Overseas Studying Experience in Australia is over-rated
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err this is silly. Why the hell do u want to study at anywhere cos its glamourous and prestigious!? Not like its some finishing school for ladies!
I'm not sure how my studies in Australia changed me. I think for one thing, it made me far more independent since I lived more or less alone. Made me more assertive in making friends, and appreciate them more. Made me closer to my parents, who weren't there, but showed support from here. And other friends too.
Learnt how to be alone and not feel lonely. :)
I think studying overseas is a good opportunity to understand yourself and your limits and then push them in the comfort of unfamiliar and new friends who would not discourage you when you want to try something new, and who haven't yet 'label' you as any 'type'
Unfortunately, I have also seen too many people foul it up due to their lack of self restraint when given the sudden freedom.
:)
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Don't see what the fuss is about. As some of you guys have already observed, whether a place rocks or sucks is up to the individual.
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maybe sg'reans only know about sg and dun get around much , mixing with different races and country people and self-preservation too much , kiasu, kiasi, kiasai, hello kitty syndrome, neighbor-no-talk-each-other syndrome, stressed and unhappy people. so they go overseas, also like that lor?
i no no de.
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i know how the exterior of the "box" looks like...
do you?
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hi kids its a STRAITS TIME REPORT and since when do they not publish things in the best interests of the state? this source is completely biased and an unmasked attempt to prevent brain drain and typically putting the state far in front of the invididual
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Boring or overated ...depends on U.
I had a lot of fun studying in Australia. The problem is Singaporeans keep to themselves and are too quick to say neg things abt Australia.
We must accept Australia and the way they chose to live.
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my fren looks extremely happy in all her photographs taken during her stay in monash..
=)
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"Singaporeans at Aussie varsities a lonely lot: Study
Young Singaporeans are the loneliest of overseas students at Australian universities, a new study has found. Every single one of those surveyed by researchers from Victoria's Monash University and the University of Melbourne admitted to feeling friendless and isolated. Students from Malaysia, Indonesia and China were not that much happier, according to the study. Overall, 67 per cent of female and 62 per cent of male international students said they experienced 'periods of loneliness and isolation' Down Under. Some of the young men and women polled said they felt like they were in 'a very strange place' and likened their experience to being 'lost in a jungle'. "
So yeah. if ordinary mortals. aka Singaporeans cannot even adapt to uni life in Australia, how more can they adapt to settling down in Australia?
Fundamentally, Sg students need to open up, be less culturally eccentric and for God's sake, go mingle with the Angmors and not merely mingle with ur pathetic villagers aka the SG students' Union.
Frankly the issue is a lot of the singapore students who end up in australia just have enough money to study there , they are from family who just have enough to spare to sent them there.
You cannot compare them to Malaysia or Indonesia or china students ... who are more well off ....!!!
Got money, you can afford to explore australia more, and experience the culture and live there. If not enough money... beside stay at dorm and study hard... what can you do !!!Remember a lot of singapore students goes there because NUS they cannot get in..... aust is the next best thing ... they are not there enjoy oversea study life.
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Originally posted by storywolf:
Frankly the issue is a lot of the singapore students who end up in australia just have enough money to study there , they are from family who just have enough to spare to sent them there.
You cannot compare them to Malaysia or Indonesia or china students ... who are more well off ....!!!
Got money, you can afford to explore australia more, and experience the culture and live there. If not enough money... beside stay at dorm and study hard... what can you do !!!Remember a lot of singapore students goes there because NUS they cannot get in..... aust is the next best thing ... they are not there enjoy oversea study life.
lots if you think about it. Like it was said before, it is how you see everything. either your cup is half empty or half full. If you are already there, make the most of the situation and your circumstances. Why must Singaporeans always equate being able to do things with money. Sure it helps, but one can be creative.
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Originally posted by storywolf:
Frankly the issue is a lot of the singapore students who end up in australia just have enough money to study there , they are from family who just have enough to spare to sent them there.
You cannot compare them to Malaysia or Indonesia or china students ... who are more well off ....!!!
