Assalamualaikum, hello hello hello! MASYAALLAH WHAT A LONG HIATUS. LOOK AT ALL THE DUST WE GOT HERE MY GOODNESS.

Back after a year. Where have I been? Correct, just like the title of this post, I went to pursue my pre-university study in Kedah Matriculation College(KMC/KMK). Surprisingly, it was fun. Whoops didn't expect that coming hahaha. 

Note : this post is about my own journey & experience BUT also for those SPM leavers who needs some reassurance and for current or soon-to-be Matrics students.

I had 2 options last year, whether to go for Asasi in UMS (Sabah) or Matriculation in Kedah. I tell you what, it was so hard for me to choose at first, both are so far from home :') I've always imagine myself enrolling in Asasi, never in matriculation. But you see, we don't know the future and it is all the Almighty's plan. Allah is the best planner. Always remember that okay?

So here is the tip. When you get all the offers, choose the one place that you WANT to study in. "WANT" as in your focus there will just be studying. Do solat istikharah, ask for Allah's guidance. This is your life and the choice is in your hands. 

For me, I actually was tempted to go to Sabah, I've never been to Sabah before and it seemed exciting to me. But then I told myself to keep in mind that I'm not going there to travel, I'm going there to study. I also took into consideration the expenses and the burden for my parents. And because of that, I chose to go to KMC. "Aku masuk matrik ni nak belajar" Thats what I said to myself. Acewah cliche la hahaha.

Another tip; think in the long term. You need to have in mind where and what to pursue during your degree. At least gambaran pun takpe. Bukannya semua orang hati dah tetap nak buat itu nak buat ini kan? Chill okay adik-adik jangan gelabah. I'll give you an example. Contoh kalau you ambik Asasi Sains Hayat dekat universiti X, you kena tahu dia punya rules like nanti degree WAJIB atau tak kena sambung dekat universiti X jugak? Kalau wajib, you kena tengok courses yang dia offer masa degree nanti, ada tak course yang you minat yang you nak ambik. Kalau ada alhamdulillah, kalau takde meh kita tengok option seterusnya. 

If your result dah best cumanya tak cukup A+ ke apa kan so tak kesampaian nak masuk asasi yang you nak OR asasi yang you dapat offer tu tak ada course degree yang you nak nanti, you can go to matriculation or form 6, scor there, and basically its like getting a second chance to enter top universities like UM,UPM,UKM,USM and many more for your degree. Plus points, you will get to choose your dream course, with a better result, insyaAllah. 

To be honest, I pun dulu macam pandang matrics sebelah mata je kan (Astaghfirullah teruk betul) Mana taknya with all the negative words/talks about matrics from others especially adults/some teachers. BUT GUYS PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES. Ignore what others say. I had to experience it for me to know. Ha ni free-free je I bagitahu korang kot. Matriculation is not bad. Matriculation and Asasi is the same thing. I repeat, THE SAME THING. You will basically learn the same topics tak kira la belajar Sains dekat asasi ke matrics ke form 6 ke. Okay? The only difference is the mentality of the people, the society! Come on guys, other people's opinion on where we study doesn't really matter. Yang penting result tiptop. Asasi, matriculation, form 6, diploma,  all of them have their own pros and cons. 

From my personal experience, Matrics students berlambak pandai-pandai sampai sis pun rasa insecure sometimes, so never look down on anyone. We are all equal. I strongly suggest to Non-bumis to pursue their pre-U studies in matriculation. It is definitley worth your talents and kebijaksanaan. Trust me. Don't be sad/mad about not being able to go to Asasi okay friends? I'm sorry that it is written in the law and we cannot do anything about it. Matriculation/Form 6/Diploma are equally good too. Stay positive!

Moving on-  Since I was a Matriculation student before, I'm going to talk about matrics now. Alang-alang tu I bagitahu pros terus. 

 I usually have breakfast in my room before going to class. A simple one - nestum and a cup of nescafe. Everyday without fail. So remember kids, don't miss your breakfast. I always have biscuits/chocolates/candies in my bag too as I'm always hungry and it helps me to stay alive in lectures. (Tipu la kalau tak pernah tidur kan hahaha tak sengaja serious kalau mengantuk sangat tu) If I don't, my friends have them too hahaha. TOGETHER WE SURVIVED! Choose your friends/ lecture mates wisely. They should wake you up when you are sleeping and they should help you stay focus. (Ye la kadang-kadang tu main jugak huhu nak buat macam mana manusia kan) 

Part sedih sikit (cons), memang tak lah kelas cancel ke apa you tak payah berangan. Unless if you are extremely lucky. If not, you will have to endure the packed schedule from 8:00 A.M to 4:00 P.M. 

