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When I was doing my A-levels, I always thought that I would end up studying in England, America, Australia, Singapore or Hong Kong, the countries that most Malaysian students who took the A-levels examination will go after they graduate. But, I was wrong. In fact, I am now doing my degree in civil engineering at Tsinghua University, China. Surprise!
Most people who know me were so shocked to discover that I decided to pursue my study in China because it is a very uncommon path for Malaysians, especially when I am English educated since young. In my current university in China, we have to take classes and learn things in Chinese. YES, in Chinese. The university does provide some accommodating(special) classes for the international students but when it comes to our major subjects, they are all in Chinese. Luckily, I was in a SJK(C) primary school, and I did take Chinese language for my PMR and SPM, so communicating and writing in Chinese is not a big deal for me.
What really bothers is when you have to study Mathematics and the Science subjects like Biology, Physics and Chemistry all over again in another language. I have to be honest that it is really tough when you have to translate the stuffs that you have learnt into Chinese. A lot of pre-study is needed before you go to class or else you will have to expect a class that you can understand nothing. Don’t have to be too worried if you already accepted the offer from China the moment you are reading this. Well, I am still doing good here so I am pretty sure you can adapt well here too. It’s just that you will have to be slightly more hardworking than the others if you want to have better grades. I can show you my notes that has English translations in
every one of it.
Many people came to ask me, “Why not go to England?” “Why not Australia?” “Why not Singapore?” “What about Hong Kong?” “Why China?”
During my A-levels, I applied to many universities and I did get quite a few offers from some world ranked universities but in the end, I chose to come to China. Looking at the few countries that I have mentioned, we all know it’s hard for us to get a scholarship from these countries. You have to be the best out of the best in order to be qualified for the scholarships. I was not a top student nor did I have a very outstanding result. The offers I got did not guarantee me a scholarship and for those who offered me with scholarships , they did not offer a great deal. Tsinghua University gave me a scholarship that covers my school fees and accommodation and I only have to pay for my daily expenses. It is the best deal I got among the others. So, in the end I chose to be here despite of the fact that I might be struggling to study all subjects and my major in Chinese. I only have to maintain my grades and if I do I can have this scholarship throughout my four years of study here. If I get excellent grades, the scholarships might even be upgraded.
Looking at the bright side, why not Tsinghua University if you have a Chinese background? Although it may be hard to adapt at first but take a look at the world ranking: Tsinghua University has been in the top 20s for the past few years. It is a well-organized school and has over a hundred years of history. It may not be a common choice for students from all over the world to study here but I can tell you that I do have friends from all over the world. I have friends from England, America, France, Italy, Finland, Russia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Myanmar, Africa and more. You make friends from all over the world. See? Studying in China is not as bad as what people think.
One special thing in Tsinghua is that Sports Class is a COMPULSORY class for us. We have to attend a 1.5hours sports class every week. We have exams for this and the GPA counts. Besides sports class, we have to join some sports activities organised by our own faculty as it takes up a 20% of our sports grades. We have to attend at least once a week in order to get a full 20%. Well, an optional way to get this 20%, we have an app call “Run Again”. It records the times you run during the whole semester. So, we have to complete a 2km run for girls or 3km run for guys, 27 times in one semester to get a full 20%. The policy changes each semester according to the weather and the school you are in. I kind of appreciate having sports class here because it really improves my stamina through this 2 semester of studying here.
If you ever thought of studying overseas I am here to tell you a few things. Stepping out of your comfort zone is not wrong. Being different from the others is not wrong. If you are willing to get on this adventure to study in a different place, in a different language, I encourage you to do so. If you have always wanted to try things that people say you can never do, go try it. You never know who you can be till you try to step out of your comfort zone. The moment you step over the line, you see things differently. A whole new world is waiting for you to explore. There might be circumstances along the way to your goals, but trust me, if you have the courage to step out of the small circle u were in, you definitely have the power to face the challenges in life.
One of the questions that I get the most is, have you ever regretted your choice to study in China, in Tsinghua University? My answer is no, and it is still a no.
I have to say, studying with a bunch of super smart intelligent people is not easy. I often think that I am dumb just because they understand things faster than me. Despite the fact that I do not get grades that are that better than them does not mean that it is a wrong idea to study in this school. It pushes me to be better and better. Another reason is because I have a group of friends that I really like here. Studying overseas is not as easy as think because you don’t have a family here, and I’m lucky that I have them here.
Comfort zone often restricts us from what we are able to do. Once you try stepping out of it, you will be stronger than you can ever be. I get to try so many new things in this school. I learnt to play volleyball and joined competitions. I learnt to throw a frisbee. I was in the faculty’s cheerleading competition team. I joined the Faculty’s Student Council. I organized some important school events. I was the host that spoke in front of hundreds of people. These are things that I thought I will never try and I did it. Being in this school is one of the wisest choices I have ever made. I never regretted coming to this school because I discovered a better me here. I am so excited to explore more things that I can get in this school, so excited to know who I can be after four years of studying here.
University offers you the chance to find out who you really are. Grab the chance and embrace it tightly if you ever have the chance to further you studies in university. Feel free to visit me if you have the chance to be in Beijing. I would love to bring you around my school campus and I am sure that you will fall in love with this beautiful city.
Yeong Chien Hui is currently studying at Tsinghua Univesity, China.
"Loving Things I Do and Doing Things I Love :) Living life to the fullest as possible."