I Heart SMU
I really wanted to study overseas and got accepted in the university i wanted. But my parents weren't ready to let go of me just yet so i had to settle for a local college. A question i have gotten over a thousand times (and am still getting when i tell people i'm the pioneer batch) is 'Why did you choose SMU?'. I must have given a dozen different answers over the years except for the truth:
I don't know.
What many people do not know now was that our first campus was a small poorly erected block along Evans Road. We had to rotate classes so that everyone could fulfill their required modules. We did not have the luxury of choosing from the wide variety of modules and professors my juniors have today. I did get a place in one of the local world class universities, yet i turned it down cus i too, was sold on the marketing of our glib tongued professors (sad to say some of which are no longer teaching in SMU). Do i have any regrets then? My answer would be an obvious 'No'.
SMU wasn't half bad, though being the pioneer batch there were alot of teething problems. Alot of debate over whether SMU graduates were really 'different' and better than graduates from the other local world class universities actually helped to create awareness and boost the SMU name.
The best thing i took away (besides the non compromising knowledge every Singaporean student has to absorb at every level of our education system) would be it taught me to look for solutions from every other angle besides the conventional. In theory, we call that thinking out of the box, but such a term is too cliche and over used so we will forget i even mentioned it. The conventional may work, but the unconventional grabs attention, makes people sit up and actually listen.
Employers are tired of the usual theories and typical answers graduates regurgitate at every interview. Employers now want people who will multitask aka know the theories but also can do oh so many other jobs such as selling and presentation.
I can't say for sure whether students from the other local world class universities are restricted by a long standing tradition of redtape (read: the USUAL way of dispensing knowledge) or maybe it's a Singaporean style of academia (read: burying in books). Even if it's none of these two factors, i can see why it's easy to get lost in the sea of faces in a few-hundred-seater lecture theatre. In SMU, our best differentiating factor would be TO stand out. As part of the pioneer batch of a measley 300 Class of 2000, we either stand out, speak up and work hard or run the risk of being unemployed and wasting our tax payor's money in funding. Some commented that our aggressive marketing is belittling of a world class academic institution. Worse still, some dean of a local world class university was quoted saying SMUsians lacked substance and are only riding on the marketing campaigns to woo employers.
Well, it worked, didn't it?
Say what they might, I'm proud of the way my alma mater is growing and still growing stronger by the day. It just proves to show that in the REAL world, image, marketing and packaging must go hand in hand with smarts. And come end July 2005, the dynamitism of a Singaporean undergraduate will be on showcase in Bras Basah when the new campus opens. We do not have to hide inside hostel rooms to do naughty things. We'll go across the road to the nearby pub and grab a beer before giggling our way back to the library to mug for midterms. Damn i wished i was back in school.
I don't know.
What many people do not know now was that our first campus was a small poorly erected block along Evans Road. We had to rotate classes so that everyone could fulfill their required modules. We did not have the luxury of choosing from the wide variety of modules and professors my juniors have today. I did get a place in one of the local world class universities, yet i turned it down cus i too, was sold on the marketing of our glib tongued professors (sad to say some of which are no longer teaching in SMU). Do i have any regrets then? My answer would be an obvious 'No'.
SMU wasn't half bad, though being the pioneer batch there were alot of teething problems. Alot of debate over whether SMU graduates were really 'different' and better than graduates from the other local world class universities actually helped to create awareness and boost the SMU name.
The best thing i took away (besides the non compromising knowledge every Singaporean student has to absorb at every level of our education system) would be it taught me to look for solutions from every other angle besides the conventional. In theory, we call that thinking out of the box, but such a term is too cliche and over used so we will forget i even mentioned it. The conventional may work, but the unconventional grabs attention, makes people sit up and actually listen.
Employers are tired of the usual theories and typical answers graduates regurgitate at every interview. Employers now want people who will multitask aka know the theories but also can do oh so many other jobs such as selling and presentation.
I can't say for sure whether students from the other local world class universities are restricted by a long standing tradition of redtape (read: the USUAL way of dispensing knowledge) or maybe it's a Singaporean style of academia (read: burying in books). Even if it's none of these two factors, i can see why it's easy to get lost in the sea of faces in a few-hundred-seater lecture theatre. In SMU, our best differentiating factor would be TO stand out. As part of the pioneer batch of a measley 300 Class of 2000, we either stand out, speak up and work hard or run the risk of being unemployed and wasting our tax payor's money in funding. Some commented that our aggressive marketing is belittling of a world class academic institution. Worse still, some dean of a local world class university was quoted saying SMUsians lacked substance and are only riding on the marketing campaigns to woo employers.
Well, it worked, didn't it?
Say what they might, I'm proud of the way my alma mater is growing and still growing stronger by the day. It just proves to show that in the REAL world, image, marketing and packaging must go hand in hand with smarts. And come end July 2005, the dynamitism of a Singaporean undergraduate will be on showcase in Bras Basah when the new campus opens. We do not have to hide inside hostel rooms to do naughty things. We'll go across the road to the nearby pub and grab a beer before giggling our way back to the library to mug for midterms. Damn i wished i was back in school.
2 Comments:
Hey, I think SMU is great. Have interviewed a large number of candidates from the 3 local U's as well as overseas U's and I have to say the SMU candidates are consistently impressive. Have talked to friends at other firms who have the same impression.
I am particularly impressed by how far SMU has come in such a short time. When SMU first started I was a little skeptical that it could simply transplant a US-style curriculum and the Wharton name, but I've been proven very wrong.
You have every right to be proud of your alma mater - as well as jealous of the new campus!
There may be a little too much hype about "being different" though - when everybody's different then they're kinda the same, no?
very true... We had a few slogans but the "Being Different" one created the most hype.
i personally prefered a slogan SMU used during my convocation in 2000,
"SMU, we mean business"
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