Almost 3 weeks in the States. Not that I don’t have internet connection but I have been rather lazy to blog. Haha…there are just too many things to do. Daytime, aunty wants to take me around to schools and stuff. So most of the time I’m left with night time. Of which, I’m trying to divide my time to use the net and work on my cross stitch. I haven’t even begun reading the book I brought along!!!

Alrighty, so I completed last last week following Man Ling around to her classes. There’s this course that she takes – Introduction to Computer Systems which is pretty much Computing Mathematics which I took in year 1 of Poly. Binary numbers and stuff. The way it’s taught is so different. Gawd, I don’t remember it being so hard to digest! Was sitting in the lecture feeling all lost even though I’ve learnt those stuff before. Oh another thing, I sort of forget stuff quite easily so I can’t quite recall all the formulas and all. It all looks familiar and that’s it. Anyway, Man Ling was having difficulty with that subject and I wished I was back home so I could lend her my poly notes. Would make life so much easier for her. Darn.

Next week was spent moving around looking at other schools. Let’s have a breakdown of what I think of the schools I’ve visited so far…

1. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Public university. Freakin’ huge school. Good points: Lots of company around. Fellow Singaporeans and people very much like me around. So many student organisations that I don’t think I’ll have any trouble finding one I like. Even though I haven’t seen the whole list of organisations, I’m sure there’s a Japanese cultural group of some sort around. The university closest to my relatives. Bad points: Lectures are a rather huge group so there’s not much of a one-to-one communication with your professor. Got to be super independant to survive.

2. DePaul University
A Catholic university located in Chicago. Yea…the city. Private university. Good points: For 12 years of my school life (kindergarten-secondary) I’ve been in Catholic schools. I pretty much like the order they have. People seem to be much kinder as well coz there is a focus on sharing with one another. People are more forgiving. Well, that could be my perception… The university has nice halls which resemble the inside of a church. Uncle Weng thinks this school is cosy. Hehe…Mum is going to love this university once she hears it’s a Catholic school. Bad points: Since it’s a private university, tuition is going to be more expensive.

3. Loyola University Chicago
Another private university. Jesuit Catholic school. I don’t really get that cosy feeling from this school. Maybe coz we went there on Labor Day weekend and students weren’t around. Good points: It’s next to Michigan Lake which looks like an ocean. Haha. Bad points: No cosy feeling?

4. Millikin University
Private university again. Located in Decatur. Aunty told me Sis loved this school the last time she visited. Got to talk to a Computer Science professor, very funny guy. Could see that he really loved what he was doing. Gave me a good overview of Computer Science. I sort of knew what Computer Science was – more on the programming part which I sort of hate. So I’m not too keen on Computer Science but well, I’ll keep my options open for now. Good points: Has that one-to-one communication with your professor. I guess that’s some kind of motivation for students who need a little push to move along. Bad points: Smaller school = less students of my kind? Less or no other Singaporeans around.

5. Indiana State University
Located in Terra-Haute. The student who gave us a tour of the school gave a nice overview of the school. Good points: Buildings are all connected to one another which means you won’t have to go out in the cold in winter. Smaller university so has more of a one-to-one communication with professors. That’s something like Millikin. Bad points: Away from relatives?

6. Parkland College
A 2-year community college. Something like our JC? That’s what the States is so good. People are given chances. So if you don’t quite make the grade for the university of your choice, you can always go to a community college and then transfer to the university. Credits are also transferred so you don’t have to worry about 6 years of education. I was really lucky to have met the International Academic Advisor, Erin. She really inspired me. And since she was around my age, it was easier to relate to her. Now I sort of understand what Dad has been saying all along. Go out and experience things, never know when you’ll love something or not. Good points: Transition to the university of your choice is slightly easier. You’re given a chance even though you don’t quite make the grade. Bad points: Didn’t really like the environment. If I’m not careful, I might end up with the wrong company and not take things seriously.

Collected a number of brochures and even application forms. Will need to really look through everything and decide when I get back home. Right now am more favourable of UIUC, DePaul and Millikin. Also will be resitting for SAT to get a better score. Although my current score is ok to apply for schools but I think I want to get a better score so to have higher chance of getting accepted to those schools I apply to.

I like the flexibility here. Back home, it’s like do or die. You’re “forced” to choose something and either you stick to it or drop out. Here, I can enter university as a freshman with an undeclared major if I haven’t really made up my mind on what to major in. I take some general subjects in the first year and by Junior year, I should decide on my major. Even if I declare my major as a freshman, I can also switch majors if I sort of decide on something else. They say that most freshmen switch majors at least 3-4 times. Not that I really want to do that but it’s not something unheard of.

