Roads ahead
1. Take FA and go to US
2. Take local scholarship (MOE) or NUS scholarship and go to NUS (Chinese Studies)
3. Get a scholarship and go to US (Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia)
4. Get a scholarship and go to UCL
3&4 are very unlikely to happen.
The two Bs and the PASS close a lot of doors in front of me. I may not be able to go overseas after all.
Choosing the right industry to go into:
The longer you do it, the better you get at it. So the easier the job will become.
If I like to learn so much, I should be in the school to teach and learn with the kids. Teaching is one of the best ways to learn.
The Chinese culture is so broad and deep that I will never get tired of it. Computer science changes so fast that I don’t know how long I will take to catch up and then continue to learn all the way. Will I have the time and energy to do it in my thirties and forties?
I should go into an industry with high demand, low supply and high barriers to entry.
There are so many IT people in the world. The competition will only get tougher with the rise of India. Why do I want to join the crowd?
LOL, actually what I really like to study is very clear.
Out of all the subjects in JC,
which one do I enjoy the most?
CSC!
Which one did I put in most of the effort?
CSC!
Which one made me feel most disappointed when I had not done well?
CSC!
Did I feel unfair when I got Silver for NOI? No, I did it for fun only! I know that there are many students smarter and more hard-working than me so they deserve better positions and shinier medals. I simply accepted what’s given to me.
I have this queer feeling that I am reliving the time when I did not get in SMTP. It’s the same kind of feeling. I thought everyone was about the same but it turned out that a lot of people were better than me. Well, now I must admit that academically, the PRCs in the SMTP classes indeed did much better than the rest. I guess they are really smarter? Anyway, even till now, I don’t regret taking CSC!
When the door of the SMTP classes closed in front of me, I was liberated to choose what I was interested in. Now, if the door of going overseas to study CS closes, I am again free/forced to choose what I truly like!
If I am going to study Chinese and aim to go into the education sector to teach the westerners Chinese, the best place to be in is Singapore! This is where the west meets the east. Well well well, good Chinese teachers are in need here. I being a PRC have comparative advantage. I was in the BSP program for the past four years. I took Chinese Literature in Secondary School. And I am from Hwa Chong.
So far the path I took points toward only one direction - study Chinese in university. It seems that programming and theoretical physics are the minor distractions along my path. T_T… I can’t believe it. What kind of conclusion is this…T_T I love coding and the super abstract and difficult theoretical physics so much last time…
China is rising and more westerners want to learn the language. The demand for Chinese language education service is growing in many countries. Yet not many people are qualified to provide this service. Hmm hmm hmm, maybe I can do it? Go and start a Chinese language school in Singapore after I serve the MOE bond? Serving the bond will give me necessary understanding of the existing MTL system and relevant experience in teaching. After four years, I can choose to stay or build a Chinese version of Xin Dong Fang here!!! WOW! There’s BIG money to be made!
Well, my future looks much brighter now! It’s even clearer than going overseas to study CS… Phew! Happy Happy!
Night and Sweet Dreams Yangfan!
