Last year, or last semester as some might view it was really not something I would call, a walk in the park or some other attractive phrases you could use to describe an easy and enjoyable journey, rather, it was, what I would call it, one of the longest years of my life, and for me to only bring this up now, certainly shows how good I am at keeping track of time... I'm not =( Part of the factors that actually contributed to last year being one of my "longest years" was the fact that it started off with weeks going by really fast, all of which were wasted by being heavily immersed in gaming, sleeping, and eating as well as extended hours browsing through the internet, going through vocaloid songs, current news and a lot of video watching. As you might have guessed, that equation right there was the perfect formula for wasting time, so all in all, the first 3 months went by in a flash.
What broke that monotony was the month of March, it wasn't exactly a wonderful month as you would call it but I wouldn't describe it as terrible... It was bittersweet, in a nutshell, of course. Part of this was because, March was the month I was born in and that lead me to look forward to my birthday but of course particularly the presents and gifts I would be getting and they were excellent choices~ Hohohohoho! That, my friends, was the "sweet" part, now the bitter, my SPM results. Now you might be thinking the bitter had something to do with my results, but it wasn't, in fact I am thankful I got 8A's, something I would categorize under sweet, but the bitter was what the results would lead to, a life determining decision. This, accompanied by that snap back to reality. I didn't think my holiday was going to last forever, just, it was going on a bit too swiftly for my taste. What was worse was I didn't know what I was going to be doing after that, I wanted graphics design but everything you would get from that course was available online! I didn't want to do foundation or matriculation as I thought I wouldn't be able to cope with the tight credit hours both boasted. So what was left for me was either a diploma or degree (fast track). What I didn't know was foundation and matriculation could provide you with a year to think seriously about what you are going to do yet at the same time not giving you the privilage of selecting a specific course, something I would have needed at that time. However, I have no regrets. I chose a course my mom recommended for me, Architecture. At that time, I was thinking it would be fine seeing as though I was fine with doing science and I liked drawing, I wouldn't particularly say I was good at drawing but I just liked doing it.
I applied for a degree in architecture in uitm, after that a diploma in architecture in utm, followed by some engineering course in uitm and utm and as one last feeble attempt at doing a course related to computers which my mom did not approve of, I looked to her "computer science?", she just sighed and nodded. And that was it, after that I went back to my holiday and seeing as though it was going by too fast, I promised myself to use my time more wisely. A promise I broke the next day (=.=) So time went back to doing what it was terribly good at doing when you're having fun, passing by ever so quickly. That stopped when the results came out and my course required me to go for an interview, the results of which were given earlier than the courses without any interviews, I didn't get a single university. It just shows that good results don't necessarily mean you are guaranteed a place at any university, rather some have actually confessed to prefer to take students with more average results, saying those students would work harder than "smart" students. Come to think of it, I actually agree with that seeing as how I'm doing right now... lazy... Now, what was the light at the end of the tunnel was you could still appeal for an interview, and with combined efforts from my aunt, my brother and my dad (my mom was in India at that moment so she really didn't know what was going on), I got an interview at UiTM, alhamdulillah. Computer science was, of course, long forgotten.
What came with the interview was a way of reminding me of how inconsiderate people can be sometimes, the results came out while I was having my holiday in Kuching on Thursday. The date of the interview was on Saturday, leaving my father and my aunt scrambling up and down getting my documents and drawings (we were encouraged to bring portfolios) which were in Miri and booking a ticket to go on Friday. What was more nerve-wrecking was that UiTM had a branch in Kuching, a branch I could easily have access to, seeing as I was having my holiday there, however, the email said otherwise with venue showing UiTM Shah Alam. My aunt was left making phone calls, a task that was hard to execute at 4.30 in the evening with working hours ending at 5. After several attempts and new phone numbers to add to our phonebook, we managed to comfirm that ,indeed, my interview was in Shah Alam. I went there, that being the first time I had to board the aeroplane alone, had dinner with my sisters and cousin, and went for the interview along with a drawing test. I returned the next day to Kuching and went on with my holiday.
