This post is dedicated to everyone who has been asked this weird question by your friends.
It was the orientation week in UPM. And i met this girl she was my old friend in school and i was happy to see her cuz i haven’t seen her in a while. So then i asked her what course are you taking and then she said major in ‘science’. I can’t remember the exact name of the course but i’m sure it was something scientific. Then she asked me back what course i’m taking. And then i answered degree in economics. She smiled not knowing how to react and then the conversation ended because the program was about to start or something.
That night in the dewan besar UPM. She sat in the row in front of me. I noticed her there and said hi. Then i don’t remember why the question suddenly came up but then she turned and asked me “Farah what happened?”
She was clearly asking why i’m not taking science anymore and why i got thrown to the faculty of economics of all the places. A simple question but it’s not the question that was bugging me it was your face and your tone of voice.
As if she’s saying what happened to you Farah? You were a bright, smart student in school with a bright future ahead of you. Did something happen to you in PALAM? Did your grades go down because you got involved with some shady people and got distracted by a cute guy or something? OR have you just gone stupid? It must’ve been a really bad spiral because you’re not even in the science stream anymore.
So then i answered “Well i didn’t really get a good CGPA in foundation so i could only qualify for this”
Then she nodded her head and smiled then we continued talking and stuff. But that question she asked have been bugging me ever since. And the way i answered didn’t really help. So now i want to clear the air and explain myself.
Firstly, i just want to say nothing happened to me.
I didn’t get distracted and i didn’t get involved with shady people. Yes i failed some of my subjects but that’s because i didn’t understand them, but not because i got distracted.
And secondly i decided to get out of the science stream before the second semester started. Not because of my CGPA. Because i was miserable. I didn’t want to be in the science stream anymore. And i can’t imagine myself working in some lab or in a hospital doing research or whatever. So i consulted my mom about getting out of the science stream and she was okay with it.
And now i’m glad that i got offered this course because i’m loving it. I love to learn about consumer behaviour theory and the supply and demand curve and i find it interesting.
Thirdly, i don’t think all those years studying science was a waste now that i’m studying economics. My lecturer said that science students usually do well in economics because their brains have been trained for analysing stuff. So it will be useful when you’re trying to tackle economic questions that requires you to do critical analysis.
And besides my time in PALAM was the best time of my life. I gained knowledge and valuable experience. And best of all i made friends and they’re the best and they haven’t asked me silly questions like “what happened to you Farah?”
And lastly i don’t think it’s fair to say that i’ve gone stupid because i’m no longer in the science stream. Economic students are smart, i mean most of them got 4 flat in their exams even the ones with the science background. And the syllabus for matrics and foundation are different. I’m saying they have different difficulty levels. ok i’m just going to leave it at that.
So the point is when you make a decision consult your parents because they have lived longer and they know you well and just follow your heart. Don’t make the mistake of making a decision based on what others might think of you. Like choosing to apply for a science course even though you don’t like it and it’ll make you miserable just because you were worried about what others might think of if you choose something else. It’s your life and people will comment but at the end of the day its still your life.
