7 lessons I've learnt from studying abroad

1. If you want something, go get it.

If you want breakfast, go wake up early for it. 'Cause mommy's not there to do it for you all your life, and also 'cause the early bird always gets the century egg porridge from the dim sum stall that sells out by 10am. Also, refer to point 2.

If you want your first class, go ahead and be nerdy and get your revision done. Go for your lectures, go for your seminars, and go to the library. The difference between Poly and Uni has taught me a great deal on this. I'm a lucky girl, and I always have been. In Poly, my unmotivated and complacent self was saved by the grace of my very diligent and/or intelligent friends. I was never the best at attending lectures, so I always relied on the rest for notes. I've literally started from the bottom (GPA 2.9 in Poly year 1) and now I'm here (GPA 3.8 and director's list in my last year). It's nothing big to brag about, but I must emphasise on how the people I've known in Poly have changed my attitude towards academic work. The level of independence required from Uni comes on a whole new level, not just academically, but also because I know I'm not necessarily blessed with the same advantage as I was in Poly. I try to rely on no one else but myself and when I say that I work hard, I really do with a 'first class' target in my head. I think I'm coping fairly well.

If you want someone, man up (or should I say, woman up) and go chase after him. Because someone once told me, "Good things come to those who fight for it, not to those who wait," and I surely have waited long enough.

If you want to grow up, start learning how to be a grown-up. I think everyone's afraid of doing adult-ish things, like making an appointment with the bank, settling the bills, getting your own phone repaired, or going down to the police station alone when you actually need help. You've to do it one day anyway, so might as well learn how to do it now. Also, because you don't have a choice when you live without your parents.

2. Seven hours of sleep is all you need.

Sleep used to be my best friend until I realised how much sleep time I could've used on far more purposeful things in life. It's been a few months since I've refrained from sleeping in past 9-10am and more often than not, it's been a choice than an obligation. I've never liked the feeling of losing half my day whenever I slept in till the sun was high in the sky, plus I always feel groggy for the rest of the day from sleeping too much. I set my alarm early every morning even if I don't have a reason to wake up early for, because I could always use the spare time to defrost my meat in time for lunch, to vacuum the floor, or to watch an episode of Game of Thrones.

3. Nobody will wait for you, so catch up or suck it up and move on.

A year ago, I asked a friend how she could bear to leave everyone here to study abroad if she were in my shoes. She said so unhesitantly, that I can't expect people to walk the same path as me, nor can I expect people to wait for me. A week ago, I was so certainly eager to be home, yet just a day before I was home bound, I knew that I was more afraid than I was excited, because I knew for sure that everyone and everything has changed. And is there anything I can do about it? Nope.

4. Take a walk whenever you want to and with whoever you want to.

If there's a storm raging in your heart, take a walk. If the sun's shining and the skies are blue, take a walk. If you're feeling like a bum at home, take a walk. If you just feel like it, take a walk. It's okay to leave the house to take a walk, for whatever reason or no reason at all, and alone if you rather. There is nothing a walk can't solve.

5. Racism is real, but learn how to shake it off.

Some of us aren't very pleased with the foreign population residing in our country for various reasons, but guess what? It's the same elsewhere. Nobody likes "intruders" in their homeland, especially not when they come in and "inflate" academic standards. I've had a few occurrences of people sarcastically "ni hao"-ing me and receiving judgemental stares in the club and a honk with two middle fingers from a passing car. But guess what again? It will only affect you as much as you let it. So, shake it off and move along. And trust me, it's not intimidating at all. In fact, try replying them in proper English that we are all well equipped with and leave them speechless because they wouldn't see that coming.

6. Life does not get any clearer as you age.

I am turning 21 in four more months and I still don't know where I'm headed to. I believe I'll never really know until the day I graduate and actually start working to know what I really want, and I always tell my sisters that it's okay to not know. (I'm not the best role model huh...) If you don't know what you want, work your ass off to open up your choices in life so at least you'll be entitled to more things that you can want when it actually comes to choosing your path. I may not the most ambitious or forward-looking person, but I'm still working on finding my point of compass.