*But my roommate said that batch baru ni sampai pukul 5:00 P.M. I'm not sure about that. Try asking current matriculation students :) For one year programme, at first it will be hard to accept the fact on how fast we finish each topics/subtopics but sooner or later you will get used to it.

Matrics & Asasi are fast-learning-programme. You HAVE to keep up with the pace (as in the syllabus) but at the same time keep in mind that it is fine to have your own pace of study because everyone is different. I hope this make sense. Jangan lah leklek sangat tapi jangan stress sangat.

I myself, masa sem 1 awal-awal tu tak boleh terima Chemistry hahaha sebab susah nak brain and i tak faham kenapa tajuk tu dia lain mcm je from what we used to learn in high school lol. But I asked for help from a friend, peh cerah masa depan lepas tu lol. Sem 2 Organic Chemistry, wow menarik gila I suka. This one you kena jugak hands on! (from my experience) Kalau your lecturer just go through slides, you can try to buy the work sheets provided by other lecturer, and learn from their students. And don't forget your summary notes too. I swear to you its super helpful and important. If you want to see my chemistry sem2 notes, just hit me up. Maybe I can scan them?

Tip : Ask, ask and ask! Don't be shy and hold on to this "Tak ada soalan bodoh dalam dunia ni" -Sir. I know everyone say this but a lot of them don't really practice it. Tak kisah lah orang nak fikir yang kau ni lembap ke lambat faham ke asalkan at the end of the day YOU UNDERSTAND.

My English class was great, Madam was really nice, we had a lot of free times during English hahaha. Can also eat one. I don't think we appreciate madam as much. Sorry madam.

KMK students, if your Biology tutorial lecturer is Sir Azaman, Miss Lock or Madam Cik Jamaliah, I truly believe that you guys are insan-insan pilihan Allah. Lol. Parah sikit tapi exam insyaAllah mantap. Stay strong. But if you are free on Thursday night (every week), please go to Sir Azaman's Bio Lecture because his lecture are really good, easy to catch and pretty enjoyable. Sir Azmizan's bio lecture is fun too.

When I first went to KMK, I didn't really like it. My high school tablemate was supposed to study in KMK too but she left to continue her studies in UIA. That made me really really sad, I cried. I feel like I was left in Kedah all alone. But then I had some friends that I knew from school. Honestly they saved my life hahaha. I wasn't in Kedah during the first week because I took a leave for Umrah until Raya last year so when I came back I don't have anyone I'm close too, not even my classmates. I felt lonely and left out. Initially I didn't want to make any close friends because I thought "hey this is only a year programme, no need to get attach to anybody" so I ate alone and do pretty much everything alone until Azzaliyana popped out of nowhere. Tah la tetiba dia ni balik dari kelas tengahari tu terus pergi makan sama-sama hahaha, coincidentally bilik dekat and aras sama. The only difference is I'm in class T4A and she's in T4B. The next thing I know was me getting close to 4 other people from T4B. Aku sesat hahaha. Sem 1 I mcm terpinggir lah sikit with classmates T4A sebab depa semua buat kerja sama-sama and mostly block C hahaha tapi my relationship with them maintain - all good. no worries. Sem 2 I feel more akrab and accepted hihi.

For me, I like doing my work alone in order to focus. When I have friends I mula menyembang dan bermain hahaha masalah sikit. But I have NO problems in doing group work. Senang cerita mcm ni, you buat kerja you dalam bilik senyap-senyap, kalau memang jalan tu dah buntu sangat, ask your roommate or quickly text/call your friend for help. If you cannot answer it after endless of try or after asking from friends, then its okay, ask your lecturer the next day or go to cubic. That is the tip.

 Serious note : Please please please I don't care who you are, what or where you are studying, when it comes to group work, CONTRIBUTE! Play your role in the team. Don't ever dare to goyang kaki. You ingat suka hati je ke nak dapat markah free-free. Tolong lah rasa berdosa sikit.

Tip : If you're the type of person that usually studies near an exam, please take your homework as a serious matter. Kiranya kalau macam you bukan jenis revise hari-hari lah, siapkanlah tutorial/homework dengan penuh kegigihan. Please try on your own first. Make sure you complete them however don't choose the easy path like copy pasting without understanding. THIS IS YOUR OWN LOSS. Think.

 Study week is also one of the things you have to be serious about. Dia bagi chance ni you ambik lah. And the tip for study week is start with the subject of your last paper! This is because, in matrics, usually they have a few days gap before the last paper. LAST PAPER SYNDROME IS REAL YALLS.

