Third year, second semester

This semester is the second semester of my third year. It is also the final semester of my undergraduate degree.

I am astounded at how time seems to have flown by in a flash. It really did not seem so long ago, only in 2009 in fact, when I first entered university in Australia. Two years were spent here in Brisbane, one semester in Leeds and now I am embarking on the last phase of my undergraduate journey. A friend recently asked if I looked forward to graduating. I admitted that I felt more sad than excited because graduation would mark the end of my undergraduate life, a life that I only began to settle comfortably into not too long ago. It has been a life of joy and discovery, save the occasional setback and difficulty, and I am sad to think university life might come to an end. There is also the prospect that, having graduated, I might have to leave Australia to go back to Singapore.

I probably won't be returning so soon, however. After my undergraduate studies, I firmly intend to embark upon my Honours year. It is both my parents' and my wish. I want to do my Honours badly, because it would give my degree that extra edge and it means that I can study in Brisbane one year longer. After my Honours, I'll look for a job in Australia or the Asia-Pacific region.

You may wonder why I seem so reluctant to go back to Singapore. It's not that I dislike Singapore; Singapore is deeply sentimental to me as the country where I was born and raised most of my life, where friends and family are and where good and cheap Singaporean food can be found. Yet, having travelled quite a bit and having lived in two countries already, I realize that the world out there is vast and many opportunities beckon. Singapore is small, not just in the geographical sense, but also in the sense that the local politics and social culture can be quite stiffling and constrained. Fellow Singaporeans would know exactly what I mean and I think many would concur. Singapore, I have come to realize, is too small for my dreams.


No, I won't be returning so soon. The greater world beckons and I am drawn to it. I will work hard towards my dreams and be the best that I could ever be. Second semester of my third year, watch me now.