7. The importance of education.

This year, I fell in love with learning. I never truly appreciated education until I've allowed myself to be deeply involved in it, not by commitment but by sheer curiosity. It's not just the fact that I'm paying more than thirty grand a year for my tuition fees that made me realise how important education is, but the fact that education opens up so many doors to the future. I am taking a degree that's almost exact to my business studies diploma, with the same accounting / marketing / finance modules, but somehow or rather, these modules seem to pose a different level of difficulty as to when I first took them on. I don't quite think it's just because I've had prior experience and knowledge in business, but because I've allowed myself to actually understand what I'm learning this time. I claim to hate Sociology and Work Psychology because memorising citations for an essay-based paper isn't the most enjoyable thing to do, but it actually stimulates a way of thinking of how people behave according to various stimulus and how a management should react to an array of these behaviours, and it's really not that dull of a module. I think I still retain a few citations here and there in my head because some facts are so interesting, like how procrastination can be cured with self-forgiveness. (Wohl et al, 2010) I'm also oddly in love with Finance and Management Accounting, which comes as a surprise to me because I wouldn't count it as my thing. I'd like to think I'm smarter than I give myself credit for, so this time I'm giving myself a second chance.

T-1

Today was a special day.

We don't usually get sunny days at a warm 14 degrees celcius in Manchester, so I decided that I ought to get my ass out of the house to photosynthesise for a bit (and also because I was hungry). I exited the hall through my less-favourited back gate (because it weighs a tonne compared to the main one), walked to the bus stop and waited a few minutes or so before a 143 came passing by. I could tell that the people who were waiting as well were eager to board, but the bus did not come to a halt. That was when all of them turned and looked at each other with a facial expression that shouted "seriously?!", as though it was synchronised. There was a route diversion down Oxford Road, and I could have simply crossed the road to get to the temporary bus stop just right outside Morrison's, but I decided to take the long way around past the school and down to the Aquatics Centre instead.

Midway, I came across the fruit stall that first gave me hope that this city would be kind to me. I remembered the cashier as "hipster Jesus cashier" nine months ago because he was decked out in cool tattoos, had long blond hair and was unbelievably nice. All I did was buy two cases of berries from him and he gave me something no one has given to me in a long time - a very, very sincere smile. Today, he's just the "hipster fruit stall cashier" 'cause he's had a shave since then.

I would usually head to Chinatown for food when I'm in town because I am Asian like that but today, the Mexican in me was craving for Taco Bell. A friend whose name starts with N and ends with E once told me that the art of eating alone gives you the satisfaction of paying your undivided attention to the food. No prizes for guessing who. Today, I finally knew what she meant, because all I needed to worry about was how to eat my taco without tilting my head (which is impossible btw) and how to take strategic bites on the crunchy one so it doesn't crumble apart. P.s. Her name rhymes with taco.

On the bus back home, I met a very special person. Just as I sat myself down, I took out my earpieces like I usually do because I am anti-social like that. There was a lady sitting diagonally in front of me, clad in a #ff1492 cardigan (I used to memorise this colour code for deep pink 'cause I knew this as JJ's favourite colour), and she was adorned with a pair of gem earrings. Emerald, perhaps? She was very intrigued by what I was doing, and stared at me as I clumsily attempted to untangle my earpieces. That made me nervous. After awhile, she lost interest in me and started reaching out for something in her pocket, dropping a box of lemon mints. It seemed like she kept quite a stash in there. She lies on the plus side and it didn't look very convenient for her to bend down to pick it up. She looked embarrassed, but nobody seemed willing to lend a hand. Maybe it was because she acted differently, I assumed; She was immersed in her own curiosity of the things around her and that seemed to make people uncomfortable. I pulled my earpieces out, stretched forward, and retrieved her sweets for her. She thanked me very loudly, which made me very shy. I smiled and nodded, then proceeded to plug my earpieces back in. She faced the front, then turned back towards me again. "I've got it safe in my bag now!" she announced excitedly, as though assuring me that she's got her sweets under control. I didn't know what to say, except to secretly wish she'd remain this optimistic every day no matter what people think of her.

Again, I chose to alight at the Aquatics Centre to take a walk back home instead of alighting at my door step. I checked the weather forecast before I left the house in the morning, and true enough, the sky turned grey by late afternoon and the wind was back. Not that it's much of a surprise, but I need to emphasise on how the sky was so terribly grey, and I mean dull grey, as if grey wasn't dull enough by nature. Oxford Road is veritably a very scenic stretch of architectural buildings, but walking down it in such a weather isn't the most picturesque moment. I dropped by the learning commons to grab a cup of earl grey from the cafe. It's the probably the only place I'd ever get earl grey from again. The last time I ordered earl grey from Costa, Cafe Nero and other cafes, all I ever got was a cup of disappointment. I left the learning commons and arrived at my vexingly heavy back gate again, but I took a back step and decided to keep on walking. I kept on walking and crossed through Whitworth Park, before I found a bench and sat down there with my earpieces still on from the bus ride. By the time I was done with my cuppa, my hour-long playlist ended, and I headed back home. For real.

I think I've made quite a few good decisions today.