even though we have set up the time to remind family members that we are attending "university" from home, they just walked in casually into the room which sometimes annoyed us all, especially when sharing a room. During the first day, it's quite alright but on the second day it's just walking into the room, which can cause a lot of "chaos". 

Secondly, the internet connection. Let's just face that technology really helped us a lot thanks to the Internet. Not all of us are lucky to have strong internet connections at home which led to some technical issues. If we are listening something important "in class", the internet connection cut off in the middle of the class and that would take some time to get the connection back. 

Thirdly, turning on web-camera or webcams. One of the reasons that our lecturers encouraged us to turn on the web-cams so they could see our facial expressions and body languages. Not all of us are comfortable turning on our web-cams "in class", as we could feel thousands of eyes are staring at us. Some students preferred to have their webcams turned off because the teaching content is more important. 

Fourthly, the absence of face-to-face learning. Although we were "in class", we couldn't sit next to our friends like we used to and talked before the lecturer comes in, instead, our computer screens replaced the physical presence. The Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia made the announcement that full face-to-face learning will be resumed in October. In July, campuses were opened as an early phase for students to come back to have access the facilities on campuses. That's all the challenges that were faced during online classes, gladly it's all over for now. 

Although I couldn't meet my course mates physically, we still keep in touch through social media. I'm lucky to have them in my university life. I bet you wanna know more about them right? I'll tell you one by one. First off it's my best friend, Pamela, I call her Pam for short. We bonded over a hand-made pebble ring during our short semesters in January 2018. As they always diamonds are girls' best friend, clearly the bling did the bring us close together! She is the best big sister that I could ever ask for! She is my rock both physically and mentally.  

Next up, another best friend of mine is Shree, I met her through Pam too. She has been my confidante throughout the semester, especially on the mental side of it because the final semester is always the toughest and the most challenging for any final year student. My mental health took a toll on me a couple of times, so we talked it out about the struggles we faced. 

Need someone to cheer up? We have Raphael and Co! I'm talking about Aloysius, Ben Kin, Chester, Desmond, Raphael, Shaun and Nasrin. They sure put a smile on everyone's face. At some point in conversations, I have no idea what was going on, they sure shine a light in my university life.  What's university life without any music and fashion? Carlson and Jinson are the people we are looking for! Fashion-wise, take a tip or two from Yuki, she always amazes me with her fashion, alongside with her PowerPuff Girls - Dayana and Shivani. 

We can't reset the clock, but I wish we could to put everything at a stop and enjoy the moment for that one bit, but surely we can go beyond labels to achieve our dreams. The journey is almost coming to an end, hopefully, we will meet each other again sometime in the near future.   

Back to University: Online Lecture (8/4/2020)

It's back to university! What am I going to do? I'm back in my hometown. I'm going to university online. It's true! All the classes for this semester will assessed online, which means university from home. Due to the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country, we are on the second phase of the movement control order (MCO), we're staying put until the order is over.

I'm all set for the semester cause I'll be here in my hometown, Melaka. Usually I will pack food from home and bring it to campus but this time I have home cooked food. Talk about going to classrooms, I have to wait to be at the lift by half an hour before class starts, cause by 15 minutes before class, everybody will be lining up and it will get squishy. At home, I set my alarm clock, have some breakfast and set up the computer an hour class, I'm good to go. It's advisable to wake three or two hours before class time, so we have enough time to buffer and get everything done. 

Recently, during the MCO period I was hooking up to games which I left off. Now that university has already started, it's the best to put a timer to time ourselves for not going overboard on the games. Do not miss any class no matter virtually or face-to-face and always be on time! It's a good practice, when we go to the working world punctuality is everything unless we have a leeway in between. 

Another tip on university from home is make sure the room that we are in is noise free, good connection of the Internet (sometimes we will face bad connection), a big study space to put all the university go-to "essentials" such as books, laptop, pencil box, phone, iPad etc. Most importantly make ourselves presentable, some lecturers want to see our faces, be confident and don't be camera shy. Also, have a good set of earphones if we wanna block out the noise around us.  

Instead of a physical classroom, we use Zoom as a virtual classroom to be connected with our lecturers and course mates. I'm really happy to see all of my course mates again. We may not see each other like we used before on campus but I'm sure we will meet physically one day. This semester is going to a bumpy ride, I hope I can achieve my goals! Hope everyone stays safe. 

