What we actually take from a university education is not concrete knowledge. 99.99% of what we absorb during lectures and memorise for exams will be forgotten. I know this well since I returned to books after a long gap of 9 years. Instead, what stays with us (besides the degree scroll and transcript) are a fascination/hatred of the subject, fuel to develop our own abstract ideas of our subject and the skills of knowing how and where to find the resources we need later on. The fascination and development of abstract ideas are greatly helped by having inspirational mentors and lots of field exposure.
One week ago, my coursework ended. No more lectures, no more exams. Yay! No more meeting up with the classmates as a group. I'll miss that. I didn't feel the stress of working 4 days in the week and doing a Master's course for 2 days in the week thanks to them. They were fun, they were helpful in my studies where I failed and I had a brood of young ones to "look after" which gave me a strange sense of satisfaction. Although I have a tendency to want to run away from the sight of human babies, there is a certain maternal core in Shu that melts for animals and young humans.
I invited my classmates over for a farewell tea since I am the host of this city of Kandy. Not everyone could make it on the same weekend, so this farewell tea had to be stretched over two weekends to the slight dismay of my mother. Why couldn't they all come on the same day?? She had to make her special "cutlets" for two weekends and help clean the house without my help since I had exams on both weekends. They enjoyed the food, she got along well with them (especially the boys) and they really liked her company, so I never heard any complaints from her after that.
Like having friends from various countries is fun, having friends of various parts of Sri Lanka is also fun. We have invited each other to our homes for the times to come. Surely, like school, some classmates will drop off the radar, but a handful seem like keepers (like all of you reading my blog!).
On the map of Sri Lanka, that's me and the University in the middle with the red marker, and the origins of other classmates are represented by the small yellow stars. it also gives an indication of how far they traveled on a weekly basis for lectures.
(Image: Google Maps)
If some of the classmates play their cards right, they'll end up in big places. My simple expectation of this course was to be able to tie my interests in the environment to any related career. I suppose I will be content to float around like a feather or an average Joe in an area coinciding with my interests. For them, there were bigger stakes; escaping poverty, going for the overseas experience for the first time, getting good jobs, getting big titles, having better social status, being able to rise up so they can help elevate the status of their disadvantaged communities, etc. I sincerely hope the trade winds will be in favour of their sails after this course.
As for me, I'm happy. I've turned greener since I arrived in Sri Lanka about an year ago and started the course and my environment-related job. I enjoy doing mini environmental projects at home. I'm constantly thinking of ways to increase the biodiversity around the garden like putting up feeding stations, growing more flowering plants for the bees and growing more fruit plants. I'm currently in the process of making a registry of fauna in my garden. The next project is to make a small pond! For now, I am happily occupied and not too worried about what the future will hold.
Now begins the harder part of independent research component of the Master's course! With no prior experience in formal independent research, no peers for moral support and no strict schedules to control me, I have to battle many internal demons like procrastination, Facebook and laziness to be a successful researcher.
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