Should I take up STPM?


Hi there to those SPM graduate, soon all of you will have to decide whether what to pursue in your tertiary education. Should I take STPM, foundation, matriculation, diploma or…… As a dropout from STPM after studying it for 3 month and currently was studying in University Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) for Foundation in Engineering, I am sure I can provide you a better insight in both choices. But today I will only  talk about STPM.

In STPM I choose science stream and took up Physics & Chemistry instead of Biology & Chemistry (Form 6 if you want to take extra subject you can register for more than 5 subject but you will have to self-learn or get tuition for that subject) and for me I choose Physics & Chemistry because I am sure I want to be an Engineer. But not even the end of 1st Sem, I felt there was just something wrong about the choice that I have make, my intuition tells me a different thing. (Everyone learn from their mistake right, haha)

And here I would like to tell you the reason behind why I have made a bold move quitting STPM. Of course, this article might be a little bias but it is an undeniable honest opinion and experience. Let’s get started. The reasons why I dropout:

      1.       I was not happy at all in STPM, it is miserable
Personally, I don’t really like study (don’t get me wrong I love learning) instead I like to have more activity and interaction in the class. But in STPM you don’t get that, everyone was always studying wherever it is, would it be in the class, canteen, hall or even assembly period. It is stressful and you will have to study long hours every day (16 hours in my experience) including weekends.

      2.       The lifestyle that STPM provide me is not ideal for me
Before you choose STPM everyone will warn you that it is hard, yes it is hard my friend. For me, I only get 4-6 hours of sleep but if I am lucky then I will get 7.5 hours of sleep (rarely). It is because you will have to finish up your course work and also keep on doing revision so that you can catch up with 5 of those subject (Pengajian Am*, English*, 3 more your own choice, “*” means COMPULSORY!)

      3.       It is just the same as secondary school just that it is much more tough
In Form 6 you will have the same system where student go to school study and have their curriculum, as usual there will be 3 category: Badan Beruniform, Kelab dan Persatuan, Sukan dan Permainan. I can assure you it is just identical (except we don’t wear uniform, we wear formal like how people work in the office) with how we go within Secondary School.

      4.       I must drive for 30-40 minutes to get there
Every weekday I will wake up at 5.00am get my morning routine going and depart at 6.00am. If you are lucky there will be no jam otherwise you will have to bear with it. Once school end at 2.30pm I will wait for 1.5 hours (meantime grab my lunch and studying) at the canteen to avoid the jam and return home at 4.00pm (sometimes grab my lunch back home) It is already exhausting when you are back but still you got to push yourself to study.

      5.       Too academically driven (This is the biggest problem with me haha)
There will be not much of activities/event compare in University. In STPM the main goal is to develop strong academic achiever and get into Government University. The down side is that soft skills will not be very well developed and this is the most crucial aspect that STPM have neglected for all students. Click here to know more about how we can deal with our future better.

Overall this is just my experience, some might be able to relate to you and some might not. I hope that this article will able to provide you a better insight of how STPM is and whether you will like it or not. Here is my little advice, for you who want to study overseas or maybe you don’t have idea of what you want to pursue in your future (Here I mean really zero idea), just go ahead if you think STPM will be your choice, make sure that you have think thoroughly. For those who already know what they want in their life and know yourself well go ahead and made any decision you think and feel right.

Here I would like to end with this statement:
“No matter what the path you take, there is always way to pivot around. It is all about how you walk the path and it is okay to make mistake as long as you learn from it.”- by someone who cares

Location: Malaysia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Understanding What Love Really Is. And How Love Works.

Majority of the people living thinking that love is only a noun which equivalent to love is a feeling. The perception of love as such that a relationship is going to work solely determined by how intense feeling of love is presented in a relationship, has lead us to the illusion of an ideal or sometimes unrealistic romantic relationship. But what if I tell you that love is also a verb. Love is more than just a mere feeling but also it is also an act of service, affection, respect, communication, honesty and anything else that could bring the relationship to another level. Let’s get back to why I have mention that we have created our own illusion of an ideal/unrealistic romantic relationship. You see most people think that they are truly in love when the intensity of the relationship is lighting up bright and when it slowly fade away they thought that the relationship is ending (This kind of situation might happen after 3-5 years or maybe just a few month in). And this i...
Read more

Doing The Right Thing With Wrong Purpose

3 minutes read Whether or not you are aware of the decision you make in a daily basis, most of the time you will under-think the purpose behind of the decision you make. Let say you want to get into entrepreneurship with the purpose of making money. With this misguiding purpose, you will never succeed. First of all, we need to know that doing entrepreneurship is about providing value by solving other people  problem   in return of money. Being an entrepreneur is not solely about making money, money is the by-product of doing entrepreneurship, identify a problem (opportunity) provide a solution and solve the problem for your customer and they shall pay. The right purpose of entrepreneurship  is solving problem. In terms of relationship, people get into relationship  with the wrong purpose. Most people want someone to be part of their life with the purpose so that their partner can fulfill their own desire of fun, boredom, pride, happiness and more. Th...
Read more