Got money, you can afford to explore australia more, and experience the culture and live there. If not enough money... beside stay at dorm and study hard... what can you do !!!Remember a lot of singapore students goes there because NUS they cannot get in..... aust is the next best thing ... they are not there enjoy oversea study life.
during my stay in australia, i learned and experienced many things that are not taught in NUS...
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Originally posted by storywolf:
Frankly the issue is a lot of the singapore students who end up in australia just have enough money to study there , they are from family who just have enough to spare to sent them there.
You cannot compare them to Malaysia or Indonesia or china students ... who are more well off ....!!!
Got money, you can afford to explore australia more, and experience the culture and live there. If not enough money... beside stay at dorm and study hard... what can you do !!!Remember a lot of singapore students goes there because NUS they cannot get in..... aust is the next best thing ... they are not there enjoy oversea study life.
Whoa, ease up there, wolf. That's a lot of asusmptions you're making.First, as Breyton has noted, money's not the deciding factor. Hell, I got around all right on a budget over seven years that I saw other Singaporean students spend in less than three. I bought a car for $1500 and it got me around good for four years - who needs gobs of money when you know how to spend it right? I agree with Breyton - you can either sit around and moan about not having enough money no matter how much you have, or you can grow up and deal with what you've got.
Second, that "I have no life because I have to study" story just doesn't cut it. In my Honours year, I was a full-time student, worked the maximum 20 hours allowed every week, did an internship, tutored other students, was part of the student union and still managed to have a social life. At the end of that, I got into a class of 12 postgrads out of 1200 applicants. Where there's a will, there's relatives ..., whoops, there's a way.
There's only two things in life - results and excuses. Those who don't choose results only have themselves to blame, not money, not time, not ANYTHING.
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Originally posted by Gedanken:
Whoa, ease up there, wolf. That's a lot of asusmptions you're making.First, as Breyton has noted, money's not the deciding factor. Hell, I got around all right on a budget over seven years that I saw other Singaporean students spend in less than three. I bought a car for $1500 and it got me around good for four years - who needs gobs of money when you know how to spend it right? I agree with Breyton - you can either sit around and moan about not having enough money no matter how much you have, or you can grow up and deal with what you've got.
Second, that "I have no life because I have to study" story just doesn't cut it. In my Honours year, I was a full-time student, worked the maximum 20 hours allowed every week, did an internship, tutored other students, was part of the student union and still managed to have a social life. At the end of that, I got into a class of 12 postgrads out of 1200 applicants. Where there's a will, there's relatives ..., whoops, there's a way.
There's only two things in life - results and excuses. Those who don't choose results only have themselves to blame, not money, not time, not ANYTHING.
Gedanken, those who say money is not the deciding factor that is because they are better off then the rest !!! They have it , so to them it is never the deciding factor !
Yes 2 things in life - results and excuses !!! - yours is a sorry excuse for someone who can easily put $1500 into a car and pay for petrol .... other would have use it for rent and food instead ....
So by your logic - people only have to blame themselves if they got no money !!! Some people may have more pride then to go beg relative or rob ... !! You sound too PAP !!! -
You wanna ease up there, sport? Go check your facts and see what the average Singaporean student's budget is before you start with the attitude. If you think it's less than the $700 (yes, seven hundred - I didn't miss a zero) a month I ran on, you're dreaming - I WORKED for everything else, instead of kicking back and crying about how unfair life is. Keep the pontifications about being "better off" to yourself because it smells like an excuse to me.
Beg? Rob? Ever heard of working, or are you really that useless? Since I got myself set up here 14 years ago, I've never been unemployed for more than 48 hours at a stretch so, yes, people only have themselves to blame if they have no money here. Hell, you want to talk about having no money? Look at students here from countries like Nepal, which limit the amount of money that can be remitted out of the country. These students just shrug and get on with finding jobs, unlike other whingers who make excuses that robbing and begging are the only courses of action open to them.
