A-Levels And Biotechnology Degree In UCSI

When I graduated SPM, I and my dad sat down and we had a very serious conversation, and the topic was about me pursuing medicine (you know that won’t be going good starting from that very second your dad want to talk to you). Long story cut short is that I wasn’t able to study what I had always wanted, medicine due to various reasons. At that point of time, I’m really lost and helpless and nothing seemed to be helping me out of that labyrinthine. In the end I cleared my mind and told myself: you still have time to think about this again. I picked myself up, and started looking for pre-U studies option instead of looking way ahead in picking my degree. Sometimes, not looking too far ahead actually helps a lot especially when you lost your goal. 
 

There I was stuck between making my 1st crucial decision in my life: STPM or pre-U programs? In the end, I choose to do Cambridge A-Levels which was what most of my friends are doing, and then comes the next question: where? I did a lot of surveys on private colleges and universities, taking in living expenses, accommodations, tuitions fees and lots of money involving matters (money is so very important, really, trust me) into considerations. After all the brain cracking and calculator works, UCSI University was what I choose. 
 

I won’t say UCSI University as the best out of all the other available choices, but it’s the best I could afford. It has great facilities, the studying environment are great, the tuition fees and accommodation are affordable and MOST IMPORTANLY THE SCHOLARSHIPS! The scholarship UCSI University had offered to me is the best I could get out there! To be frank, I did get another better offer but I really liked UCSI University’s environment compared to the other institute and so TADA UCSI I CHOOSE YOU!

 There I started my 1.5 year of A-Levels journey in UCSI University. I must say the decision I made was pretty brilliant. The lecturers I had were very experienced in teaching and the lab session taught me a lot and had prepared me well for my degree. I must say I still refer to my A-Level notes given my lecturers up until now. I did mention that I struggled with physics back then and the person who helped me the most is none but my dear physic lecturer. His way of teaching and his notes are just brilliant and he always took a step further and gave us extra classes to prepare us for our exam (Thank you sir! You made me like physics again!).
 

In my A-Levels days was also where I found my new goal, a path I decide I’ll walk on. In the last 2 chapters of A-Levels biology was where I get to know biotechnology. At that time, biotechnology was so new to me that what the lecturer taught in class sounded like alien language to me. 

 

I couldn’t just let it go and stay all confused about the 2 chapters (It’s coming out in exam! How can I ignore it?!) so I did some online researches about biotechnology. And this was where the door heading towards a whole new world was opened to me. 


When I read about biomedical sciences aspect of biotechnology, I found a new route for me to fulfill my dreams of pursuing medicine. I was told that I could help to cure certain diseases using biotechnology, which somehow relates to medical field. That is when I got really hocked up with biotechnology but still I had hesitations of studying the subject. Well it is human nature to be afraid of something unknown, and for me biotechnology I indeed very interesting bit still it’s a totally brand new territory. 
 

What made me to decide on pursuing biotechnology was a talk with my uncle living in America. At that time, I was still hesitating whether to pick pharmacy or biotechnology. I was told that biotechnology was the emerging industry in America and there are a lot of opportunities for biotechnology there. Eventually I choose biotechnology over pharmacy (actually I was not really into pharmacy too…). 
 

After deciding on the degree that I would be pursing, the next choice would be where to study. I had surveyed several universities including Nilai University, Sunway University, MAHSA University and of course UCSI University where I had spent 1.5 years studying A-Levels. I ended up crossing Sunway and MAHSA out of list of considerations because they offer biomedical sciences instead of biotechnology. Surely, I am interested in biomedical science but it is just a sub-category of biotechnology. I wished to explore more into biotechnology and maybe I would find something other than biomedical science which I may be more interested in instead, who knows maybe I’ll be interested in agriculture biotechnology instead (nope still not very interested even I’m in my 2nd year already). 

Therefore, I’m left with Nilai University and UCSI. I was offer scholarship from both universities but eventually I chose UCSI over Nilai because I am more familiar to UCSI University and its environment. 
 

After all considerations and lots and lots of thinking, at last I got myself back to track and somehow get a glimpse of what I will be doing in the future. What I had really learnt in my journey of astray (so lost… really so lost…) is that whenever a door is closed for you there is always an opened window somewhere. The real matter is whether you would just stay down and grunt on fate or you take a step out of your comfort zone. One must always remember that life does not just goes as one pleased, one must adapt to it. It somehow reminds me of a Chinese speaking: life is like rape, if one can’t resist it just enjoy it. It may sound very wrong but life isn’t just all about what you like and what you want, life in many ways is a jerk himself.