i think i need a reality check.
anyway, the career talk organised by the BSS was quite interesting. I realise that for a graduate with just a Bachelor's degree, if one wants to go for research although he/she may not be qualified enough, one has to go an extra mile to get into the research arena as a career. there was this lady, the manager of the biological sciences faculty, who was an NUS graduate with a general life sciences degree, in the talk. she actually went knocking at the doors of professors in charge of a laboratory and a certain project, asking for the opportunity to be their assistants. FOR FREE. imagine. however, her move was a good one cos after some time, the professor asked her to become his fully-employed assistant for the next 9 years. she even participated in the writing of numerous papers and research. one day, the professor even asked her if she wanted to consider doing a PhD. amazing right? this was one of the means two professors suggested we do. in fact, this method is actually a good way to hone those technical laboratory procedural skills.
i suddenly thought about myself, whether i would have the guts and will to work in labs for free for a long time. i wonder if i could ever do just that. i realise i do not have that kind of passion to go to such a drastic extend. i never really foresee myself doing academic-based research, looking for new discoveries about science and biology in general.
farhanah and i had a conversation just now about what we really want to do after graduation. it is indeed true that it is all a matter of what you intend or foresee yourself doing once you enter the workforce. that is what should guide one in making the decision of whether to proceed with further studies or to enter the workforce straight. i for one, know that the health care industry is my calling. insya'Allah. but it seems real difficult to get in it. especially in this economic downturn. lots of jobs which i would love to work in the healthcare industry require working experience, laboratory skills and management of a team skills. knowing this, i hope the path i've set out for myself will be the right one. insya'Allah. one thing's for sure. i realise, i am not alone in this.
crossroad once again.