END

So, the end of the 2nd year of my Psychology degree is nearing. In exactly two weeks time, I will be in my motherland embracing the company of my friends and family members. Time sure passes fast, the start of my 2nd year felt like yesterday. Amazingly, now I think about it, I have done so much this past year, from traveling, studying, meeting people and some self-development. In comparison to some of my friends and peers from the same age, I might not have the flashiest university life in the UK but it is definitely satisfying for me and I have to say I enjoyed it very much.

Nearing the end of this year, I feel that I have grown a bit myself, mentally. I have become more outspoken and have less fear in engaging with conversations. In the Portugal trip itself, I did muster the courage a few times, chatting with cashiers and waiters about the legends of their culture (such as the Rooster of Barcelos) and also the must-try delicacies around Portugal. To be honest, I went to the trip with a group of friends who are not as initiative as me, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to just step up my game.

Still, throughout my academic year, I continue to attend classes alone most of the time and hastily return to my flat right after them. Only occasionally, there are some friends who  sit with me in lectures. With roughly 6 classes spread throughout the week in each term, it makes no sense for me to hang around the campus right after classes as I live in the university accommodation. 5 minutes walk is all it takes for me to arrive at my class. As a result, I do not really have many friends from my course unfortunately. As a trade-off, I made some good friends in the flat which have transformed my daily living here a comedy.

On the other hand, with the help of some friends and also plenty of time commitment, I barely managed to escape the 3k bracket in DotA and am now a 4k player. This also marks the end of my commitment into the game and am finally taking a break from this game until I am back in Malaysia. Among this group of friends, I am (admittedly) the weakest link and also not the most technically skilled player. However, one of my friends is so toxic it ruins the fun of the game for the whole team. Even us (the rest of the friends) would sometimes have to mute him because of the flaming and babyrages. It did remind myself of the past where I was also a toxic player, but hell I do not think that I am as bad as this, hopefully. Well, I guess time made me less of a tryhard now and just play for the sake of having fun with the group.

Finally, I also managed to find an internship. An actual internship in the field which I might plan to pursue in the future. Although, it might have a low pay, it is still a good way to spend my summer gaining valuable experience and learning process from this internship. Ahh.. can't wait.. finally some good news man. I think Psychology students really have it hard in looking for an internship in well-known companies in the country, especially a business-specialized one. I really hate the stereotype of 'Psychology' in Malaysia, as people often think that it has something to do with mental health and crazy people. I am planning to do my Masters in Industrial/Organisational Psychology in the future and it doesn't involve treating mental health patients, nor researching brains and mind-reading. The role of an I/O Psychologists is to help the growth of a company by motivation of the workforce.. and this is why corporate experience is of paramount importance to me this coming summer.

I am really grateful that I am able to get this internship and finally have something promising to do in this coming 3 months. That being said, I am only back for a relatively short time as compared to my friends studying overseas, but I hope I can get the most out of it.. including meeting friends who I have not met for a long time, and also spending quality time with my family members and relatives.

To those taking exams, good luck and just try your best. The most important tests always exist outside of the academic bubble.

Why live a stressed out life when you only live once? Just enjoy what you do and have no regrets.


Jayden