Significant Experience, Achievement, Risk Which You Have Taken, or an Ethical Dilemma That You Have Experienced and Its Impact on You as a Maturing Individual.

Like all the other students who got their SPM (Malaysian Certificate of Education) result, I am waiting for the offer of the scholarships and matriculation. Before the result was being announced, I got matriculation. I was happy that I got the offer but my mother against me because she feels that the college was too far from my hometown. But still I insisted on my decision because I was not confident enough to get any scholarship. Besides, there was a voice deep inside my heart that asks me to follow my own feel. Matriculation college was so different from my secondary school! I had to stay in hostel and shared a narrow room with another 2 students. This was my first time to left the protection of family and being independence on myself. At the beginning, It was just so hard for me to adapt to the new environment but luckily I made it later. I met a lot of new friends and mixed around with them. I did not feel the loneliness as I though before I leave my house. After two weeks time, I was so glad to hear that I got the JPA scholarship and of course I got a chance to go US, my favourite country! “AM I dreaming?” I was so excited to receive this news. But at the same time, I was contradicting on my own and there are so many reasons for me to continue my study here. Honestly, I’m afraid to start a new life in another unfamiliar environment for the preparation program to overseas. I just started to adapt to the life here and now I need to go to a new place again. Another reason is that I have to adapt to new culture which is totally different from my country. Why my life need to be so complicated? I asked a lot of opinions and helps from my seniors who had the same fate with me and analysed the pros and cons to study abroad and here come another problem-my English proficiency. I was wondering how I going to communicate with people there? Can they understand my “Malaysian-Style-English”? Besides that, I am not willing to leave my home for three years. I cannot imagine what type of life, what type of people, what type of problems or even what type of ambience I will be facing every day. It has become some sort of stress to me silently. But I know I have to be independent since I’m not going to be a teenager anymore after this year. I need to take the challenge to study overseas because my family cannot afford to send me abroad for education and this will be the only chance for me. Well, it may be a chance for me to improve my English language if I think it positively. After a 2 days’ brainstorm, I succeed to convince myself to accept the offer. I had made a decision that might change my life. I have to study at the local university if I refuse the offer but I choose to accept the offer which means I will experience something different from the local students, for sure. When I was making the decision, I found that it was really hard for me because whatever decision I made can change my life and I had given just one single chance. And now, I feel proud to myself for making this decision!