In April, the results came out, and after thousands of du'as being made, I got a place in UiTM and my twin brother, Farid got a place in UTM doing Mechatronics. I was happy, until I read it said the campus I was going to was in Perak. I had this pre-conceived idea that I was going to be doing my course in UiTM Shah Alam and why that was a good thing for me at that time was, my sisters were in KL which was close to Shah Alam (not really close but easily accessible from Shah Alam) and Farid's university was in KL. I was sad at first, I just lived with that fact and went on to enjoying my holiday. Then in the middle of May, we headed to KL and packed all of our things as though we going to live there (we are going to anyways). As we entered the departure hall, we were sent off by my friend Haziq whom had just seemed to magically appear at the airport. My parents, of course, followed me and my grandparents, to my content, tagged along as well. We went a bit early so we had a good 2 weeks of holiday before we had to send Farid off. I was leaving a week after that. We hired a tour van so that everyone, my sisters as well as my grandparents could send me off, as they did the same for Farid. After a 2 or 3 hour long ride (I'm not so sure as I slept the entire way), we had finally reached my campus (which was in an almost deserted area). I wasn't happy about that but I just kept it to myself.
As we entered the gates, we were greeted by the campus which was painted with accents of purple, blue and white (UiTM's colour scheme). And that was it, I was left there, just like Farid, all alone, my room was supposed to have 4 people but I was the only one there (something I actually liked). The day I was left there, we were reminded of inconsiderate people again, the letter they emailed me said my registration was on Sunday when in fact, the orientation week had already started the day before. Because of that, there wasn't anytime (as the facilitators suggested) for me to have a proper goodbye or even to have lunch together for that matter as I had to follow the program. My family sent me to my room, I unpacked my stuff, and they sent me off, I waved bye to them from my room and watched them drive off (to have lunch as I had found out later) And that day felt sooooooooooooo long (I don't know how else I can describe how painstakingly long it was). This was partly due to the fact we had to stay up till midnight listening to speeches by different, important people. I made a friend that day as well, Shafiq. And he was the same as I was, a Sarawakian and this mattered as in Peninsular Malaysia, they spoke differently than we did in Sarawak despite it still being Bahasa Melayu that it almost felt foreign. The next day, we had to do registrations, and that was quite an eventful day. That day was when my home-sickness had finally caught up with me, I was constantly battling my tears and I had to fill tons of forms as I was supposed to get them on Saturday and fill them out earlier on. Did I mention that this too was painstakingly long? The whole registration process was messed up because I didn't have the necessary forms (I left them in KL) so I ended up in the last group of people to register.
When it was finally time for me to register (and they had counters for each registration) I headed to the first counter and he looked at my form and with a puzzled look, he looked to me "Adik AP213 eh? (my course code) Budak architecture memang register bulan Jun ke?", I of course just nodded with the thought "Why wouldn't it be, that's why I'm here right?". He simply ticked one of the check boxes and after that I went to the next counter. He got up from his seat and went somewhere else... As I was heading to the next counter, another guy stopped me and said, "Adik, Faruq ye? AP213?" I nodded, confused. He then brought me to a table and we sat down, I then found out I was supposed to register in September not June... This did concern me of course before this as I had checked the degree timetable and it clearly said September on the webpage. Convinced by this, my mom had already purchased the ticket for me to go in September, so when we printed out the letter saying I had gotten in UiTM, the letter said my registration was in June. This not only got me a scolding from my mother, but at the same time, we had to burn the ticket in September (it was AirAsia) and book another ticket for me in May. Another display of how inconsiderate people could be... The weirdest part was, the other architecture students were already informed of this and my friend Shafiq was also left out as I was (kinda makes me think they have difficulty contacting people in Borneo) Of course, I called my parents and told them about this and the guy continued to tell me of what I must do now. He said I should just finish my orientation, then they will arrange for transport to send me home to Sarawak. And, this will all be sponsored by UiTM. I went back to my room and slept.