Al kisahnya masa sem 1 I ada 3 hari gap after bio. My last paper was physics. So everyone macam okay lah 3 hari boleh baca physics kot so lek ah masa study week tu mcm neglecting physics sikit ignore-ignore dia jap. Astaghfirullah taubat guys. Kau tak payah mimpi lah. Dah lah dengan modul 3 dah sibuk nak balik time tu, kau pulak stuck lagi 3 hari sebab ada lagi satu paper. Ingatkan sehari je lah kot lagha lepastu ambik kau level malas dia tak boleh bawak bincang. Dah duduk depan buku pun still macam mood nak baca tu tak datang tau, macam takde semangat even dah cuba kuatkan diri, dah duduk dalam group nak study physics pun hahaha. kurang berjaya. Jadi ambik lah iktibar ya rakan-rakan. (However this may be different on each individual)

Sem 2 memang I start baca last paper dulu which was biology. But sem 2 kan masa tu nak pru14 so jadual exam berterabur. Tiba-tiba takde gap between physics and bio. Tapi takpelah dia membantu menghapuskan last paper syndrome tu.

For rakan-rakan modul 2 and 3, I would suggest studying Computer Science first I guess? Because Sc.comp always clash with Maths paper 2. Hence, untuk mengelakkan daripada otak berserabut.
OR Maybe you can start with your weakest subjects and allocate more time for that.

 1 year programme? Tak payah sibuk nak ponteng-ponteng ya. Once you start skipping your class, you will do it again. It will be hard to stop yourself. Please, DO NOT START. Unless if you are sick or too exhausted or its an extra class. Can be forgiven I guess. BUT JANGAN LAH ASYIK TAKNAK PERGI JE. Aduh susahlah, orang nak tolong kita kot. Rugi. Therefore in order to solve this you have to have a circle of good and hardworking friends. Yang rajin ajak you pergi kelas, yang buat you tak jadi nak ponteng kelas. One more thing, insyaAllah if you can and if you are lucky, (Alhamdulillah I was) find yourself a good bunch of friends. Main pun sama study pun sama makan pun sama. Balance teruk hahahaha. Tak kisah lah kalau gang study lain, gang main lain pulak, tapi kalau sama pun boleh jugak. Kawan yang suka ajak pergi masjid pun bagus jugak ya adik-adik.

Concept "If they can do it, I can do it too" is not something you can apply everywhere. BUT Please think before you do something. Think before using this concept. Apply lah ke arah kebaikan adomak. If they can excel, you can too. BUT- If they don't pay attention but they score, it doesn't mean you can too BUT it still doesn't mean you can't. Kau faham tak ni? Okay contohlah, you nampak this one student, dalam kuliah dia main ke tidur ke, tapi sebenarnya telinga dia tengah mendengar tau, you mana tahu? Takpun dia dah baca, dah faham siap-siap lah, soalan pun dah boleh jawab woi. Kalau kau belum, takkan kau nak tiru macam dia. Kalau kau dah, ha boleh lah kot. Tapi still kena ingat kita pun nak cari keberkatan dalam belajar. Okay, do you get my point here?

 Last but not least - jeng jeng jeng SPORTS! Go play them! It doesn't matter if you are an athlete or not. Turun lah riadah dan jangan lah asyik terperap di dalam bilik. Heret kawan-kawan okay? At first, I was lazy too, I was tired after class, I'm not really good in sports and whatever lah kan. Separuh sem 1 jugak lah. But then kabooosh I turun sekali, I enjoyed it, I turun banyak kali and selalu gila lepastu. I played basketball, futsal, I jogged, played badminton, rode bicycles, circle the field & do crazy stuff with my friends. All of them, just for fun. You have to try. But its best to have your own sports equipments (although its provided by the college). Better you bring them from home.

Some stuff that I think you should bring (where most people forgot) are dishwasher & sponge, a laundry bag, a thermos, a huge water bottle, and a torchlight. Water heater & iron bawak senyap-senyap je lah okay kalau berani hihi. KMK sumpah penting torchlight hahaha sebab musim takde electric dah mai balik. I was actually pretty lucky because waktu matrik dah nak habis baru lah jadi macam tu. So kalau dia jadi waktu malam I akan buka torchlight yang dekat phone and then letak bawah clear water bottle. Yay jadi lampu. Cerah sikit nak baca. Kes air pun ada jugak hahaha macam-macam. Ada one day tu my roommates and I mandi kat dewan punya toilet guys. Jauh gila tak tipu. Sebab takde air punya pasal. Time tu tak terfikir pulak nak pergi tadah guna baldi dekat bawah. Hahaha tapi leceh pulak nak angkat baldi berat sampai tingkat 2 :')

I think thats all I have to say for now. Don't forget to call/whatsapp your parents. Enjoy your matriculation days but also try to stay focus. Take care of yourself. You're now on your own.

Here I payung my class photo during matrics hahaha.

Omg I didn't realize how much bebelan I just threw here. If you manage to read until here, Thank you so much, please know that I appreciate you. 

I hope you got something from my writing 

by farahanis;