Have you actually been here, much less studied here? Do you have any firsthand experience with what goes on with Singaporean students here? Can you put forward any Singaporean students in Australia who lived on less than $700 a month? Or are you just making things up?
Even more fundamentally, the issue here is that Singaporean students feel friendless and isolated. Do you have to buy your friends? If you do, I really pity you. Tell me, how much does it cost to talk to someone you meet?
If you want to be one of life's natural losers, knock yourself out making excuses for being too much of a coward to take any opportunities that come your way. Just don't try taking it up with people who would rather do something with their lives - it'll make you even smaller than you already are.
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Originally posted by storywolf:
Gedanken, those who say money is not the deciding factor that is because they are better off then the rest !!! They have it , so to them it is never the deciding factor !
Yes 2 things in life - results and excuses !!! - yours is a sorry excuse for someone who can easily put $1500 into a car and pay for petrol .... other would have use it for rent and food instead ....
So by your logic - people only have to blame themselves if they got no money !!! Some people may have more pride then to go beg relative or rob ... !! You sound too PAP !!!Did you not read what Ged did? He worked, had fun and still did well. I worked while I was studying, and earned my keep and I know many others who were in the same situation. I think you should ease up like Gedenken suggested. The bottom line is your life is what YOU make of it, not someone else.
I sense you are very frustrated, how come? What's eating at you?
Just curious, so who do you blame when you have no money?
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i am so motivated to hear from forumites having a never say die attitude over in australia. I am too not from a well to do family but i am planning to study there after my NS. I do not care how difficult or challenging it is going to take for even if i have to work for 2 years to save up i will do so too.
oh i heard from friends over there if you do not have another life other than studying over there, its kinda wasted. I agree on that point too even though initially i thought you shouldn't waste hard earned money by having fun over there. It is like one must have a fair share of hardwork+fun over there to make things memorable and bring back an exclusive experience. =)
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Good call, bas. Going overseas to study is as much a coming-of-age experience as NS is. Both put you out of your comfort zone and create situations in which you can really grow. One of the lofty ideals behind hiring graduates is that they are supposed to bring a fresh perspective to their jobs, and having been exposed to different cultures (and by extension, different ways of looking at and doing things), this is ideally where an overseas education would provide you with even more of an advantage. If you go overseas and learn to look at things from a different cultural perspective, that's an additional bit in your intellectual toolkit that you can take along anywhere you go.
That said, as glad as I am to be away from Singapore, one thing I will say in favour of having grown up in Singapore is that learning to grow up without a safety net was a good formative experience. Right from the word go, Singaporeans were expected to take care of their own business - if you fell behind, you were on your own. It builds the resilience you will need if you're going to push yourself out of your comfort zone and still perform.
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Originally posted by Gedanken:
Good call, bas. Going overseas to study is as much a coming-of-age experience as NS is. Both put you out of your comfort zone and create situations in which you can really grow. One of the lofty ideals behind hiring graduates is that they are supposed to bring a fresh perspective to their jobs, and having been exposed to different cultures (and by extension, different ways of looking at and doing things), this is ideally where an overseas education would provide you with even more of an advantage. If you go overseas and learn to look at things from a different cultural perspective, that's an additional bit in your intellectual toolkit that you can take along anywhere you go.
That said, as glad as I am to be away from Singapore, one thing I will say in favour of having grown up in Singapore is that learning to grow up without a safety net was a good formative experience. Right from the word go, Singaporeans were expected to take care of their own business - if you fell behind, you were on your own. It builds the resilience you will need if you're going to push yourself out of your comfort zone and still perform.
its very well worth the experience. If u think that u have finished yr NS , u are an independent man . Dont be deluded. Its not NS. Its u are out there in the real world and a different one from Singapore.
Weather changes, planning yr day everyday and dealing with people from a different culture .. is something they will not teach u in NS
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Originally posted by Melbournite:
Weather changes, planning yr day everyday and dealing with people from a different culture .. is something they will not teach u in NS
Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say that these are things that you won't learn in NS. I've experienced weather in ROC that matched the worst that metropolitan Melbourne could throw at me, going from being a schoolkid to being in a platoon with guys from all walks of life and mission planning all came with the NS territory.
