Amukelani Muyanga, writes about her journey from South Africa to Singapore; from thinking about UWC applications to now thinking about University applications:
The day I’m submitting this column of sorts is significant
because exactly a year ago today (23rd May), I found out that I’d
been awarded a scholarship to study at UWCSEA. I had no idea of the journey ahead
that’s about to come full circle in a few weeks when I return home for a month
and a half in summer.
The last thing I was thinking about when I arrived was university. I was too excited to be in a school as big as one! (The school has since shrunk, as large things do when you become used to them). I, like many other IB students, was a bit perplexed about the massive amount of university talk coming our way when we were just trying to get a grip on our Diploma. Most of us assumed that university was a long way off but the months just kept rolling past and university is now a lot closer than when we began. I also think the reason we’re so reluctant to think about university is because beginning that journey will mean end of our UWC one. The University Advising Centre (UAC) has made our views on that a little less dismaying, though. There is a constant stream of university representatives floating in and out of the UAC doors that have made my peers and me a lot more aware about the myriad of possibilities ready for us.
The last thing I was thinking about when I arrived was university. I was too excited to be in a school as big as one! (The school has since shrunk, as large things do when you become used to them). I, like many other IB students, was a bit perplexed about the massive amount of university talk coming our way when we were just trying to get a grip on our Diploma. Most of us assumed that university was a long way off but the months just kept rolling past and university is now a lot closer than when we began. I also think the reason we’re so reluctant to think about university is because beginning that journey will mean end of our UWC one. The University Advising Centre (UAC) has made our views on that a little less dismaying, though. There is a constant stream of university representatives floating in and out of the UAC doors that have made my peers and me a lot more aware about the myriad of possibilities ready for us.
Before I came to Singapore, I thought my options of
universities in South Africa were plentiful: more than 30 to choose from. The
realization that the number in South Africa was a mere drop in the ocean compared
to the rest of the world was an incredibly liberating, exciting and daunting.
The paradox of choice became very real. Personality and career aptitude tests,
numerous talks with the advisors, help with SAT preparation as well as
testing, and honest assessments of our strengths and weaknesses encouraged by
the UAC have helped a lot of us tremendously.
The UAC always has something new to help us with our journey
and one of them was the “Finding Your Voice” writing sessions that doubled up
as therapy ones. The free writing helped us think individually about why our
progressions came about. Mine, for example, was from doctor to psychologist to
sculptor and perhaps back again. Even so, I’m secure in the awareness that even
if I decide to pursue the most bizarre and unheard of career path in existence,
the UAC will have a 3-page list of universities they think would be great.
“Ain’t nobody got time” for 3 pages, though, which is where the one-on-one
sessions with the uni advisors really help.
I speak for most of the IB students when I say that we
really feel supported by the UAC, and even though we take ages to fill in their
surveys, we’re really thankful they’re there. The UAC has forced us to think
about things a lot of us would have left for the last minute and have made us
pretty excited about the future, too. Who knows, maybe we’ll register for a
degree in university counseling in their honour.
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