Twenty!

20 things I found and learnt in university. 

There's more than these actually...

1. Staying away from parents, with a stranger.
So I'm staying in a hostel, sharing a room with someone from Terengganu. The first few weeks were probably a bit awkward for me (maybe for her too) because I'm not used to staying with someone I didn't know. I was in my defensive bubble, taking good care of every step and action I did. Just in case, it might offend my roommate. I even tried my best hiding behind the bed to change clothes, who knows it might blind her? Anyway, it's been 2 months and we're already comfortable with each other till we behave normally, like how we behave at home.

2. No MCKL vibe.
You just can't find any MCKL-like people here. Not even one. I'm still adjusting to this non-MCKL environment. Enough said.

3. Sharing can be a pain in the @$$ with irresponsible and selfish peeps.
Here in dorms, we share bathrooms, toilets, pantries and washing machines. I don't mind sharing, but surprisingly, girls are as messy as guys. Here's one: Someone stuck her soiled pantyliner onto the bathroom wall. (ewwww, GROSS!) Like seriously, you're a university student and you expect our cleaners to clean that after you? Grow up with some responsibilities! Here's another: Some people are just too lazy and selfish to flush the toilets after their poopy business. What more can I say?

4. My Malay speaking skills improved!
Raised in an English-speaking family with Chinese background but still scored well in Malay-writing tests, I speak in Malay language with a Chinese accent. Mind you, I'm a mix with a Muslim name, but due to my name, we have some peeps who expect me to speak like a typical Malay. Not sure if I'm complaining but I get to improve a language. Being in university forces me to speak in Malay wherever I go, because most of my friends now are Malay. Good thing is I get to learn different dialects from Penang and Kelantan. And I started tweeting in these dialects!

5. University elections
So I've experienced my first campus election. Interesting but more to an annoying thing. Since I joined many of my university-related Facebook groups, my news feed was filled with so much campaigns. It was so annoying to the point that I nearly deactivated my account. But I couldn't because a lot of important things are announced through Facebook. There was also a candidate who went all the way to sticking stickers in bathrooms and toilets to gain votes. Now that is also annoying unfortunately. It's still interesting to see some of my seniors working hard to earn the students' trust. They gave away notebooks, bookmarks and even lollipops while campaigning!! Lollipop's too sweet by the way.

Let me share on how this election works.
Basically there are 2 categories. The first being the general constitution and the second, faculty-based constitution. 12 candidates (mostly 3rd year students) run for the general constitution whereas each faculty will have 2 to 5 candidates (mostly 2nd year students) running for the election. Each student can vote for 6 general candidates and 1 to 2 candidates for his own faculty, for example: I vote for 6 general candidates and only 1 candidate for my faculty. I can't vote for other faculties. Candidates who won will form the Student Council. Of course the general ones will be the Top 6.

6. Walking and running is part of my daily life.
I don't own a car, a motorbike or a bicycle in campus. Which means that I have to go for lectures and events by foot. Not a problem for me, because my hostel is 5 to 10 minutes away from lecture halls and the main hall. However, I somehow, as usual, managed to land myself in all kinds of emergencies, hence finding myself running up hills under the scorching Sun and sometimes, showers of rain. I didn't lose much weight though. Mum, I do need a bicycle.

7. Swim all I want.
My campus has a swimming pool. I am a happy child. FULLSTOP.

8. Bless my Organic Chemistry.
I love Organic Chemistry but I don't enjoy the lectures and tutorials mainly because my lecturer and tutor are not passionate in teaching. No, don't have to spoon feed me, A-levels has taught me to be independent enough but for God's sake, teach us with a slight passion. That would make Organic Chemistry more interesting. Gosh, I miss Ms Ng.

9. Nightlife in campus is not always quiet.
True, many students shut themselves in their rooms to study but I sometimes tend to explore outside and find interesting stuff. Every Tuesday and Wednesday nights, I'll be having meetings and dance classes. Other than that, I've got a good friend who so far, had miraculously brought me out for dinners, night market and a long walk in campus, only to stumble upon a group of jovial guys practising Dikir Barat. I also attended a few theaters and cultural events. I mean, life shouldn't be so boring right?