This what was happened in KL after I had told my parents. They called our family friend to ask about what they should do with a problem like this, she suggested we go to Shah Alam, the main campus, to settle this problem once and for all. Seeing as though it was already the afternoon and they only had until 5, they hired a cab to take them there. Over there, they were sent up and down the campus (praise the taxi driver for his patience) to different offices until they reached to the registration office. There, they were told it was the problem with the system as the system had been programmed to list the registration date for all SPM graduates to June. This was mainly because all SPM graduates should only be able to register for Diplomas, what they didn't take into account was they had fast track courses for degrees, like mine. My parents didn't buy it, as how come the other students were informed of this. Not happy with this, she insisted that I be transferred to UiTM in Shah Alam as it was troublesome for me to communicate as well as contact my family in KL. The receptionist was not too keen on doing so, but my mom said she would not leave unless they gave a letter saying I would be transferred to UiTM Shah Alam or a letter from UiTM admitting that they were indeed wrong and that the letter was their mistake and etc. It was really an inconvenience for us as they had already spent money on the ticket in September, then burning that ticket and buying a new one in May and renting the van and the interview was another thing. They left with a letter saying that I will be studying in UiTM Shah Alam.
I was informed of this later that evening, and this was proof that Allah could really work miracles, never have we once thought I would be able to change my campus from Perak to Shah Alam. This wasn't the end yet though, after getting this news, I told the facilitators that I was going to leave on Tuesday, before the orientation week was over, and after some long inquiries with the upper management, they said I had to stay on or else UiTM would not pay for my trip back. I brought this to my parents and we really had a hard time trying to get me back without attending the orientation (or Minggu Destini Siswa as they call it). This was easily solved when my mom told them I was transferring to Shah Alam, and I was one step away from giving them a letter (a letter I was forced to write for me to leave early) that would deny me of all those privilages UiTM would be giving me so I could get home. After that was all settled, it was already 1 and we had to take the cab to the train station as our train was leaving at 2.30, and along the way, the taxi broke down. The campus was, as I said earlier, in an isolated area, so we were stranded in the middle of nowhere, as the cab left with the promise a friend would come to pick us up. The campus was a good 30 minute drive away from the station and it was already 1.15. We were there alone waiting for a taxi that might not make it on time. At around 1.30, we saw a cab at the other side of the road waving at us, that was the friend. The problem was, it was a highway and it was driving on the other side of the road from where we were standing AND it was driving away from the station and towards the campus (we would have preferred it drive toward the station). At 2 something, the cab had finally arrived for us, we were happy but then we were reminded that the station was 30 minutes away? My mom was about to crack a joke but my dad looked at her and told her to not say anything yet. Our adventure was not yet over... We managed to reach the train station and thankfully the train was a little off-schedule.
And that was the events that happened in late May and early June, I'm doing my degree in Architecture in Shah Alam and the last semester was tough as I battled induction, home-sickness, me not doing good at the core subjects and finally, the feeling of me wanting to change my course. I managed to get a 3.07 CGPA for that semester, but I got a B- for Design Drawing and Communication and a C for Design Appreciation. This semester I have failed 3/4 projects so far and I am left with the same advice my lecturers last semester had given me, please change your course if you think this course is not for you, we know each of you has a talent and there maybe other courses you may excel at better than this one. This really hit me as I took architecture half-heartedly without really thinking about what I was getting myself into. But I am sticking to this course as I believe I was allowed to do this by Allah because he knows I can cope with it as He only gives you challenges He knows you can face and also for what everyone has worked hard for to help me enter UiTM... But at the same time, I know that I am struggling with this as I do not understand my core subjects, I cannot explain what it is I don't understand as I don't know it myself but, what do you think you would do, if you were in my shoes?
Your Artiste,
Faruq
