Malaysia Students Blog

Complete Guide to Life at Matriculation College (Program Matrikulasi)

2012-06-01T14:13:00.001+08:00

The guest post below was written by Marc Raphael Parrikal, who have completed his matriculation programme (program matrikulasi) this year and is currently waiting for enrollment into local public university (IPTA). You too, can share with us your secondary, pre-tertiary or university life at school, college or university by writing a guest post!

LIFE AT MATRIKULASI

A guide/memoir, by Marc Raphael Parrikal

I’ve decided to institute some order to this post by giving it subheadings where appropriate. This also means you can read/skim the stuff you want and ignore the rest.

Now let’s get to it, shall we?

Author’s Perspective

1 year ago, almost to the day, I arrived at the gates of Negeri Sembilan Matriculation College (KMNS), far from eager to embark on what I expected would be a dreadfully dull year of “college life”, if you can even call it that.

12 months later here I am, alive and well, offering you what I can by way of advice and experiences to expect.

I hope you bear in mind throughout this post that I’m writing from a non-bumi POV. As you probably already know, matrics is only 10-15 % non-bumiputera, and getting in requires that you score fairly well in you SPM. Consequently, you’ll find that non-bumis make up much of the nerd crowd at matrics. If you’re non-bumi you’ll probably need a perfect CGPA (don’t piss yourself, it’s easily done) and high koko marks, otherwise it’ll be hard getting into your preferred course later on.

Orientation Week at KMNS (I don’t know if the exact same applies to other colleges)

HATEFUL.

That’s the first adjective to pop up when I attempt to describe orientation week. Don’t get me wrong, the week is important. It’s when they explain things like college rules, how the system works, dos and don’ts, basically everything you need to know. Every question you could possibly have will be answered in a series of lecture-style sessions with the relevant staff (for example, the college librarian will conduct a session on library usage procedures, koko teacher will brief you on importance of extra-curricular involvement and how to get marks etc). These sessions will be spread out across the week.

So why then did I despise it? Because for reasons I could never fathom, they seemed bent on turning what could easily have been a relaxed yet informative week, into an exhausting nightmare for everyone. It was infuriating. Needless activities like the “boys vs girls cheer competition”, and “sesi bersama mentor” will saturate the timetable and leave you with no room for rest between talks. Sometimes they make you all sing the Negaraku for fun, just to mess with you. They know that you’re new, scared, friendless, and ultimately helpless. Suffer in silence, that’s what we all did.

That said, orientation week is also your chance to make some friends. You’ll need friends to get you through this, trust me.

Orientation only lasts a week, so there’s no point in dwelling on it for too long.

After orientation you jump right in to lectures, tutorials, labs…...matrics life.

My Life As a Matriculation Student

Me with the guys of my class. (I'm bottom row, in black)

Overall, I really grew to like the “boring” lifestyle at matriculation. No hassle. For me it was just studying half the time, and chilling out on the internet the other half. I didn’t have to worry about family matters, friends bugging you to go out all the time, social events etc. I appreciated being away from it all in that tiny little town of Kuala Pilah.

But all good things come with a price, obviously.

You can’t go out on weekdays over here. It’s a little ridiculous once you think about it. There we were, legal adults at the mature age of 18, and they just caged us in 24/7 because they thought it was best for us. Even weekend outings are sometimes disallowed because they want to hold some event/activity and they need you to make up the numbers. I hope you’re getting the picture here. They treat you like school kids. If you thought you’d be enjoying the same liberties as your friends at private colleges, you can forget about it. Unlike private institutions, matriculation colleges aren’t looking to profit from your fees, so they really don’t care if you’re unhappy and want to leave. Leave, by all means. About a million others would do anything for your spot.

My days were spent mundanely, mostly behind books or my laptop screen. After all, what else was there to do? Sports facilities were present, but I never really got into that because it’s so crowded most days, and unless you hang with the right people, you may never get a chance to play.

If you’re like me, then evenings = sleep, and night = study. Chilling out with friends is usually between classes, during meals, or on weekends. Assignments are brutal, but complete them (or not) at your own will and risk. I’m no exemplar for hard work. I barely ever did tutorial assignments, just concentrated on what I was weak at. But of course, this all depends on how strict your lecturer is. I had no male teachers, so lucky me I guess. =D

How To Score

Okay don’t worry, I’m not going to be one of those people who defend the standards of matriculation and compare it directly to STPM.

Let’s get real. This sh*t is easy. Anybody can do well here. Trust me.

