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A Risk I Took That I Do Not Regret?
Choosing to pursue Form 6 or STPM (Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia) after completing my secondary school or high school.
STPM (Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia) is Malay for Malaysian Higher School Certificate which is a pre-university course similar to A-Levels, Foundation or Matriculation. The course is 1 and a half year long and usually begins somewhere in May or June and ends at the end of the year, the following year.
Why was it risky for me?
While I was growing up, I’ve heard horror stories of people who have sat for the STPM paper or have went through Form 6, most of which claimed that the syllabus is extremely tough or that the exam was the hardest ever in their life and they definitely did not enjoy it. Basically, we should avoid it at all cost and keep it as our last option.
However, I wish I could say the same for me, I wanted to continue with Form 6. So I did.
I was lucky enough to be accepted into the Malaysian Matriculation Program. The Malaysian Matriculation Program course is 1 year long and I placed an application for a place in the course before I graduated high school. The course is 1 year long and the syllabus is relatively easy in comparison to the syllabus of Form 6, which is rather condensed.
The Malaysian Matriculation Program is not easy for us to enter as there are limited spaces available. Hence, I was considered lucky enough to receive an offer. I’ve heard of many from my batch who applied for it and did not get accepted and proceeded with a second application only to be rejected again.
Anyway, I broke the news to my parents and my father was ecstatic but it was short-lived after I told him that I would not be accepting the offer. I’ve always known and was sure of my decision to proceed with Form 6.
It was risky as the failure rate was extremely high yet somehow I felt called to pursue it. I’m not sure why. However, I knew then that this was the right decision.
I remembered going to the nearest District Education Office (Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah) to appeal for a placement in Form 6 and I was granted a spot. Applying for a place in Form 6 is easy since most people prefer not to embark on that route and the seats available are numerous.
Albeit hearing discouragements left and right, I still chose to pursue STPM and do I regret it?
Most definitely not. Form 6 was the best year of my life in high school and I extremely enjoyed the whole experience. Upon graduating Form 6, my pointers was not the best. However, it was enough for me to apply for a place into medical school in private institutions. I did not get accepted to study medicine in public institutions as the competition was extremely high and instead I was offered to do nursing.
I rejected that offer and proceeded to continue my tertiary education in a private institution.
As of the time of writing this article, it has been 4 months since I’ve graduated and at the moment, I am waiting for my placement for housemanship / internship into the Malaysian Healthcare Ministry (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia, KKM).
Hence, it was risky, choosing to embark on this journey despite the discouragements from others but if I had the option of doing it all over again, I would. This was definitely a risk I took that I do not regret.
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The Theoretical Doctor 