[School] Post A levels to Uni- being an Economics major (NUS AY14/15 Y1)

Dear readers, Decided to make my blog alive once again. I'm such a slothful person, but I'm really keen to help people out there who really needs help and are struggling/ confused with life. I did decent for A levels in 2013. No straight As, disappointing grades for my strongest subjects, I felt that it was the end of life. How am i going to continue on my studies in a more highly respected faculty in a local university?

 My mother was exploding into madness when I told her of my results. It wasn't worth celebrating, definitely, but I think I deserved at least some sort of encouragement from her, since I wasn't in the best of mood after receiving my results. I was definitely delighted at the amazing numbers of perfect scorers in the cohort and also the number of friends who managed to head up on stage to shake Ms Lai's hands, however, inside me, I was sort of shaken at my mediocre results.

 Where am I supposed to go after the Horrifying A levels journey?

I could get into at least 2 of the major Faculties in NUS, NTU and SMU, but that didn't seem good enough for my mother, who's a very traditional parent that wants her child to be at least a doctor, lawyer, dentist, or whichever career equivalent.

I am very strong in Math and the Sciences, however, I couldnt imagine myself doing H2 Chemistry/ Biology/ Mathematics at a higher level at the University. Furthermore, I personally feel that the prospects of a Life Science major isn't as good as other more generalised majors. Probably because I still do not have a real goal in life, I wanted a major which was more flexible and general. (And I heard Math at the University level deals with 20 over levels of differentiation- and I couldnt imagine doing that for 3 or 4 years) Which was why I decided to do Economics at University. It involved Mathematics, which Im generally better at (compared to the other subjects).

My mother actually was quite insistent on sending me overseas to do Medicine, Dentistry or Law, but I kept telling her the school fees are not cheap and I have a very strong emotional attachment to both my mother and grandmother (which makes it even harder for me to leave the country for long periods of time- even a 5 day overseas trip makes me a little homesick *covers face in embarrassment*). So, NUS Economics was what I chose in the end.

Semester 1 went rather smoothly. I'll post modules reviews later on in other posts. I didnt join any CCA or external activities in school. I didn't really know how the university timetable is, so i just simply seeked the advice of my seniors who told me that I should have a 2 hour break in the middle of the day to have lunch with my friends.

I TOTALLY REGRETTED IT.

Although this time was useful for revision, I think 1hour is sufficient for lunch, especially if your previous lesson before your lunch break is a lecture (since lectures end 30minutes beforehand). I had a 4 day work week, with 2 hour lunch break everyday except Thursday where I had only 3hours of lessons (so i just placed it back-to-back). I felt it was a waste of time as I ended school (Monday-Wednesday) at 5pm!! *inserts sad face*

Sem 2 was slightly tougher and more hectic for me. It was also a demoralising semester. After learning from my 'mistakes' in timetable management from Sem 1, I decided to not have lunch breaks in between at all, and made full use of the 30 minutes after lectures to get food. This way, I managed to squeeze and pack my timetable into a 3day week, where I worked on the other 2 weekdays.

If you're thinking my plan is actually a good idea, frankly, 30 minutes is definitely NOT ENOUGH IF the timing falls between 12pm- 1pm, as this is the peak lunch hour for everyone (office staff, lecturers, profs, students). It's people mountain people sea at all eateries and canteens throughout the university compound. This is why I had to miss lunch for most of my days, and if lucky enough, get a waffle from The Deck (provided there was a short queue)

This Sem 2 was tough as it was either I understood the topics, but COULD NOT SCORE. OR, I could not understand the topics at all. OR, the module is too competitive (especially for open book examinations)

P.S If you think that open book exams are easy to score and striaghtforward, which does not require revision beforehand, then YOU'RE WRONG. I thought the answers would be straightforward, and I basically read through my lecture notes twice (to know roughly where to get the answer from), but I was stunned during the exams.

I did really badly for that midterm because:
Firstly, the lectures were not webcasted, and I often got to lecture slightly late so I probably missed some information here and there.
Secondly, the lecturer was Caucasian, and I have some difficulties understanding his accent. Thirdly, I didnt organise my notes properly (it was basically by lectures- but some topics were cross-listed!!) Lastly,, I was too lazy to search for the answers during the exams cos I had a 2cm thick notes plus cheat sheet from my friend (but still couldnt find the answers *facepalm*), which made me kinda give up nearing the end of the exam when almost 40% of the cohort have left the exam hall.

The midterms was 50%, and basically, 50% was gone- because of the reasons listed above (HAHA)

Basically, Economics is interesting as it involved models, graphs, and lots of mathematics. If you're interested to know more about the modules. Stay tuned to my reviews which I'll post really soon for Y1 Sem 1 and Y1 Sem 2 for AY14/15. Thank you for reading!

Cheers,
Rachel