Back in primary school, being questioned about ambition by the teachers seemed to be very normal. Excited, every student would be so eager and proud to share his or her ambition to everybody in the class. Pilot, doctor, teacher, policeman and lawyer are the most popular ambitions and answers that could be expected by the teachers. These decisions were made mainly because of the influences by television programs that portray the professional looks of those people when they are working, and the attractive salary that they earn.
Moving on to secondary school, when everybody is being asked about his or her ambition again, most begin to doubt, some do not even have one (or most likely disappeared). These situations may be because they are confused of their own identity, that they are not sure about what kind of people they are. In this stage, they might be afraid of taking up responsibilities and accepting new challenges as they are unsure if they could handle those jobs well.
Now, in the university, some do not know what to study but are forced to study something just because they do not want to feel left out, as more and more of their friends begin studying something in the university. As in the case of some, in their final year of studying degree, they do not even know what job that they could do when they come out from the university later!
As for me, my doubts ended in secondary school, particularly in my last year of school before graduating. Of all the options I obtained from the website: pathologist, teacher, doctor, forensic scientist; and based on my secondary school results, Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), or the Malaysian Certificate of Education, I could definitely get into a good university if I had wanted. However, I had to give up on those available options because of the advice given by my teachers and family members. These were among the opposing remarks that I had received when I said I wanted to be a pathologist or a doctor.
‘Please don’t.’
‘You will have no life, as you will need to commit your hours or days to your patients in the hospital.’
‘You will have no time for your family and not to mention about finding a partnerin your life.’
Then I gave up on that option.
When I chose teaching as my future career, my teachers all advised me again.‘Please don’t try to be one.’
‘It is very stressful.’
‘You should try to do something big with the intelligence that you have.’Again, I gave up.
I admitted, at that time I did not have enough confidence and time to really sit down and think about a career that was suitable for me in the future. Despite doing the personality tests in my school and attending all types of education fair and career talks, I still did not
have any idea about my future occupation. When the day of graduation came nearer, I began to be anxious and nervous as I did not want to be a useless person in the society.
Out of the blue, I reminisced on what my Form Three teacher in the secondaryschool once told me, ‘You are suitable to study psychology, you are the psychological type of human.’ Well, she did not mention the reason for her words, which left a great question mark in my head: Why did she say so? I did not really pay much attention to what she said, because I did not put psychology into my priority list of careers at that time.
Not long after finishing my SPM, I began searching and researching all sorts of information, just to justify her sayings. Finally, I found it. I found a career that somehow suited my personality; outgoing, organized and responsible – a human resource manager.
In January 2017, I began my first semester of foundation year in UCSI University with full scholarship being awarded by the university. I still remembered, my first subject was Fundamentals of Oral Communication. I liked that subject very much and started applying what I learnt in my daily life. Soon, in the second semester, I had another communication subject, Human Communication, which I scored a GPA of 4.0 in both that subjects. I was extremely happy and delighted as I finally found my passion in a field that I had never really explored. I discussed this matter over with my family and got their support. My mother suggested that if I am really interested in that field, I could go on to further my studies in my Masters and PhD. So, right now, I am in my first year of pursuing the degree program in psychology in UCSI University, where I still insist on my future occupation – a human resource manager. This will be a reality in another 5 years’ time.