Back to University: Year 3 Semester 2 (20/8/19)

The Malaysian school holiday had came to an end, for Sunway University students were no exception. It's back to university after a months' break! Usually around this time, our results will be released but it was announced a week before the new semester. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side this time. I'm not giving up! There's always a second time around.

I just left five minutes before the first class which was Investor Relations. I had a hard time looking for the looking for the classroom, luckily one of the staffs kindly guided me. As I reached the classroom, it was announced that lecture was cancelled and will be replaced tomorrow. I headed back down to the university foyer again. Pam, my best friend,  and I decided to meet up.

I was looking out for her, there was a photo of me was taken from the back. I turned around, Pam was walking to me. "Hi Kar Marn, long time no see! How are you?" we gave each other a big hug. "I'm good! I'm so excited for the new semester!" I said. We chatted all the way, and I thought, it's nice to catch up with your course mates after a month's break. We all also bumped into our fellow course mate, Nasrin, too! Nasrin and Pam decided to go to the library to chill and relax a bit, while I have a catch up with Hanis and Lit An.

Hanis and I were about to make a move to Subway for brunch, Lit An called. "We're coming in a bit," said Hanis. As a matter of fact, I had a quick catch up with my cousin while were on the way to Subway. Just down a few rows of shops and cafes, we made it to Subway. Also, it was a "late celebration" as Lit An just officially graduated from university.After that, Hanis and Lit An escorted me to my classroom for political communication- it was the same classroom that I went earlier at 8am.

Luckily political communication this time around is no exam, which means it's a 100% coursework. That doesn't mean I could just slack off easily, I need to give 100% of the effort that I need to put in as this is a core subject for my specialisation- Corporate Communication. Once the first lecture had ended, Pam and I headed for Family Mart to have our girls' day out with some ice cream to ward off intense heat.

We decided to drop by at the college link bridge to check out what they had in store. Apparently, SPAIR is having an event called Beyond Tomorrow, and two of our course mates, Raphael and Yuki, are apart of the event. We saw free packets of MAMEE but on the basket there was note stated that "free food upon registration". Raph kind of hurt himself a little when he was packing the bunting.

It's time for me to head home. This is my last chance to prove myself that I can do anything. When you ever doubt yourself, just remember those who always stand by you.

Back to University: The Final Year (25/3/19)

The school holidays for Malaysian schools have already started, as for Sunway University students it's the other way round, time for them to head back to university! Yes, I'm in my final year of university! I'm so excited! After my mum drops me off, my journey to the final year officially begins!

I'm heading to the library, I bump into my best friends Hanis and Ishaq. They are heading out for the moment but sadly I can't join them as I just arrived on campus. I decide to walk around a little before heading to the library. Sunway Peer Councelling Volunteer (PCV) is having a campaign called "Positive Me" to spread positivity around campus. I left a note and stick it to a positive tree. Positive tree, positive me! Get it? No, okay! Let's proceed to the journey.

The first lecture starts later in the afternoon today, so I watched some videos which are going to be taught later. I bump into Wai Loon, while I'm watching the videos. "Hey Kar Marn, how are you? Long time no see!" he said. "I'm doing good! What are you doing at the moment?" I ask. "Just some stuff to handle for the Chinese Cultural Society. How about you?" he said, I tell him that I'm watching some videos to prepare for the first lecture.

I left half an hour, I quickly pack up my stuff and double check to make sure that I didn't leave anything behind on the computer table. I head out of the library, one question pops into my mind: "Which side of the lift leads to the classroom? The East or the West building?" Why not try the East side? No harm trying! I have a star struck moment with Chef Patrick Siau while I'm on my way to lecture, whose team was the champion of the dessert competition in France earlier this year.

Sure enough, I reached the classroom! I look at the time displayed on the big screen. Really? Four minutes? That's fast! Usually it takes me about five to 10 minutes to get to class. Well, since I have the whole classroom to myself. I continue to watch the videos which I left off, Chelsea gives me a big fright when she comes in. Guess I'm too engross without knowing the presence of my course mate.

One by one, my other course mates start to come in. Before the lecturer comes in, Chia Ming and Sonia talk about their experiences on internship earlier this year. Not long after, Dr. Leong, our Political Communication lecturer, we were under her for Law and Ethics in Communication back in Year 2 last year.

After class, I bump into my friend, Pam. We chat about what we had done over the holidays and the subjects we are taking now. It's so awesome to see your friends again after the semester break. What could I ask more?

Join Katelyn in a whole new world, as she steps into her final year of university. One step closer to fulfill her dream