Out of My Comfort Zone

In 2014, I’ve embarked on my journey in IMU starting with the Foundation in Science and proceeded with a degree in Psychology in 2015. It was all very new to me, as I came from outside of Kuala Lumpur, where the University is located. Adding on to that, I was a mommy’s girl, thus leaving home and learning to survive alone was hard for me. I am lucky to have an amazing group of friends who I met during my foundation year and whose friendship lasted till this very day. They had helped me overcome every hardship that I’ve encountered and have always been there for me. Undeniably, it was hard at first as I had to start living alone, managing my own expenses, stepping out of my comfort zone and meeting new people, also studies weren’t easy as it was way more complicated than what we have learnt during high school. As I vividly recalled our lecturers in foundation often remind us that they do no spoon feed us despite only being in foundation year as it is to train and encourage us to be more independent and learn to seek help if we ever need it, instead of just sitting waiting for help to come to us. This had encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and learn to seek help whenever I need it, thus during my degree years I wasn’t shy or afraid to email my lecturers to clarify any confusions that I had. FiS had taught me to be more independent than I was before, to learn to step out of my comfort zone and discovered some skills that I didn’t know I had. For instance, there was one English tutorial class we had where a few of us were selected to give an impromptu speech on a certain topic that was given to us. I didn’t know that I could stand in front of the whole class (mind you FIS 2/14 is not a small crowd) and give a speech within 5 minutes of preparation and was praised by many of my cohort mates. Indeed, I was flattered, but I also learn something new about myself on that day. In arguably, the schedules were hectic at times and the class tests seemed like they will never end, but it indirectly taught me to manage my time, to be more efficient and to cut down procrastination. The dress code, yes, at first it was a nuisance, but once you get used to it really isn’t that hard to adhere to. In fact, I remember Prof Peter Pook always have a ‘surprise’ for us and walked into our class to check who isn’t dressed formally. But honestly, once you get used to wearing formal clothes to class every day, it  is a bit weird  not to wear it and at times you’ll feel out of place when everyone in IMU is dressed formally. There are various things that I have learnt and experience throughout my foundation year which guided me through my degree years. My experiences and yours may be different or it may be similar, but then again, at the end of the day I have to admit that throughout my years in IMU from Foundation in Science till my degree in Psychology made me grow up and to be more mature than who I used to be. And for that, I would like to thank every lecturers and fellow friends who have been with me through my journey.

Written by Mook Hui Ping  Mook Hui Ping graduated with a Second Class Honours, Upper Division from the Bachelor of Science (Hons) Psychology on 3 November 2018.