#merstudies

Here we go, a proper introduction

About myself:

Grave

She/Her

19

INTP-T

Hobbies:

Reading

Writing

Painting

Genshin Impact

Watching anime

What am i studying?

Medicine

Languages I speak?

Dhivehi (native)

English

Languages I hope to learn?

Arabic

Korean

Nepali

Maldivian Sign Language

Interests:

Neurosurgery. Neurology. Books. Rheumatology. Psychiatry. Cats. Coffee. Bungo stray dogs. Genshin Impact. NCT Dream. Kimi Ni Todoke. Fruits Basket.

Reason for this blog?

I feel more motivated to study when I blog about it and its also a good way to keep track of my progress. I also wanted to share my journey as I had trouble finding similar blogs online.

What can you find here?

Here’s the 7th and final part of my Studyblr University Orientation Week. 

The first day of class is stressful for everyone, even the upper year students. Here are some tips to help make it as easy as possible for you. 

Know where you’re going. Check your schedule the night before and know what classroom you’re in. If possible, go to it before the first day so that you know how to get there. If not, look for a map of your campus online (you also may have been given one during orientation). 

Pack your bag the night before. That way you won’t be scrambling to find a pencil two minutes before you leave and can instead be panicking about making friends. 

Greet the people sitting next to you. They could be potential new friends or study buddies. It may also help you feel more relaxed if the person next to you isn’t a complete stranger. 

Look over the syllabus before the first class. That way you won’t be surprised when you find out that the research paper is worth 50% of your final mark. 

Wear an outfit that you feel confident in. I know it’s cliched, and you don’t have to pick it out the night before, but wearing clothes that are comfortable/you feel good in may help to relieve some of your nerves. 

Your first class will most likely just be the prof going over the syllabus and answering questions about themselves or the course. Don’t worry about knowing everything yet. 

There will probably be one smug jackass who acts like they already do know everything. Ignore them. They either don’t know everything and just want to seem smart or they’re a showy jerk. Either way, they aren’t worth your time or anxiety over being smart enough to be here. You’re obviously smart enough if you’re here. 

This isn’t a first day specific thing but: For many of you this will be your first time seeing service dogs. This is just a friendly reminder not to touch them without their owner’s permission or talk to them in a cutesy voice. It can distract them from doing their job or even undo the training. 

Similarly to the above, this may be your first time meeting someone in a wheelchair. Don’t touch someone’s wheelchair unless they have given you permission to. The chair is an extension of themselves and touching it or moving them without their permission is really rude. (If I’ve said something weird here, please let me know as I am able-bodied.) 

Don’t feel scared if you don’t know anyone in your class yet. Most people don’t and they’ll be more than willing to befriend you. 

Don’t feel weird about eating alone. Lots of people do it. If you’re worried about looking or feeling awkward, bring a book or look at something on your phone. 

Wait a few days to buy your textbooks. Compare the prices of new and used books at your university’s bookstore to the prices of students reselling their old textbooks. You can usually get a pretty decent deal by shopping around online. (You may also find out that something’s only recommended reading) 

Find a seat that you like. A lot of the time, particularly in smaller classes, this will end up being your seat for the rest of the year. 

It has obviously been a hot minute since A level results have been out. However, I thought writing in general about my O level results, A level results and other exam results would be the best way to start this little blog of mine. I will also take this opportunity to introduce myself a little.

During o levels, i wasn't exactly hard working. I had gotten burnt at some point during grade 8 and a personal experience in graded 9 pushed me further away from my studies. I do intend to go into those details some time in the future. For now, I will stick to my study methods and the results this gave me. Despite my lack of interest in studies during this time, I always paid attention in class. I was that girl who would maintain eye contact with the teacher, mostly because it helped me stay present. I did not have many friends and that definitely aided me in staying focused. I did have a few crushes on boys but this did not really affect my studies as I did not talk to them. I might go into more detail about this later. The memories are pretty funny when I look back. Anyways, luckily I did not do too bad on my exams. I got A*s in Chemistry, Biology, Math, Computer Science, English and Physics IGCSEs. I got As in Dhivehi and Islam SSCs.

My grades during O Levels were not perfect. I had not reached my goals. I had thought that that was to be expected as I had not tried as hard as other people my age, and promised myself to try harder in the following years.

My A levels started off to a good start. I was implementing methods which worked for me as well as avoiding methods I had tried and found not to work. In hindsight, some of my goals were pretty unrealistic and I believe that played a key role in my diminishing motivation and discipline. However, I remember feeling embarrassed when people would see me working hard and studying. Other people did not seem to be working as hard and this made me feel insecure. Gradually, I stopped studying completely and lost track of all my assignments. Talk about peer pressure huh. This also happened to be a point in time where I was dealing with a huge identity crisis and this only added to my stress. In the end, I got pretty good grades, but far from what I had hoped for. I got As in Chemistry and Biology A levels and a B in Math A level. I also got 2 As in Dhivehi and Islam HSCs. This was really unfortunate for me as in my country those who got all As received a full government scholarship to study in quite literally wherever they chose. Regardless, the B in math was deserved, I would say, as I had been a careless student.

After many tears, I decided not to dwell too much on the past. My parents and I went to a higher education fair where we spoke to a few medical schools in Malaysia. Namely, NUMed, Cyberjaya and MSU. I ended up really loving NUMed and MSU was a close 2nd. I was advised by all of them to take the IELTS and so I did, and recently received my results. I got an overall 8.0. (Listening: 8.5, Reading: 8.5, Writing: 7.0, and speaking 8.5)