Going against the crowd sounds rebellious and audacious, though that is not my intention, somehow I always end up doing it. Since I was in high school, most students were dying to get into the most prestigious college in my hometown, whereas I was having the simplest idea of studying abroad. In the context of studying abroad, majority of my classmates chose to complete their education in Taiwan. This makes perfect sense as we were in a Chinese major advanced placement class. However, for me again, I was under the spell of moving to what I call – these Enchanting European countries. I eventually left to pursue my education in Europe at Hotel and Tourism Management Institute Switzerland.
Studying in Switzerland has enabled me to fleetingly venture into a thrilling orbit, meet new people, exposed to different cultures, and had a one-of-a kind experience. I tried things that I was so afraid of doing once or rather very much overprotected that I did not have an opportunity to do them. Enthusiastic as I was in the beginning of this journey, I was known to be taking part in every school projects, competitions and whatever not. You name it, I did it and I was very passionate about it.
I started to socialize more and I expanded my social circle. It is reasonable to say that I was living my best life there and I have used every advantage of being in Europe to experience it all. Soon after two years, I felt like I was too accustomed to the place, the temptation to try new things were gone. In my gut, there was an intuition telling me to leave. Perhaps, I needed a short trip, a short vacation during the long weekend to the neighboring countries – well, that was what I thought. Not until my friend and I planned out everything and booked accommodation for the trip, ‘Bang!’ - the wheel of the unfortunate hit Europe with COVID-19.
The trip was, of course, called off. Nevertheless, there was another amazing journey waiting for me - an unexpected trip to Singapore. All of my friends and even the lecturers were surprised and once again I was called rebellious and I did go against the majority. As I have previously mentioned, the norm has always been for students to come to HTMi Switzerland. And then, there was me doing the total opposite. I live up to the motto of "never regretting anything in life because at one time that was exactly what I wanted". Fortunately, this was also not an exception. Since I came to HTMi (Singapore), I felt there was already a certain level of familiarity for me in this new environment. One might say it is because Singapore is also located in Asia, thus, cultures are not much of a difference. However, I believe that there are many other aspects that I can relate to.
Let’s touch a bit on the current education system here. This is something I enjoyed very much. For instance, who would have thought I would have learnt so much about golf resorts by playing and designing a golf course during class? Amazing, isn’t it! In terms of the school staff, who would have thought they would be very friendly, caring, and supportive; so much so that one can feel they are being treated like a little sister/brother in the house.
Beyond this, thanks to the small class size, the concentration given to each student is distributed evenly. This has greatly helped me in my process of receiving new knowledge. From my point of view, the lecturers are extremely knowledgeable and helpful. To them, no question is considered stupid or dumb and there is no judgment made in class. The simplicity in their teaching approach especially in Finance, Room Division as well as other dry theoretical concepts and number-based modules have guaranteed a great level of students’ acceptance and interaction. In essence, I love both the academic and living environment here in HTMi (Singapore).
As we all know, every coin has two sides. Hence, concluding that my whole journey is beyond perfect would be a false statement. Why? Due to the fact that I left my comfort zone, the familiar environment and systems I considerably know well, the people I adored - just to be here and to start all over again. Like any other normal human being, I am also afraid of uncertainty. There were times when things got tough like when I had to restart several projects or was assigned to work with new partners who I certainly was not aware of or not accustomed to their working style. There are definitely many ups and downs but the trick here is to enjoy the good times and have the courage to go through the bad times.
Going against the crowd; going against all odds, sounds scary isn’t it? Yes, in my opinion, it takes major guts to do it. My advice - life is short and you can only live once so do what you want and do not worry about what others’ would think of you. At the end of the day, as long as you are happy and contented. You will never know what is waiting for you when you finally make that rebellious decision, could be like me - a happy not ending but rather a happy next chapter!
