In 2012, I left my hometown to study in another city, one year later I moved abroad. Since then, I’ve been living on my own. No one would seat and give me father talks and/or at least give life advice. I always learn from my daily life and from other’s life by observing them. Well, life itself is the best teacher ever. Reflecting on my lifestyle, I prepared the following advice which I wished I knew at least 5 years ago.
I am motivated to share them with you today. You probably already know but probably not acting on it yet. And if you are still studying, especially as an International student, you might find this more interesting.
So, ladies and gentlemen, before you finish your studies, give the followings your best shot!
- Make a plan and invest in yourself
- Take care of yourself, especially in term of health: mental, psychological, body etc
- Find and know your “WHY?” as soon as you can
- Get disciplined about something
- Look at what you're interested in and go for it no matter what
- Do not rely only on courses at the university, use available online platforms to learn a real skill set in your area of interest. For instance, Coursera, Udemy, EdX and Udacity are not that expensive
- Networking: try to build a genuine relationship while you are studying. I might be wrong, but I believe you have a higher chance of finding true love and testing your commitment as a student
- Allow for the possibility that you have something important to contribute to the world
- Don't be afraid of taking on responsibility. It's where you find what sustains in your life
- Make out time to search for real office/career experience. The rejections can be frustrating; however, it is necessary you keep pushing! I highly recommend to have such ‘internship/student’ job experience before you leave the walls of the university
- Depending on where you live, if you can save up money to do your driver’s license, I highly recommend you do it before age of 25. This can be an added advantage afterwards
- Ensure you attain the language proficiency to at least B1 with statutory certificate before moving to the country of your dream.
So that’s it. I really wished someone has told me the listed advice five years ago, and I do hope that somehow this post would give you a kick to (re-)think on your existence in this World.