Life is Full of Choices | Stories About The Beginning of My Lecture
“Choose the majors that easy to find a job for your future” that what my Mother said to me when I confuse to choose the major of further education in University. At 17 years old, I was graduated from my senior high school and prepare myself to become a college student. I know it’s too young for me unlike my friends where the average of them is 18 years old. All my friends know what they will do after graduation and what majors they choose for themselves except me. However, my friend told me to take a department that matches to my skills. Basically, I have skill that dominated in technology because I like to tweak computer’s programs. In the end, I choose the majors of informatics engineering at Syiah Kuala University and I did not pass there.
It makes me a little depressed, not only me but some of my friends also feel the same way as me. But I still have the second chance to be a college student, so I enrolled in Islamic University of Ar-Raniry. And again I was confused in choosing the majors that I have to choose because the majors of informatics engineering in Islamic University of Ar-Raniry different with Syiah Kuala University. I always have a problem in deciding a thing, because I always think about the negative things that will happen in the future. However, my Mother always supports me from behind, and she always gives me advices. She advised me to choose the majors that easy to find a job and consistent to my body condition. Actually my body is slightly different from ordinary people; there could be a bone shift in my body, so I cannot do heavy work.
After I think a lot, I was decided to choose English Education majors to study in college. I think this is a good choice for my future and some people said graduates from English majors will be easy to get a job. I was thinking with mastering English it will be easier in studying other science generally, especially about technology and using English as a tool to communicate with foreign people. Day by day, after I took the college entrance exam I finally got a degree as a student college from the English department. That is not the end of the struggle to become a college student but this is just the beginning, the beginning to learn English from the basics, to get good grades in every course, and to find new friends who can justify me when I am wrong.
In the first day in campus there is usually have an orientation activity. In this first day I hope I can get a lot of friends, but in reality I can only approach my old friend. It's very hard to get close to people that I do not know their characteristics and what topic they like. And also all those present in the orientation activity come from various regions, it makes me more nervous to interact with others. In this orientation activity, senior students teach us about everything related to the campus, such as how to communicate politely with lecturers, how to be a student who success in future and they also invite us to join the organizations that have been formed on campus. And also a senior student separates us in a group whose member is just the same department. I think this is an opportunity for me to get friends who are the same majors as me. After 3 days following this activity, in the end I can only get one friend with same majors and also same region with me.
After the campus orientation activity ended, I also have to follow the matriculation activities for a month which held by the campus and must be followed by every new student. Each matriculation class consists of students of the same majors and here is only taught material of Arabic and English language. On the first day I attended the activities, none of the students I knew and also in the class were more female students than male. It makes me nervous, because since from high school I do not like to communicate with females for several reasons. I was realized “how bad I did not get friends during orientation, and now there's nothing to talk to”. In break time, 5 male students invited me to talk with them. They are funny guys; every day we talk a lot of funny stories. I was so glad be able to share funny stories with them.
As time went on, matriculation activities ended and I was separated from my matriculation class mates into each unit to attend lectures like senior students do. And again in my unit there are only 5 men including me, I do not know why male students from our department are only a few. However, I need to be able to adapt to new classmates and have to be able to interact like my friend before. So I was share funny stories to them so we can make friends as well.
One day on the first day of the meeting, we were told to introduce ourselves to know each other. When it is my turn to introduce myself, I explain all about me and also the reason why I was taking this course. My lecturer asked me "why do not you take two majors at once, as the saying goes 'kill two birds with one stone'". And I replied "it's not as easy as you say, one course is not necessarily easy for me to learn". Where every day there are lot assignments to be done, even less take two majors maybe there will be no time to rest again.
In the end, I was also grateful to be a college student and could develop my skills, although it is not a subject that I want. But by being able to master English I can easily explore other science. I was realized that to be a college student is not as easy as I imagined, because it relates to the future what I will get later.