First thing you want to do is drop Bio if you’re uninterested and it has nothing to do with your course ambitions. Don’t plague yourself with it. Last year, when presented with that option (switching to Module 2), many were apprehensive and chickened out because Module 2 meant taking Computer Science instead. At the time, CS was a new introduction, so many didn’t dare.

As it turned out, Computer Science was probably the easiest subject in the entire matriculation program. Loads of useful tech knowledge too (and programming!). I highly recommend it. I know so many people left kicking themselves for not taking the chance. Instead they were all stuck with Bio, many late nights, and tonnes of regret. If you want a more relaxed experience at matrics, do yourself a favour and take my advice. Also, NO LAB REPORTS FOR CS! What more could you ask for?

As for studying practices, to each his own. But keep in mind, matrics is fast-paced. You’ll be breezing through chapters and it can overwhelm you eventually. Sometimes I wonder if anybody has time to digest anything. Lecturers rush through stuff during lectures, but many make up for it in tutorials (which are like tuition classes I guess haha). Try to keep up. If you can’t, you’re expected to go see them personally.

If your English isn’t too bad, you should really make use of reference books for better explanations. I can’t stand people who don’t bother buying reference books, preferring to rely solely on condensed lecture notes, then start complaining about not being able to follow what’s going on in class. Some lecturers give great notes, some don’t. It’s important that you recognise the difference. The library also has foreign references if you want a deeper understanding of things (especially Physics and Chemistry). You can also download them if you know where to look ;D

30% of your grade will come from “PB”, i.e. Penilaian Berterusan (a.k.a. Penilaian Bonus). Just hand in your assignments when they ask you to, don’t cut class, finish those annoying lab reports, and you’re well on your way to that A.

If you find that your classmates are lagging behind, help them out. Like I said before, not everybody can keep up, so don’t be an as*hole by letting the people around you fend for themselves. It’s not their fault everything is in English and they sometimes need a little support. They’ll be grateful, and you will have made yourself some awesome friends. I grew very attached to my classmates. After all, you spend so much time together, just the 20 of you.

Koko Marks

This was the only thing that bugged me throughout. I really wasn’t that involved. But fortunately, as I came to realise later, the point accumulation system they used made scoring very….errr...easy? Seriously, STPM students rage when they read this. Here’s what I mean:

Activity among hostel block members? Considered district level.

Activities within college? Considered state level.

Competitions against other colleges (e.g. KAKOM)? Considered national level.

If you win anything, you immediately get even more as markah pencapaian. Tournaments/programs will be organised throughout the year, so just get involved. Chess tourney, Scrabble tourney, calligraphy contest, Mini-KAKOM (many diff sports, competition within college), KAKOM (many diff sports, inter-college competition), Battle of the Bands, you name it. There are so many to choose from. Take part in one or two at least.

Maybe I should have run for JPP (student council thing). Seriously, it’s very easy to get on. Elections are a joke. There were 21 seats to be decided, and only about 25 candidates dared to run. As you can see, you really can’t screw this up unless people really hate you for some reason. So if you don’t mind giving one small campaign speech, I highly recommend running for a spot. Huge koko marks up for grabs.

STPM will soon be a 3-part course, and maybe it’ll be easy to get good grades there too. But even then, I can’t see STPM students amassing the koko marks on offer here at matrics, so that’s something you should definitely consider.

Little Myth I’d Like To Debunk

YES, it is possible to gain admission to premier foreign universities with your matriculation qualification. Here’s an official list (non-exhaustive) by Ministry of Education, Malaysia.

A friend of mine even got an offer from Imperial College London (amongst several others), and he’s currently waiting on scholarship replies before he decides on whether or not to go there.

Thanks For Reading

Just for LOLs, here’s a pic of my roommate trying to get to sleep while I’m still studying

I don’t regret my time there. It was a learning experience (interacting with people from all over the country, many different backgrounds). Well worth it.

Sorry if I’ve left a lot of stuff out. I was rushing to get this done. If you have further questions, leave it in the comments please. Thanks for reading.

Students, Manage Your Stress! 4 Practical Ways to Deal with Stress in College/University

2012-05-23T23:25:00.000+08:00

Editor's Note: Many thanks to our reader, Khim, who wrote in and suggested correction of many grammatical errors in the original version of the essay below. Now, are you kind enough like Khim to help us to improve this article? Thanks in advance!

Written by Kate Looi, who is a 22-year-old postgraduate student and is currently working as a Junior Accounts Executive. Join us and apply to be a contributor now!

Many students have been going through a stressful period, when they are facing assignment deadlines, examination schedule or personal problems. It is especially burdensome when you feel all of the problems knocking your door together.

