An Open Letter
to SPM 2013 students.
Hello,
As you guys may or may not realized, the end of SPM examination
means that school is finally over. A new fresh wings are bestowed upon you as
you can finally take those precious steps into the outside world. 11 years of
incubation and preparation in school are all for these steps. As you step
outside your school’s compound for the last time, be it physical or
hypothetically, this question may come across your mind, “Now what?”
Many of you guys may think, “Hey, I’m free. Now I can relax and
enjoy my 6 months plus break.” Yes, you are correct. Do take a break. SPM
examination is a pain but remember, your break is not definite. These months
leading up to your SPM results and your enrollment to the next stage of
education (Assuming you are taking this step) is arguably the most important
time of your early adulthood. Six months is such a long time; there are much
that can be done. I’m here to guide you throughout this six months and
hopefully it will be a help towards you.
What
do I need to do?
1.
Character Building
Sure, take a break for two or three weeks or so, then start get
cracking. One thing that you really want to tackle upon is character.
Without doubt, character is one of the biggest determinants of life. Look
around and observe successful people around you. Their skills aside, all of
them has some sort of strong character which enables them to climb the ladder
of success. Character traits such as integrity, responsibility, dedication,
discipline and perseverance play a huge role be it in college or in life
itself. So, build them NOW. The time between post-SPM and SPM results is a
great time to do this because you have no pressure from school or homework or
assignment. This is your ‘ME TIME’ so, proceed smartly. Read self-help books. Read
biographies of successful people. Join a volunteering club. Join and fight for
a cause. Participate in seminars. Start a personal or group project. Build up
those characters now and you will see the results in the future. In my personal
observation, my friends who took up volunteering and start up a video project
about Islamic dakwah has a strong character and better start to his college
life than my friend who merely works part time for six months. Don’t get me
wrong, I am not wrong part time jobs are useless but it is highly dependable on
your goal of taking up that job. If it is solely monetary, then chances are,
you will not invest much into building up your character via the part time job.
2.
Skill Building
Aside from character, another important thing to work on during
your long break is your skill array. It compliments a strong character and it
is more concrete and easily seen by scholarship scouts and employers in the
future. Skills can go from something menial like cooking, sewing, household
chores to something complex like computer programming and website designing.
Whatever it is, if the skill is beneficial, take it up and learn it. Heck, it
might even be something you are happened to be interested in like photography
or singing. Nowadays, to learn a skill is fairly easy with the advent of
technology. Wikihow and Google can provide readily-available steps and methods
in learning a new skills. Youtube also has a wide array of ‘How-To’s video to
guide you in learning a skill. Not only by learning a skill you will get a cool
skill into your life, it helps into building your character too. For example,
learning how to play a guitar requires patience and perseverance as you
repeating boring scales and chords over and over again to get it right. This
builds up those character traits indirectly as you get better at it. And also,
having skill sets is important for socializing too!
PS: Learn the skills to learn faster and efficiently like mind-mapping, holistic thinking, lateral thinking. It helps your college academic work A LOT.
3.
Networking
Social media is a big thing nowadays but to have only a huge
quantity of friends does not and will not help you in the future. Quality
relationships, be it professional or personal, are a way to go. A relationship
network that is not too big nor too small is one of the key to a fulfilling
life. To start building up that network starts now. Go to social events or
volunteer for an organization. Don’t limit yourself to someone who is the same
age or shares the same interest as you. Open up to new friends and connections.
I found a group of highly motivated friends solely by serendipity in a blog
group. Soon, we became 94fs, a community that strives to inspire the 90’s
generation. A strong network is also essential for you to find opportunities
like projects and events. So, turn on your extroverted persona and get
socializing.
4.
Find Your Path
Arguably one of the hardest question to be answered. “What path of
life do I want to take?” The Malaysian university system works like a
specialization institute; you pick a course and specialized in it. Unlike the
US college system which I am currently in where students are given the first
two years of their college life to explore and decide their major and
concentration, you don’t have that liberty in Malaysia. So, like my previous
advice, start now. Research on possible degrees that might interest you and GO
DEEP. Yes, I intentionally bold and capitalized that because it is
something that 95% of SPM graduates failed to do and they jumped into the hype
bandwagon and ultimately screw up their entire life doing something that doesn’t
interest them. RESEARCH REQUIRES TIME. And such a life-changing decision won’t
come to you overnight. When I say ‘GO DEEP’, I mean to go find out everything
about that degree you can possibly find like job prospect, syllabus, the
knowledge you might get, its application in the modern world etc. Also, ask
yourself about your existing skills and passion and how can you use that to
make your decision easier. Let’s take myself an example. I went to a
Science-Stream school for my entire high school. I was born, raised and molded
into a Scientist of sorts. However, deep down inside, the job prospect of a
Scientist does not interest me as I was more interested in human interactions
and psychology. However, Psychology might not be suitable for me as I want a
more rigorous academic life with math and deep analysis. Then, I found
economics which essentially deals with humans (Behavioral economics FTW) and
requires A LOT of analysis and also theory crafting (I mean, come on,
speculating the world economy is crude yet so fun. Kay, I should stop
econ-fanboying) And that’s when I know which path I am going to take. You can
achieve that too! You just need to GO DEEP.
5.
Never be Afraid
More of a general statement than a legit advice. NEVER EVER BE
AFRAID TO STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. (Yes the caps is necessary) If you
never speak a word of English, for example, DO IT. If you never write an essay
just for fun, DO IT. If you never tried cracking a mathematical formula, DO IT.
Because during this slack time, exploration is easier to do because you have
nothing to lose, no grades to maintain and no homework to stand by your way.
Explore and see the world outside your own coconut shell.
Closing
Words
I
hope my 1000+ words of advice will help you guys. As a SPM 2011 graduate and an
avid follower of Malaysia education (Is this the correct term? Let’s just say I
always keep up with the progress of SPM graduates), I found out there are a lot
of lost souls after SPM. Even more heartbreaking, people with potential were
swept away in blissful ignorance as they burn out their ‘vacation’ and suffered
through college. Although, I have also seen people who are thought to be ‘without
potential or hope’ to rise up from mediocrity and rose to success. It is
possible. If I could do a research paper about the correlation between the time
spent effectively during this period after SPM and the student success in life,
I would do it. So yeah. Take my advice, young ones and may I see you at the top.
