A lot has happened in the past year. When I look back now at all the decisions I made, everything seems to make sense. Of course, at the time I was just gong with the flow and never really thought about "My Future".
I'll be honest. I didn't grow up dreaming of becoming a dentist. It was never the natural thing to do, never an ultimate goal I wanted to attain, not even a second choice. What I wanted to be was an engineer.
There you have it.
I was always interested in environmental problems. I saw it as the worst social issue to ever plague humanity. The challenges and radical changes we desperately needed to make always fascinated me. We're talking about a completely new way of living, of eating, of thinking. It is a problem of biblical proportions, affecting every man, woman and child on Earth. That was the thing that interested me the most. Being able to serve society by extending the lifespan of an entire race, species even. That was my dream.
That was more than 1 year ago. What bridged the transition from Engineering to Dentistry, was just a matter of timing and circumstance.
After my A-Levels, it was high time I chose a career path. Most of my family have engineering backgrounds and my uncle has a factory back in Kampar. So, the logical choice at the time was to study Engineering and so a stint in Kampar before venturing out on my own. However, I wasn't interested in the 'old school' engineering courses like Civil or Mechanical. Environmental Engineering was an up and coming course that suited my interests at the time. I applied to 5 of the G8 Universities in Australia and got accepted to all of them. I was thrilled and was looking forward to a new chapter in my life.
Then my dad put his foot down.
He wanted me to join my brother in London. He didn't accept the idea of me studying in Australia. He couldn't (he's kinda old fashioned, and has dictatorship tendencies). With my average results, I found it very demoralizing and humiliating when I did research on the requirements for London universities:
'Grades AAB. Grades AAA. At least grade A in Chemistry (which I had) and Maths (which I didn't).'
Dark days man, dark days.
To meet the requirements, I decided to take AS-Biology. Having been idle for 6 months, I found quite refreshing to be studying for an exam again. My tutor said that if I wanted an 'A', I'd have to work very hard. I think that was the time I realized the true meaning of being prepared. It changed me.
Somehow, Dentistry came into the mix. My dad always thought I was good with children and suggested I become a doctor. Well, when I say suggest I mean he pushed me into considering it. I knew the road to becoming a doctor was long and arduous and I was adamant that I didn't have the constitution to persevere. However, as time wore on, I must say the idea of being called 'Doctor' really appealed to my ego. So, I made a compromise. I went for Dentistry, and that was that. I sold out my dreams of helping humanity for a cushy title and a seemingly easy life.
At the time, after I had made a rash change of career paths, IMU was the only option I had. I remember having to explain to my friends that no, i was no longer pursuing Engineering but had grown to like Dentistry more. Sometimes I thought that maybe I was just kidding myself and it was just a matter of time before they kicked me out of Dental School. I really didn't think I had the makings of a med student. Still, I applied to IMU and went for the interview. I told myself if they didn't accept me, then it was a sign that I wasn't meant to be a dentist. But if I somehow got into Dentistry, I promised myself I wouldn't leave without a fight. Gone would be the days of wild abandon. This would determine my future, and I wanted to enjoy that future.
Then the call finally came when I was vacationing with my family in London, just 1 week before the course was scheduled to begin, just when I was about to give up and resuscitate my dreams of being Environmental Engineer Extraordinaire. I was accepted into Dentistry. All that waiting, the anxiety, the disappointment. It was overwhelming.
The search was finally over =)
Now, when I look back to that frosty London morning, I can say it was the best thing to happen to me. It gave me a sense of purpose, a goal in life. It didn't matter whether it worked out in the end, as long as I gave it my all and my very best.
I've learnt a lot from my first year at IMU. Most importantly, I learned that I'm far more capable than I imagined, it was just a matter of tapping into the resources given to me. In short, I've never been happier in my life and I've found a purpose in living: To be the best dentist I can ever be.