Once I was a college student just like you, I had to prepare for internal exam and also sit for ACCA professional paper sitting. Sometimes, few assignments are being rushed in the same week. Luckily, I could handle them well. Only when I truly felt the stress blockage is when I had to take three ACCA papers at the same time, which was a continuous three-day exam.

It also signifies the transformation from secondary to tertiary school times. The higher education level you are in, the higher possibility you feel stress. There is no way for you and me to escape it. You have to learn how to manage it to a balanced level. It is a must because it will increase much more when you begin your working life sooner or later.

I will share some of the methods when I was in that terrible situation. It could be useful for me but not for you. Everyone has their ways of dealing with their nerve-racking periods.

People – You do have family, close friends or someone who can listen to your problems and give you an advice. In my case, I seldom talk to my family to prevent them from over-worrying. Thus, friends became my listener or companion. Yet, I would choose whom to tell to because you would not tend to talk to someone who is in dilemma too. Sometimes, I will not wish to trouble whoever is facing the same examination or other problems as me. I know they might not feel that it is a trouble though. Anyway, talking out to the right person will ease your emotion.
Time – When the stress is coming to attack you, it means you are doing somewhere wrong to allow this unwelcomed visitor. Mostly, it is because of the time management. Students are used to procrastinate their progress, even the best students. I admit that I was too. However, we should not leave them to the last minute. Divide the lengthy assignment question or examination timetable to a few smaller pieces. As such, they will not be overwhelming and push you to the dead corner. Furthermore, set your priorities accordingly. To ensure meeting the deadlines, you must kick away all intrusions. Please leave your television shows, text-messaging, laptops and snacks aside. Study comes before recreation.
Responsibility – Learning how to assign one coursework among your team members is important. Although you are a team leader, you should not solely take care of the whole assignment. Otherwise, you will not be a successful leader as well. Putting all responsibilities on top of one shoulder is very onerous. Trust your team members. If you feel that you cannot trust them or their work are not up to the necessary standard, talk to them or else tell your lecturer when they do not change their attitudes afterwards.
Relax – Nerves are like rubber band. If you pull it overly, it will be broken. Things are always consequences of other things. You start late, feel guilty and do not let yourself to have a break in order to finish it on time. But, you might make it worse because you do not expect the stress that is disturbing your progress. I will try to write down my schedule which is inclusive of going to cinema, hanging out with friends, friends’ birthday celebration and so on. Put your work down, walk out from the hostel and breathe the fresh air. You will feel more refreshed when later coming back to work them out. Do not make it as your excuse and hang out more often than you need. It is kind of procrastination instead of relaxation.

That’s all in my list. A bit of stress is motivation. My lecturer has told us that hanging out before exam will make you guilty and study harder. Is this true? When you feel guilty, you will do more to compensate. The best student in your class might hang out with you but still study at night or early next morning when you are sleeping. Therefore, he or she seems to be relaxed and fully prepared.

Handle your stress well and enjoy your student life!

A Reflection on 4 Years University Life at International Medical University (IMU)

2012-05-20T12:42:00.000+08:00

Written by Sze Wei Thing - You may share your fun and meaningful university life with us too!

I'm Sze Wei Thing, 24 years old, just recently graduated from International Medical University (IMU) with a degree in pharmacy. Love to express myself through words. Love travelling and being a little adventurous sometimes.

In the blink of an eye, I have finally graduated from 4 years of pharmacy degree. Everything went by very fast from my last semester to my last degree exam. It took some time after my last exam to hit me with the realities that my university life is ending, I will be a working woman soon, and I have got new responsibilities to bear (both to my family and to the community). Am I truly ready for this? It is indeed a big milestone, for a carefree university student like me who live by the three Fs - fun, friends, and freedom.

As much as I felt I am not ready yet, I will have to face it in a few months time soon. Therefore I do want to do some reflections on my university life. My university life as a pharmacy student in IMU is indeed a hectic one. However, I am not going to reflect about how busy I am as a pharmacy student, but what I have experienced in the midst of the hecticness.

Of adaptation

Adaptation is a cool journey. It is a process that transforms unfamiliarity to being familiar, from hatred to likes and eventually to love. To be honest, it took me like about two years to be fully adaptable to life in KL. Four years ago, I flew from a peaceful small town Kuching to KL, feeling all excited about living in a big city. Nevertheless, for a small town girl like me, I do felt that I am living at a place I did not belong to. I felt lost at times and did not have the initiative to explore the town. When holidays came I just could not wait to go back to my hometown as soon as possible. However as time passed I slowly adapted to the life and was able to appreciate what this city has to offer, and hence enjoyed my university life to a greater extend!

