My last post was on all things I was happy about and all the things I had been blessed to have been part of. But it would not be fair if I do not write about the bitter moments I have had in the past couple of years. None of these things have dampened my spirit for university; if anything, they have only made me stronger and I hope reading these will help you guys as well!

• Home

Now, I know this kind of a given for any student away from home; but I would like to share how much of a regret leaving home can be for some international students. As you all might have known, I am from Singapore and been there for as long as I can remember. The past couple of years have been the most time I have been away from home continuously and it has been tough. No offence, international students have it tough, guys. We only get to see our family over skype and for most of us this is the first time away from the comfort of our homes and its quite strange! UK is a wonderful and safe country. But figuring out small things like how to switch on the heating and which colour trash bin to use are all things we had to figure out ourselves. And as much educational as it has been, it is exhausting. Because, the more you learn about living in a foreign country the more things you discover you don’t know.

But I do have to thank all my local friends who have helped me a lot in assimilating into this new environment. It would definitely have been more tough if not for the guidance I got from my friends and seniors.

• Priorities

Being in University and being able to experience many kind of things at once can be a double edged sword, and I learnt that the hard way. Year 2 of University will be a very memorable one for me. I was involved in too many things and lost focus and had a very hard time managing all the different things I was part of. Some good things that came out of it: I learned to cook kind of well, got to down to London quite a lot. But at the same time I didn’t have much time to study and revise for my exams and tests which should have been my main focus.

Expectedly, my grades took a great hit and I was very disappointed in myself and not being able to plan my time and priorities well. But would have I done it differently given a second chance?Probably not. The bonds I formed and contacts I made were well worth it and I don’t think I would have been able to have achieved them without giving up something. It just so happened to be my grades.

Going forward, I think I will be more cautious about the commitments I take on and hopefully I concentrate on my course more as coming years become more and more critical for my degree and my training to become a medical professional.

• The Course

Now, the heading might shock some but hear me out.

I don’t and would never regret studying medicine as my course of choice. But I would be lying if I say I had not thought about dropping out and just start a business or something. School is difficult and I am sure that is something everyone will agree on. And understandably, medical school is tough and the expectation we need to meet can be hard and almost impossible. So it makes sense, why many of us depend so much on coffee to get us through exams. SO why is this a regret? At time I do regret choosing medicine, I think to myself if I am even capable to finish the course successfully. And I think this is something all of us think about our own courses as well.

So for those of us who do feel this way, I say, face it and move on. Life is unfair and school is hard. But don’t take this in a bad way. The satisfaction you get upon finishing your course will make it all worth! I am sure of that.

Stay tuned to know more my expectations for the next few years!