People are given chances if they really want to learn. Like I talked about community colleges earlier. Back home, it’s either you make the grade or not. And it’s not about which college or university you’ve been. As the academic advisor in Millikin said, when employers look at your resume, they are not going to bother about which education path you chose but what you learnt and what you can offer the company. Hopefully that’s the same with companies in Singapore.

Next entry will talk about non-academic stuff…see you!

Using the computer in the student lounge in the university. Man Ling and I are waiting for a friend so we can go for lunch together.

It feels great to have a fellow Singaporean to talk to. I think I am her company in this foreign land. Hahaha…I make it sound like we’re stuck in some hellhole. No, we’re fine. She’s really nice. Letting me follow her around to her classes. Just came out from a lab lesson actually.

I think in this short period of just 2 days, I have learnt quite a bit about the way lessons are taught here. For too long have we been used to the spoon-feeding method. Here, things are different. You really have to help yourself by reading up the lesson beforehand. Else, you’ll really get lost in the lectures and tutorials. Trust me, I sat through an Introduction to Computer Systems lecture which was teaching on binary numbers – same as the Computing Mathematics subject I studied in first year of poly, even though I remember learning that stuff, I was getting lost in the lecture here. The way it’s taught is totally different. Back home, lecturers teach the subject right down to the nitty gritty stuff. Right down to the details. Do the calculations number by number. Here, you have to think fast, write fast, digest fast. By the end of the lesson, you’ll probably think “OMG…”

Alrighty, got to go now. Will talk more later…

Yes, I’m alive and well in the States. My uncle has kindly lent me one of their many laptops to work on, check my email etc. The laptops must be really cheap here coz no way is someone going to have at least 5 laptops around their house back in Singapore. Even getting 2 desktops is going to make your mum grumble about the amount of money she has to fork out. Not to mention getting internet connection for both plus the electricity bills.

Anyway, I survived the long plane ride here. No jet lag. Now, don’t be surprised coz I hardly slept on the plane. I always find it hard to sleep sitting up. Too used to sleeping on my side so I need something to lean on. Each time I looked at myself in the toilet mirror, Jiemin’s favourite words come to my mind. “Hello, my name is Jin Ai Kun (meaning always feeling sleepy in hokkien) and I have natural eyeshadow.”

Once, my aunt tried to sneak me in to the business class section to let me get some proper sleep. Yea, my aunt and uncle were sitting in the business class. After 4 hours, I got awoken by a black stewardess. The way she got me to listen to what she had to say…was she rude or what? She wriggled her finger to make me sit up from my lying down position. Then she told me I couldn’t just come and sit here as I like. WTF! I know I look like a kid to you, but I’m NOT!!! So please talk to me politely, it’s not like I’m going to be difficult. I do understand your position as well.

Mum told me to be careful since Asians are a minority here and there are some pretty racist people around. Wah lau, these people wouldn’t stand a chance if they were in Singapore. Simply coz we have a more colourful language and we are smart. So smart that we’ll take your picture with our trusty handphone and post it up on forums so everyone can shame you. And really, we Singaporeans are so kiasu and kaypoh enough to be united in such things. Which come to think of it isn’t always a bad idea since it comes in handy at such times.

The weather here is hot since it’s still summer. But it’s not that much of a killer. It’s hot and dry so you don’t perspire that much. What a relief coz I hate getting my back all wet. The temperature drops in the night to more like air-con temperature so it’s fine to sleep without the air-con or fan and the windows open. Don’t really need a blanket too.

So far, I’ve gone on a tour of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Toured the school on Friday. The campus is HUGE! It’s really a town of its own. The school even owns the airport – not the one I arrived at in Chicago, the little one in Champaign. And what’s even cooler, the top floor of the union house is a hotel. The shops around the campus is called University Town and is catered for the students. 😡

Checked out the Singapore Students Association website for activities as advised by my aunt. Couldn’t find any listed activities on the site but found a link for their forum. Haha…being a typical kaypoh Singaporean, I checked that out. Found out they were meeting for potluck on Saturday. Aunty just announced matter-of-factly that we were going to gatecrash their party. :rofl: Ehz…we aren’t freeloaders ok…aunty bought a cake. Haha…

So I got to meet the Singaporeans in U of I. Sort of felt at home and out of place at the same time. At home coz it’s a relief to hear people speaking like me. All the lahs and lors. Kinda out of place coz everyone seemed come from some top JC. But anyhow, everyone’s nice. And one of the freshmen girls, Man Ling has agreed to let me shadow her for all her classes this coming week.

How come everyone knows what they want to do and I don’t? 😥