Of being immune to stress

Do not blame your university if it brings you lots of stress through school work and exams. It does train you to be a tougher and stronger person, without you realizing it in the middle of process. As a pharmacist student, I remember the agony I went through in the preparation for my first few finals, literally complaining 'oh God when can I get this over with' every other minutes while I crammed all the information into my tiny brain. However I discover that as I proceeded along my semesters, I did not feel as stressed up anymore. My mental tolerance towards stress has achieved greater heights! I have learnt to keep those stresses out of my focus. I am focusing on 'doing my best' rather than hanging onto the 'I am very stressed' thought. It certainly makes life sweeter in the midst of stress.

Of being young

If you see rooms or apartments with lights on at 3am, it is probably a university student's hostel. He/she is either doing last minute revision for exams or watching football or catching on dramas. Who else can be as hyperactive at the time when most people have gone to sleep, other than university students? Not to mention about midnight suppers at mamak stalls, late night drinks at Starbucks, and late night movies at the malls after a day in college. This is how unhealthy we can get by not sleeping at the time we are supposed to. Nevertheless, this is how energetic we can be by being young.

Of treasuring friendships that do not come easy

Coming out from a small town to a big city, finding true friends is certainly not an easy process. As university students, we meet people everyday in lecture halls, cafeterias, and during events. We interact with people and get friendly. Our Facebook friends list increase on daily basis. But deep inside our hearts, we desire friendships that are more than just saying Hi and making small talks. We need to connect to people on a more meaningful level. There comes the time when some friends will stand out from the crowd, being there for us when we need them and share life's moments with us. From this we learn to treasure friends that stick with us through ups and downs. True friends help us to discover more about ourselves, pointing out mistakes that we are not aware of. They are like angels and guardians when our family is not around. I could not be more grateful for the friends that journeyed along with me in IMU till we reached the graduating finishing line together. The journey has ended but the friendships have not, they last a lifetime.

Of being inspired and inspiring people

University is like a potpourri of talents being gathered at one place, everyone is so differently gifted from each other. Some are outspoken, some are intelligent, and some are always behind the scene yet never cease to contribute so much. Everyone is just purely inspiring in certain ways. One can learn from even the quietest person, of his meticulous mind and thoughtfulness. And you will never realize that by just simply being yourself made you an inspiration to someone out there. The process of learning from each other for the better takes place in university, shaping characters constantly.

Of growing up

I know I was not exactly the same person like who I was four years ago from now. I might still have the same personalities, but I have definitely grown up a little, if not a lot. University is a path for a person to experience growth. Some grow up overnight, some experience it slow. You grow up when you face internal struggles; when you overcome the fear in you; when you learn to have faith in difficult times. You grow when you learn to be less judgmental towards others. You definitely grow when you stands up for what you believe in; when you decide to follow your dream; when you are brave to take the roads not taken. All of these experiences, some which are mine and some witnessed from others' life, happened within the short four years of university.

I have learnt great and useful knowledge from university, but I realize that at the end of the day, what I am going to reminisce the most is not the knowledge, but the experiences, memories and the people I have met. So for you guys out there who are about to start uni life or still in your uni years, enjoy and appreciate what university life has to offer you! For those like me who has finished university, take along your own unique learning experiences with you to the world out there and continue to make dreams happen.

To be honest I am sad to bid my sweet university years goodbye, and perhaps, bidding farewell to freedom too. Hello to a world of responsibilities that come forward. Though there is a whole world of uncertainties lying in front of me, I know it is going to be another great journey. I am going to apply the same principle as I did in uni: have faith :)

Life in Matriculation (Matrikulasi Malaysia)

2012-05-18T21:16:00.001+08:00

Editor's Note: Please bear with the grammar used and respect the author's sincere efforts in sharing his matriculation experience. You may share your pre-university and tertiary education life with us too!

Written by Amier Qadri

Hi, still new in this site actually just like you. I am someone who believes that can fulfill my dream in order to have wonderful life besides improving myself as 19 years old and being mature. Life can be lovely depending on how you imagine and what you dream about. That’s it. I personally like to write, reading and discover something new.

"You will miss this kind of life," this word still fresh in my mind as one of my lecturer had told me confidently when the final exam was getting to its line.

