2008 - What would it bring???

Many of my friends prefer to do a yearly summarising blog entry. I beg to differ as I prefer looking forward instead of backward on every new year. Yeah, it's good to learn from the past and see what a particular year has given you to help you grow up, but it's pretty much pointless because what you learned is already learned and thus the summary does nothing more than a little reminder. Of course, unless you wish to read back your blog later on but just being lazy to go through every entry then perhaps the little summary will do some good. :)

2008 will be my second year in Australia of being an actuarial student. Phew..to be honest it was such a relief on 14th Dec after I knew that I have survived and done well for my first year studies. That's perhaps the starting point of all the true happiness during my summer holiday. It's not just important to get through but also to do well in Macquarie in order to justify the amount of money spent on us by the Malaysian Government. Although some may think that uni life is the greatest time in one's life and one ought to enjoy it to the fullest as for most people it would be a time with no commitments, I prefer to see it as a responsibility to try my best in my studies. Of course, that does not mean I should not enjoy myself here. But being the kind of person I am, the first criterion to happiness is to feel no guilt about letting myself down. Contrary to the belief held by people who do not know me in person, I'm not obsessed with perfection. All I did so far is to justify my being offered a JPA scholarship and will continue to do so in future.

Besides studies, another thing I hope for in 2008 is to be able to participate more in campus activities. We hadn't done so in my first year due to the unfamiliarity to the environment during my first semester and the hectic 5-unit-per-semester schedule in the second half of the year.
I should properly acquaint myself with the people in ASSOC (Actuarial Student Society) as they may be of help with my understanding more about the profession. I've got to be sure of where I'm heading to after hopefully 4 years of uni life. The job market will certainly be much more competitive as compared to the small circle of my fellow actuarial student colleague.

On a lighter note, I also hope to get some working experience that is more related to my field. I feel that I should probably take up something not too time-consuming but would provide good understanding on the Australian Financial System and the Insurance and Superannuation industry. It's tough to even get a part-time job in the highly saturated Australian job market but I need to try harder in my job finding before I can even hope to secure a good job. My friend, Ken, just told me on new year's eve that he sent out 100 resumes and only got 1 reply from a cafe in Eastwood. Why am I complaining of not being able to get a good second job when I had only sent out at most 15 resumes?? I was simply not trying hard enough I think.

Before all the struggle, tears and pain of my second year studies, I shall go back Malaysia for a 40-day vacation with my beloved family and friends whom I haven't seen for long. I missed Chinese New Year in 2o07 and thus am really looking forward to an authentic Malaysian-style celebration this coming Chinese New Year.

人生就像现场直播
没有彩排，没有预先准备
把握在台上的一分一秒
不要让自己后悔