The video probably shows way more than I can express in words. But also I guess it shows only snippets, so here are just some additional thoughts—very casually expressed.
How was the overall experience?
Really amazing. Loved every moment and did a lot and learnt a lot. Created lots of memories. Rating 11/10.
What are some highlights of the year?
It’s tough to choose just one or a few highlights. I really just lived in the moment. Like you know how there are some big events that are more “momentous”, but then there are all the small moments that make your heart so full.
Okay, but if I had to choose some “momentous” things, definitely the 60km overnight walk from NTU to Jewel was among the most memorable. Especially because I did it with friends. And it was quite insane and I love hiking so 😀
Looking back now I miss the times at the start of the year in hall when we’d just open jio and go to the field to play sports (really inclusive stuff like captain’s ball). I think I felt a lot closer to people back then? Maybe just because we saw each other more often too. Also yeah I love sports especially when it’s with friends and just chill (without the stress of training or performance).
During summer vacation I rallied a group of friends to do this hackathon thing and although the hackathon wasn’t a great idea, the time with them was really really amazing. So yeah I miss that too. And it’s a bigger thing in my memory because it took up so much of our time during the hols haha. Although we couldn’t yet go overseas due to COVID, these people really really made me feel so blessed.
What are some “lowlights” of the year?
Would you believe me if I said there weren’t any? Okay this is an unsatisfactory answer so I’ll squeeze my brain and try to think harder.
This isn’t really that much but I think I did face some rejections at the start of the year (still do! still constantly facing rejections and failures). It was kind of like several rejections all at once? I think I cried, but only because of the lost opportunity/experience (to learn, grow, enrich myself). Also that’s what I do—if I really do feel sad over something, I let myself cry alone. Usually in two minutes I wipe away my tears and am back to living life.
I think I said in the video too that I can’t say I absolutely love long writing assignments (reflective writing, scientific writing, etc), because any writing from scratch is tough for me, and my whole life is consumed by that until I finish it. (I can spend weeks on one 1500-word piece, including some days when I’m working on it almost the entire day.) Okay but I actually still do enjoy writing and even though I’m sometimes too invested and my time management goes down the drain, I still think these are very good 磨练. Sorry I couldn’t think of a fitting English word, the Chinese term means “to temper oneself through struggle” or something like that.
Recently I came across a quote: “If you can’t remember any time in the last six moths when you failed, you aren’t trying to do difficult enough things.” So yeah it’s like you have to push yourself and challenge yourself a bit once in a while.
And while I don’t like studying for the sake of exams, I wouldn’t say studying for exams in M1 was dreary or tiring. I guess because I loved what I was learning. So even though there were days and weeks I was just shut up in my room at my desk from morning to night, I never felt like it wasn’t a true joy and privilege to be learning med.
Yeah of course I struggle and I constantly feel like I don’t know anything and my brain is leaky and I’ll probably fail but all that’s part of the journey.
Any survival tips? (or “thriving” tips?)
If you reread the previous sentence probably I’m not the best person to give survival tips. Haha jk okay I will try to consolidate some things that I think can really help you to not just survive but thrive!
On studies:
- Just study your school’s materials religiously and you’ll do fine. If you have an abundance of time and Zen-level attention span, reading textbooks might be for you. Otherwise, it’s okay. Forget it. The content you need to know and master (including for the exams) should be covered in your school’s notes and materials.
- Make use of YouTube. This is really a top tip which I myself don’t use often enough. When a really tough concept comes up there’s more often than not a YouTube video for it that will help you make sense of things.
- Find a study method that works for you. It may take a bit of trial-and-error to figure out, but I think it’s quite essential. I tried a lot of different things and not all worked well for me. Also everyone has different strategies that are most ideal for them, there’s no “best way”. (I tried to summarise everything I know in a more comprehensive guide, but try to figure out what works for you! It will help a lot along the way.)
On life:
- Try staying hall. I think staying on campus/dorm is a life experience that you should have at least once. Even if it doesn’t turn out great, at least you’d have tried. I mentioned in some other article why it’s easy to just try (you can read a bit more on hall life on that page too if you’re still unsure—hopefully it will address most of your concerns/FAQs!)
- Try new things. I think first year is the time to “play” and explore. Don’t confine yourself to your desk or to familiar things. There are a ton of opportunities out there, ranging from more med- or academics-related stuff, to CCAs, sports, performing arts, etc. Go find out what there is and just try. (Or you can think up random things on your own like hike 60km across Singapore.)
- Don’t take on too much. The opportunities will be abundant. Plus you have to study (at least attend classes + study before exams right). So choose your commitments wisely. If you have a whole list of things stacked up but no time to commit fully to each of them, it just doesn’t make sense. It really doesn’t. So go and try/explore, but be intentional about what you commit to and what you want to focus on/prioritise. A simple way might be to start by listing the areas that are most important to you (not too many!), then find one opportunity for each.
- Talk to people. Even if you’re an introvert (like me), you’ll be around others often in med school. Plus it’s a very safe and supportive space. You really don’t have to be “out there”, but when there’s the chance, talk to people around you! Batchmates, seniors, juniors… It’s always good to build bonds + you can actually learn a lot through conversations.
- Take frequent breaks. This is both on the micro scale (breaks from studying during the day) and macro scale (do something fun or novel every week or every once in a while). This will prevent burnout and keep you motivated for the long run! Also I realised novel things (at least for me) help to break up the routine a bit sometimes, which can be very rejuvenating. This can be something really small like go for a walk in nature, catch up with a friend, etc. Or something major like travel (which we didn’t get to do in Year 1, but you can now!)
I’ll end the post here before I ramble on far too long, but as always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a message or leave a comment below. If you’re starting med school soon, here’s wishing you a fun and fulfilling journey! Go out there and create your own memories—I’m sure your story will be even more insane and amazing. Best of wishes, TLM :”)
Note: Whenever “year” is mentioned above, it refers to the academic year (which starts in August), rather than the calendar year.