"Its horrible life had ever I feels." I shouldn't have flinched at the thought. This first time thought crossed my mind after a week having life as matriculation student. I'm not denying that, becoming a student of matriculation is kind of tiring life beside completing the assignment, tutorial and revision. But, it could be easier when you can manage your time wisely. When you come to be a matrix student, first thing you must do is get ready with physical and mental because schedule in matrix is totally different with secondary school and it is packed. I’m not denying that, it’s very tiring, 8 hours rushing to tutorial and lectures. Break is just only one hour for lunch then continuing back at 2 o’clock. Hey it’s not a bad thing because when you’ll work, the duration is almost same, 8 hours a day. At first, maybe you feel so damn tired but finally u will be adapted by the rushing of time. But, during evening let the burden out from your mind by doing activities, such as cycling, jogging or either sleeping. For me, at the evening I prefer to sleep because I like to stay up at night, doing revision and completing the assignment. It then turn very interesting day during weekend. No books and assignment will be touch because I spent my weekend by watching movies at night. Some students prefer to play games like Dotta or other strategies games. Like hostel in secondary school, you may go for outing from 8am and back to college before 7pm and wear any attire you like.

Being a matriculation student, you have to be quick every time. You need to rush in your studies, although it just only 4 main subjects will be taken. Maybe it sound like so hard to cope, but don't worry, you will be guided with kind and helpful lecturer and yet you definitely not believe how kind they were. Once you want it, then you get it. Just stick on what you have targeted for. You should be grateful if you get the chance to be matrix student. Yes, matrix is easier than STPM. Matriculation syllabus is just the summary of what form 6 learn at school. In matrix, we still can use STPM syllabus for revision. But the content of the book is quite a lot compare to matrix. In my point of view, taking Form 6 is almost same by choosing Two Year Program (PDT) in matriculation. Now, STPM had begin the accumulation pointer by semester just same like matriculation. But, seriously I’m saying that, you will get a lot of advantage when you take PDT in matriculation since the lecturers intend to help you more. Compare and contrast PDT with Form 6, become PDT you may have a lot of time to get understand each topic you learn. In a semester, about ¼ chapters of a subject will be cover. Just imagine! You also have a lot of guided class held by the lecturers. And yet, you may have a lot of time to meet the lecturers to consult you if you not understand. Do you get it from the teachers at school?

Since there many quizzes and test will be done, you'll need to be prepare every time. A month, you'll be face approximately 2 to 3 quizzes and test. It is good for you as it can help you to know what level you are in that subject. Hey, don't worry with that. It just only covers the topic you learn recently and a lot of lecturers held consultation hour for the students to improve their understanding. The marks from the quizzes and test are required for the teacher to give their marks. For your information, matriculation had standardized the marks; 10% from UPS (Mid-Semester Test), 20% from PB (Continues Assessments) and 70% from the PSPM (Final Semester Exam).

Before I get into the college, there are so many people criticize matriculation programme. They said that 'taking matriculation program going to kill you. It’s hard to get cope with the study, with the life, everything need to be independet'. Honestly, they totally wrong. Once you become the students you will know that matriculation is the best. Seriously. Listen here boys and girls, for your information, matriculation giving you a lot of chance to get place in IPTA with >3 pointer and easy to get scholarship when you get >3.50. From my experience, there are also 2.0 students get place in USM, do you believe it! If you get sucked in your mind to what you want for course in university, the counselors in matriculation will help you. Everything going to be okay if you intend to help yourself.

Just be chill and try to get the rhythms when you become matriculation students. Different people might have different style to how they cope with the life and study. But for me, as ex-matriculation students, it's kind of enjoyable life in matrix since I’d become Student Representative Council (JPP). Bahagian Matrikulasi, KPM intend to send the students to explore the real life. A year, not really, maybe it just 10 month, I'd get to know the life in other matrix and their people. There are so many activities held a year. One of the big events of Matriculation is KAKOM (Karnival Kokorikulum Matrikulasi). KAKOM enable you to get involve with a lot of activities in national level. It also give you advantage to get 10% marks of cocuricullum. I just got 8 because I’m not taking part in it. =)

One thing that I would not forget is about my classmate and JPP. I got very friendly classmate. Know what, it just only 4 boys and 19 girls. Well, during our batch, the number of female students is larger than male students. What a funny moment when trying to get a group. This 4 people always be together but somehow, we need to be separate. Well, it’s not a bad thing. It teaches us how to cope and be in a group with different gender. In fact, different opinions produce good quality of work. It is approved when, my classmate taking part in a drama fest during Science Carnival. They did it well even they didn’t get place. The cooperation given, finally produce interesting story. That’s it.

Finally, to sum up all this word, just be positive. Confident with your skill and talent that you have. If homesick is going to let you down, busy yourself with a lot of activities and be friendly. Let the people know you and avoid being alone. You won’t feel bored if you are always busy. Don’t let the people set up of your life because you will face all of it, not them. Try to ask yourself how much benefit it will get you in return. Hope this will be interesting for you to read. Stay tuned!