Instagram photos by Siti Hanisah
Six months ago, I was spending most of my time after lecture sessions attending project meetings while working on my dissertation. Life as a final-year business undergraduate was hectic. Deadlines had to be met each week, 10 minute (yet crucial) presentations to prepare for and modules to revise. Today, I am a full-time working adult and am now into my third week here at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. My name is Siti Hanisah (or Nisah, for short) and I am the new kid on the block.
As a fresh graduate, I am wearing a new set of glasses. Not literally, but more like having a fresh set of perspectives: one where I find life after university so new, foreign and interesting. I am in a transitionary phase, from student to working adult. Some people say that job-hunting can be one of the most difficult things you have to do in life and I finally understood the meaning of this. I remember sending out countless of resumes, waiting eagerly for calls and having a lot of pre-interview jitters. Instead of making me demoralized, receiving those rejection emails in my inbox spurred me on. I have learnt to see such failures as lessons instead of punishments.
Many have told me that the working life is tiring and that they would prefer to remain in school and study. When I heard that, I immediately thought, “Study? I would rather work than to sit for the exams!” I was eager to be freed from my required readings list and memorizing of facts and theories for the exams. I was eager to see the world. I was eager to grow up. Of course, the grass is always greener on the other side.
As a young adult, there are so many things that I want to do and experience. Travel, learn a foreign language, volunteer in third-world countries, go sky-diving; the list goes on. At the same time, I am well aware that I should work hard and play hard too. The hard and soft skills that I learn and develop now will be very important for my future. Network, build and develop more friendships. Save more and (try to) spend less on clothes and live concerts. Start investing, not just financially but also in learning more skills.
Time flies faster than a bullet train and my time here at the Admissions Office and at Duke-NUS has been pleasant so far. I have met so many wonderful people and my colleagues from the Admissions team have helped me a lot in terms of making me feel welcomed and adjust to the working life here.
So now you are probably wondering, how do I fit in “upbeat” ?
Instagram photos by Siti Hanisah
Well, I am the social media girl. An active user of Facebook, a “Twitterer”, an addicted “Instagrammer” and a “reblogger” of Tumblr posts. I started to explore social media and fell in love with it since the early days of Friendster and have thus, moved on to Myspace and now, Facebook. This applies to blogging platforms as well: Blogspot to Livejournal to Tumblr to Wordpress and back to Tumblr again. In a nutshell, I will be posting Duke-NUS related stories, videos or links, which you will see every time you scroll down your facebook newsfeed or twitter timeline. Soon, I hope to be able to contribute posts to "upbeat”. Comments, “likes” and “retweets” are most welcomed and if you happen to see me around campus (or anywhere else), do come up and say hello!
With my new set of “glasses”, I cannot wait to embark on this exciting journey with Duke-NUS.
- Siti Hanisah
