University life.

   Its amazing how much of education one has to endure before qualifying as a functioning member of society. Theres 6 years of primary. Then 5 years of secondary. Then close to 2 years of PreU. And finally, after 13 years of education, you come to the final stage, University. Of course if you take Form 6, it'll feel much longer since you're stuck in school with school uniforms and teachers and school rules to deal with when the rest of the world is out there living it up in college. But he's finally here.

    The biggest change that you have to deal with, is the fact that no one tells you what to do, where to go, how to do it or does anything for you. Which is what you would call freedom. Total freedom. To chose what to wear, whether to go for class, when to sleep, when to eat, or not to at all. And its absolutely awesome.

  They say that once you've done STPM, you will coast through your first year. Well so far, that seems to be true. Math is easy, there Drawing which is fine as long as you do your assignments, theres Mechanics which is sort of like physics but relevant to the Civil Engineering field, which is a little tough, Management which is easy, and Materials which is basically theoretical knowledge of concrete and steel and such that you just have to read and memorize. Then theres things that you have to take, like TITAS which basically a repeat of Sejarah, and English. And to top it off your final exam rarely accounts for more than 50%, with the rest coming from quizzes and tests. Once you've done STPM, nothing is impossible really.

  Classes arent too packed either. Most of the time its either 2 or 4 hours each day, which gives him quite a bit of free time.  Still theres usually an assignment or  a test to keep you occupied the rest of the time. But that doesn't mean you wont see him on facebook all the time. He multitasks.

  As for extra-curricular stuff, well theres DEBATE! Never expected a debate society in UNIMAS, but he signed up as soon as he found out, and now goes for training every week with the seniors, who seem like cool people he could get used to very nicely. They even have a trainer, a "super"senior who's doing his masters and has been in all the big competitions like Worlds and such. Which is all good since he's never had the experience of being properly trained before. Of course Uni style debating is very much a different prospect to high school debates, and he's still getting used to the British Parliamentary format and the debating styles. The uni is even hosting a big competition in October, so it'll be great exposure to watch uni debaters do their thing.
 Definately something to look forward to with just a tinge of excitement. Okay maybe more than just a tinge.

  On the weekends, he goes to church with a bunch of his seniors, after which theres always some gastronomical adventure when it comes to lunch. Kuching food is a culture on its own. Pork Satay anyone? Or the famous Kolo Mee? After which sometimes they watch a movie, or hang out at the mall, depending on the situation. Definitely a fun bunch to hang around with.

  Living on campus. Well this is something thats new to him. Sharing a room with a roommate and an apartment with 3 other people requires a certain amount of tolerance and give and take. To what degree of tolerance would depend on how tolerable the people around you are. But he doesn't have it too bad, he has a decent roommate who is friendly, clean and very accommodating, so they get along fine. The other guys aren't too bad either. Apparently boys can be quite clean. Especially those with prior experience of living n a hostel. Of course theres the out of tune singing of Malay ballads(its happening as he types this), but you just get used to it after a while. Or you can just turn up your own music and start singing too. You know, give and take. The toilets sometimes stinks of cigarette smoke when other people come by, but then again, toilets generally don't smell that good anyway. Worse comes to worse, there being 2 bathrooms and 2 toilets means you always have a choice, but more importantly, you hardly ever have to wait when theres a real emergency.

   You really do start to miss your washing machine when you're living on campus. Having to hand wash all your laundry can be a painstaking exercise, but it does help to keep the bathroom or toilets clean(depending on where you wash). As for cooking, officially its banned. But you can go a long way with a jug kettle and a sandwich toaster. Omelette's, soup, and pretty much anything that says "Just add water!". Anything "instant" is possible.

  Its been close to 2 months he's been here, and after the initial period of adjustment, he can honestly say that he could get quite used to Uni life. Nevertheless, he can't wait to get back home for the Raya break. It may be only 11 days away, but its always the last few days that seem like the longest.

  You might expect him to tell you, after having a whole half a semester of experience, that Uni life isn't all its made out to be. But that would just be a lie.