Ramblings of a Senior

Stumbled upon this while clearing files. I kinda like what I wrote, though as usual, I always wonder, " did I really write that"

I think work life has blunted some part of this 'edge' I've had. Alarm bells!

 

 

 

Ramblings of Seniors…

Economics on Exchange

 

By J Loy

To run my fingers along old buildings steeped in heritage and character, to tread cobbled pathways with child-like excitement, to travel through the countryside by train, to stand amidst willows in the sunset…

 

If going on exchange must be summarized into a word, for me, that word is 'Experience'.  Stepping out of SMU into another land, another culture was a brilliant opportunity to see the world and experience things I have only been able to read and dream about; most of all, it was an enriching journey of self discovery.

 

Unlike many friends who headed for universities in the western hemisphere, I chose to spend my exchange semester in Xiamen University, located in the southern part of China. Why China? Many well-meaning questions were leveled at me, ranging from the usual "It sounds boring, are you certain of even having fun?" to the slightly embarrassing ones like "Are you sure you can speak and understand Chinese?" Yes, even after 10 years of Chinese lessons in school, my command of the language had been lay to rust after a few years of neglect. But I chose to see that as a challenge and not a stumbling block – spending a few months speaking only mandarin and writing and reading only mandarin would certainly be a challenging albeit rewarding experience!

 

Looking back on the fall semester spent in Xiamen, I realize how much I have learnt, and how enriched my life has since been. The intercultural exchange with friends from different parts of the world added so much colour to school life; from learning Tang poetry via sms from one classmate, to sampling homemade kimchi soup courtesy of our Korean hostel-mates, to having heated discussions on the China-Singapore relations, life on exchange was hardly ever boring. Besides that, much time was spent exploring the nooks and crannies of Xiamen, either on foot or by bus. At the end of the semester, we backpacked from Xiamen to Yunnan and Xi'an, in what was a highly memorable trip packed with interesting stories and exhilarating near-death experiences!

 

Settling into a new culture and a new system takes effort, and while it was challenging and even trying at times, the opportunity to experience both little things like sipping yak butter tea in a Tibetan hut on a frosty night and big things like studying in one of China's well-known universities, was hugely rewarding. Being in university is about experiences – how we learn new things, how we grow, how we hop onto adventures and how we face up to challenges. Although we will all still learn a lot staying in Singapore, it takes an extra step for us to have that extra special edge – the edge of experience and adventure, which can come from going on exchange.