Uni started off with the busiest and scariest semester - a total of six subjects to be conquered. The sheer amount of lecture material was never seen before and was indeed a quantum leap from the honeymoon period which was the first two years. It was also the first time we had the so called most important subject, Clinical Pharmacy, which deals with diagnostic sign and symptoms, treatment selection and monitoring of various maladies. I like the subject a lot as I found it most interesting and relevant to the things I'm studying now.
Other subjects in the semester include Pharmacy Practice, Microbiology, Pharmaceutics, Pharmacology and Medicinal Chemistry. Definitely not a stroll in the park.
I was elected to the post of Treasurer in PISA that year, and was pleased to hear that STEPS were well received by the new International students, even though a few complained that it was way too wordy. Activities in PISA started off with a little bit of hiccup as our welcome dinner coincide with the students' English proficiency test. Nevertheless, I remembered that our nasi lemak and teh tarik was well received.
Throughout the first semester, we continued to have sporadic activities. Some activities received good response, whereas some have so little people attending that it had to be cancelled. Nevertheless, all activities taught me valuable lessons on what were the priorities and likings of students in general. I really felt that joining the club improved my applied psychology and marketing skills.
Being part of PISA was also a great way to make friends. I was more confident by that time and can initiate small conversation with people. This confidence was also built up via my role as a Student Ambassador and Global Friendship Series (GFS).
That semester I also applied for the role as Student Ambassador, which offers selected students leadership training in return for services promoting the Uni. It was the most prestigious role in Uni and the group interview was very scary. All the other students answered the open questions so well and so quickly and I have no chance to talk until the interviewer had to ask me a question directly. I have no idea how I got in the program as only 15 students throughout the whole campus were selected.
The first few events I joined in my capacity as a Student Ambassador was awkward and uncomfortable as I don't know anyone in the team. Luckily I found my footing sooner than I thought and became firm friends with most of the other people in the team. There were a lot of useful training sessions like leadership training, public speaking, emotional intelligence, cultural awareness which added value to my University experience. We also had the chance to meet prominent members of the profession and have them sharing experiences with us.
That year Uni also introduced Global Friendship Series, an initiative to integrate students from all different year levels and walks of life. I joined the first activity and was immediately hooked to the novel concept. When they asked for volunteers to run the activities I immediately sign up. I was the first official volunteer. Galahad and Kush signed up later and we were the trio of brothers who put our heart and soul into trying to make it the best program in the campus.
I don't know was I was thinking that year, but I also applied and got accepted to be a Disability Liaison Unit (DLU) notes-taker. My job is to help people with a disability take down lecture notes during their lectures. Luckily the job only start in the second semester or I would have some problem coping.
Despite my average score that semester was the lowest amongst my four years, I felt that the shift of focus to integrate more co-curricular activities into my life is the right one. It was one of the most enjoyable time in my Uni life.
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