Dilemma of A Dropout
I was working last Sunday. Full stop.
It was not a fun job working on Sundays. Full stop.
It is a true statement that I believe everyone can agree.
But this post is not about me working on Sundays even though I hate them. Because even though I hate working on Sundays, I do them because I love my job. And I need to the job on Sundays because ONLY on that day my customer is not working. So I can only do my reworks or repairs on their machinery on Sundays.
I was working on last Sunday with 2 of my technicians. One of them a new guy. Quite young by the way - 19 years old. While I'm gauging the blazing sunlight on the Sunday morning, suddenly he came to me with a surprise question.
S: Abang dulu ambil kursus apa yek?
Me: Kursus?
Me: (Kenapa tiba-tiba tanya pasal kursus aku ni? Orang tengah berdiri tengah panas ni)
Me: Kursus mechanical engineering. Ambil kat UTM je.
Me: Kenapa tanya?
That's when he spilled the beans.
S: Saya ingat nak sambung belajar balikla.
Me: Sambung belajar balik? Erm, bagusla tu.
Then comes the shocking truth.
S: Tapi saya ni takde SPM.
Me: (Huh?!)
The busybody me started to probe.
Me: Takde SPM? Kenapa berhenti sekolah dulu?
S: Tu la bang. Saya bodoh dulu. Ikut kawan....Berhenti masa tingkatan 4.
Me: So, lepas tingkatan 4 terus kerja?
S: Saya ambil Giat Mara aje. Kemudian kerja kat kilang (his previous job was at DRB Hicom factory assembling Merc)
He later explained that after working for several years he becomes attracted to study again. After seeing some of his former schoolmates in the college, he obviously feels envious of them. Working in the factories also had some effect on him after seeing how the industrial works. That is why he is asking what was the course that I had taken in the past - he want to work in the same line as I am.
Even though I hope he will pursue his ambition, the truth is it will not be an easy road. It is hard to start studying again after idling for several years. I know how it feels to be a dropout - because I AM one. I had dropout from my masters degree about 8 years ago.
It was a hard time. It still feels like the worst failure and regret in my life. I'm not dumb by the way. But after the degree program, the burning desire to pursue more studies wasn't there anymore. There was not much friends that I could share the studies with which was making it worse. Lastly, the program didn't making any sense so I just flunked myself by stopping to go to the classes.
The decision that I had made after that by pursuing a career in the industrial arena proved to be the right decision so far. I had met my wife because of that & by not having a masters degree, I have no extra baggage of over qualified for any executive post in the industrial field (I found some employers can be very picky about it after that).
The talk with S does opens my paradigm a little bit. Whole my life, I have the opportunity to be around people that have finished their studies. It may be some diplomas, or even certificate level, even though it is usually degrees, but definitely have a SPM qualification. My siblings, my cousins, my friends have been blessed by having the opportunity to have a proper education.
But there are definitely some individuals that don't need the scroll to have a meaningful career & life.
That is reserve for SOME individuals. The rest of us who is rakyat marhain doesn't posses that. To success we need proper education. Do you know that almost 10% of Malaysian is a SPM dropout? That means every 10 people that you see on the road, 1 of them don't have a SPM qualification. That is a pathetic situation for Malaysia as a nation. SPM should be the minimum education requirement that you need to properly functioning in the modern society.
S still have his time. He is still 19. He is even surveying for a good tuition class that he want to enroll in. Deep down, I hope he will succeed.
That got me thinking. If I was not guided properly by my parents, maybe I will not reach the way that I am now. If my parent were reckless in educating me, maybe at this time, this year I will just making a decent pay from a decent job. And maybe on last Sunday morning, I was one of the technician.....
And maybe still single.....
It was not a fun job working on Sundays. Full stop.
It is a true statement that I believe everyone can agree.
But this post is not about me working on Sundays even though I hate them. Because even though I hate working on Sundays, I do them because I love my job. And I need to the job on Sundays because ONLY on that day my customer is not working. So I can only do my reworks or repairs on their machinery on Sundays.
I was working on last Sunday with 2 of my technicians. One of them a new guy. Quite young by the way - 19 years old. While I'm gauging the blazing sunlight on the Sunday morning, suddenly he came to me with a surprise question.
S: Abang dulu ambil kursus apa yek?
Me: Kursus?
Me: (Kenapa tiba-tiba tanya pasal kursus aku ni? Orang tengah berdiri tengah panas ni)
Me: Kursus mechanical engineering. Ambil kat UTM je.
Me: Kenapa tanya?
That's when he spilled the beans.
S: Saya ingat nak sambung belajar balikla.
Me: Sambung belajar balik? Erm, bagusla tu.
Then comes the shocking truth.
S: Tapi saya ni takde SPM.
Me: (Huh?!)
The busybody me started to probe.
Me: Takde SPM? Kenapa berhenti sekolah dulu?
S: Tu la bang. Saya bodoh dulu. Ikut kawan....Berhenti masa tingkatan 4.
Me: So, lepas tingkatan 4 terus kerja?
S: Saya ambil Giat Mara aje. Kemudian kerja kat kilang (his previous job was at DRB Hicom factory assembling Merc)
He later explained that after working for several years he becomes attracted to study again. After seeing some of his former schoolmates in the college, he obviously feels envious of them. Working in the factories also had some effect on him after seeing how the industrial works. That is why he is asking what was the course that I had taken in the past - he want to work in the same line as I am.
Even though I hope he will pursue his ambition, the truth is it will not be an easy road. It is hard to start studying again after idling for several years. I know how it feels to be a dropout - because I AM one. I had dropout from my masters degree about 8 years ago.
It was a hard time. It still feels like the worst failure and regret in my life. I'm not dumb by the way. But after the degree program, the burning desire to pursue more studies wasn't there anymore. There was not much friends that I could share the studies with which was making it worse. Lastly, the program didn't making any sense so I just flunked myself by stopping to go to the classes.
The decision that I had made after that by pursuing a career in the industrial arena proved to be the right decision so far. I had met my wife because of that & by not having a masters degree, I have no extra baggage of over qualified for any executive post in the industrial field (I found some employers can be very picky about it after that).
The talk with S does opens my paradigm a little bit. Whole my life, I have the opportunity to be around people that have finished their studies. It may be some diplomas, or even certificate level, even though it is usually degrees, but definitely have a SPM qualification. My siblings, my cousins, my friends have been blessed by having the opportunity to have a proper education.
But there are definitely some individuals that don't need the scroll to have a meaningful career & life.
 |
| This dropout..... |
 |
| Stops working years ago because he is so rich |
 |
| This dropout..... |
 |
| Influence humans race even after he died. |
 |
| Everyone in FB nowadays & know who Zuckerberg is. |
 |
| Even the great country of USA facing the same issue. |
That got me thinking. If I was not guided properly by my parents, maybe I will not reach the way that I am now. If my parent were reckless in educating me, maybe at this time, this year I will just making a decent pay from a decent job. And maybe on last Sunday morning, I was one of the technician.....
And maybe still single.....
I dropout from my masters program at UK and now i feel regret and keep blaming myself! Huhuhu. It's really hard to move on.
ReplyDelete