The two experiences are different, but some of the same lessons can be learnt in both environments to varying degrees.
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When i am in oversea working, I will always find time to go out. I want to see the whole world if I got the chance cos u will never know when its ur last chance. Even if its only meaning going out by myself, i will do that. Sometimes, u do not need to have alot of ppl to go out with to enjoy.
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Originally posted by the Bear:
i'll just say this..
WTF are they doing?
that.. i've seen myself.. a few fellas moved to my hostel after their lease ran out.. and i realised they never went anywhere other than to school, to the chinese restaurant, the supermarket and their apartment.. no where else!! for TWO BLOODY YEARS!!
i went there, made friends with the locals there, lived like the locals and came back with an education which was more important to me than the paper itself...
i dragged them out to go out with us, a weird group of singaporeans, malaysians, indonesian, HK fellas, cook islanders, samoans, australians, a scot... and had a blast... they later told me they wasted 2 years of their lives...
we make the best of what we can.. and usually, it's better than we can even imagine
Maybe you were spending more time in the pubs than school...:D -
Originally posted by the Bear:
i'll just say this..
WTF are they doing?
that.. i've seen myself.. a few fellas moved to my hostel after their lease ran out.. and i realised they never went anywhere other than to school, to the chinese restaurant, the supermarket and their apartment.. no where else!! for TWO BLOODY YEARS!!
i went there, made friends with the locals there, lived like the locals and came back with an education which was more important to me than the paper itself...
i dragged them out to go out with us, a weird group of singaporeans, malaysians, indonesian, HK fellas, cook islanders, samoans, australians, a scot... and had a blast... they later told me they wasted 2 years of their lives...
we make the best of what we can.. and usually, it's better than we can even imagine
im guillty of that. hahaha.
but 6 mths only so still got time to change.
but how do i take the first step leh?
suddenly go talk to strangers... sounds weird right
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I attended a talk in my polytechnic by 2 of its ex students who went to australia for further studies. I can say one really maximized her experience there while another just studied and hung around with fellow asians. I guess one can tell by how 'western' they sound
if it is me who's going down under for studies. I do not want to come back sounding as if i studied locally. =)
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Throughout my 11 academic years in the US, I met only 3 Singaporeans. And all by chance. Yes that's right, only 3. And I assure you this is not some rural college out in the mid-east either. The rather good thing is I managed to meet a lot of folks from various ethnic backgrounds and enjoyed a spectrum of cuisine from almost all over the world. The downside of course is I tend to forget how to the much beloved Singlish is spoken. I have not read news about SG for the last 5 years. Only started posting here since late last year. And this Feb I went back to SG, I had to use a freaking map. And oh, I called jelly as jello. And when I joked about the TPS report, my old SG pals stared at me. Yep.
But this aside, studying overseas is definitely more than spending time in classrooms and traveling only when you head back to SG. It's about self-exploration as well. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for most pple and don't waste it. Yes, I studied engineering but I ventured into western art history, US 20th century history, history of jazz music and surprisingly foreign films analysis (I helped run a film society in my undergrad years). I spent a number of summers at national parks as well.
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TPS reports? They didn't get the memo.
Looks like we went in opposite directions, VSE. I studied media and psych, and in my spare time learned to repair cars and tune engines.
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i was alone in my first 6 months in AUS, Until i slowly i got to know more pple...
The problem with AUS is too many pple from India, China, Sri Lanka and they tend to keep to their own kinds and their nationalisitic ideals. Singaporeans are different and its not their fault if they are a lonely bunch...Cos when u look at the India, China and Sri Lankans, they are not open about mixing around. Australia should stop granting them PRs uness they demonstrate the right approach and attitude to social life
But there is one thing they cant beat singaporeans in. Singaporeans are good terms with the whites coz they know we are also from a developed nation..They tend to treat us with respect.