Theater - Chainarong.

10. I get to dance almost every week.
Thanks to ADIKARMA who organizes traditional dance classes, I get to break away from modern dance and learn something that I've always wanted to learn. And hey, who wouldn't feel happy to see such a long and huge mirror in the dance class?

11. Green is my thing.
My campus is just green. Look to your left, right, front, back, up and down, it's all GREEN!!! Nature is what I always see before going for morning lectures and labs. How relaxing...

12. No cooking in hostels!
Say what?! Yes, my university does not allow cooking in our hostels. The best that we can 'cook' is cup noodles. Oh dear me...don't ask me why we have pantries. I don't have the slightest idea at all. Thankfully, the cafeteria in my hostel sells food at a cheap price. My meal that usually consists of rice and 2 to 3 types of vegetables, only costs at a range of RM1.80 to RM2.50. Cheap, no?

Late-night supper with hostel mates.

My hostel mate knew I didn't have dinner, so she dropped by to share these!!! How sweet of her.

13. Doing my own laundry.
This time, I do my own laundry. I have 2 types of clothes: the hand-washed and machine-washed ones. To save up on the expensive detergent, I hand-wash my clothes twice a week because I wash in bulks. Same goes for the machine-washed ones. I pile the clothes up until weekends, then I pay RM3 to have the washing machine operate and do the laundry. Drying the clothes is another headache. I've got the bad luck following me everywhere. When I see the Sun shining so brightly, I quickly wash my clothes and tadaa!!! It starts to rain. Then my room would turn into a place to dry my clothes. It's like I decorate my room with hanging clothes.

14. Same race, same group.
Sadly, I see many students mixing with those of the same race. Generally, Chinese with Chinese, Malay with Malay and Indian with Indian. I'm lucky enough that my hostel community is the smallest, hence most of us mix with each other regardless of race and religion. But still, it feels sad that there are not many multiracial groups of students. They only mix with each other when it comes to projects that require them to be in groups of 2 or 3 races. How disappointing.

15. I can speak Tamil....0.1% only.
I mix with these Indian and Chindian friends who taught me Tamil. Basically, I just shout "Kaaadi" whenever a car approaches us.

16. Free from cigarette smoke!
My campus is a tobacco-free campus, meaning that you're not allowed to smoke in the campus. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of stupid, selfish and ignorant people who still smoke. Yet, I have never inhaled this much tobacco-free air!! My dad is a smoking dragon and imagine me breathing in air filled with cigarette smoke for 21 years.

17. No plastic items!!!
My campus is going green, so the administration is encouraging us to use eco-friendly bags and containers. All students were given a free eco-friendly bag each, kudos to my university for a good start! And trust me, when you ask for a plastic bag or plastic container from the counter in the cafeterias or shops, you can just dream on. They'll never give you one.

18. Why you no read properly?
A lot of students have been making me laugh at them, not in a mean way, but I'm really amused by their lack of reading. For example, an announcement complete with the date, time and venue was posted in Facebook, yet many students asked, "What time is the event? Where is it?" Like excuse me, wasn't it clearly written in the post? Did you all just not read it properly or did you all not understand? This is why I love MCKL for forcing us to read notices properly. It naturally trains us to be more alert.

19. Too many attention seekers.
I don't know if it's me but I find way too many attention seekers on Facebook. Basically, they post weird and useless stuff to gain attention. Another annoying problem flooding my news feed.

20. I begin to appreciate things in life by being far away from home and being independent. :)

Choreographed a simple Chinese fan dance using shadow effect.

While practising for Malam Variasiswa, before Genetic class.

My hostel cultural team won 3rd place and best technical skills during Malam Variasiswa. It is through this event that brought all races and religions close to each other.

Till then, ciao!!!