A year ago, at this time I was about to start my final year degree in chemical engineering. Fast forward 365 days later, I am now 4 1/2 months into a career in Unilever as part of their top level management trainee program. Looking back at this I realized there has been some lost and gains during this transformation.
This post would revolve around the 5 things which I felt I have lost by being a working adult and not a student and also 5 things I have gained because I am no longer a student and have started working. The first half of the post would be the lost
THE LOST
1. Sleeping Hours.
For those who knows me well, they know that I can sleep for extremely long hours. Trust me when I say it. I can go on sleeping continuously for like 18 hours. When I was in my final year, I only had one subject in the semester. Which means I only had to go for class twice a week, which I did skip most of it as well. I am sure more of those free time sleeping rather than doing my FYP.
Ever since I've started working, I can no longer sleep past 8 a.m. Nowadays the body clock has adjusted to waking up at 6.30 in the morning. Even if I were to force myself to sleep more than would only be until 8 a.m. and I can't find myself sleeping more. That is one thing I certainly do miss a lot. Having those long hours of peaceful sleep.
Ever since started working, even during my sleep I do dream about work lol. I guess the stress and pressure is starting to catch up on me. There was no such thing during university times where I used to get extremely peaceful sleep and some nice dreams as well!
2. Quality Times With Friends
One thing which I used to do during my final semester was to go for Cheezy Wedges at K.F.C during midnight with Vaagi and Bear. Lol I remember the number of times me and Vaagi woke Bear up from his sleep and dragged him along to K.F.C.
Apart from that, myself, Bear, Vaagi, Ivan and Prabhu used to just hang out in the room talking about stuff let be movies or football any current issues. The semester before that it used to be me, Bear and Rooparn used to have this philosophical talks. I certainly do miss those sessions
Ever since started working, I've hardly found much time to chill down for myself, let along to hang out with friends. Monday to Friday are jam packed with work. I leave home by 7 in the morning and return home around 8.30 at night.
The only hang out time I have is on weekends which is equally spent with and friends. Saturday are usually the double date activity of hanging out at cafes playing games or going for movie and lunch. While Sunday is something sort of family time.
3. Sports
Back when I was in University, sports used to be a regular thing. A couple of times a week with a combination of futsal and badminton. It serves as a good work out and also a stress relieve as well. Playing sports on consistent basis definitely helps you improve your game.
After starting working, I have only managed to go for sports just twice in 4 1/2 months. From like twice a week to twice in 4 1/2 months. Gosh I miss those regular futsal and badminton session. As a result of that, the last time I played futsal I felt extremely rusted. Hopefully the boys would make this futsal thing a regular weekly thing at least.
4. Blogging
One of the biggest lost I have felt ever since started working is that the number of blog posted. I have almost literally stopped blogging. The only reason why there has been a couple of post this week is because I am on leave for a week lol. I no longer able to find the time and idea content to blog about. It is something worrying and I have to start working on.
In the past blogging was almost a weekly thing. It was a great platform to express idea and the thrill of writing something is just amazing. I was able to explore many genres from film review to short stories to current issue. I am trying to pledge to myself to ensure I make at least 2 blog post a month.
5. Pursuing Other Dreams.
Back in university, I was a boy with many dreams. I wanted to accomplish many things. I wanted to be an engineer, a blogger, a film director, a business owner, an author, a motivational speaker and an educator. Phew the list is long.
But as soon as I hit the corporate world I have been forced to give up on many of these dreams. I have not given up everything yet and trying to work my way towards achieving at least a couple of them. The difference is that once I have started working, reality has hit me hard and managing all this dreams might not be as easy as I thought when I was a student
Now having written what I feel I have lost by no longer being a student, now I will share what I feel I have gained by being a working adult.
THE GAIN
1. Money Money Money!
*Saying the tittle in the voice on Mankatha Ajith" lol, jokes aside one the biggest gain I have had since started working is definitely the money. Being in a job that pays extremely well has ensured that I have a decent amount of pocket money to spend.
When I has a student, I have to live on a budget everyday because money was limited and it wasn't my own as it was mum who was providing me the money. But ever since I've working, one of the greatest feel is surely the pay day. The feeling of having to work hard and get paid is something amazing.
2. Turning My Room Into A Man Cave
Again, this point can be linked to the first point. With the money I am earning, I have slowly managed to transformed my room into a term called "Man Cave". This are all stuff I wanted to have when I was a student but not able to do so because I was staying in a hostel and I wasn't earning anything to buy.
Now being a working adult who earns, I have the opportunity to get stuff with my own hard earn money. A Smart TV, PS4 and Astro in the room. A wonderful collection of Action Figures and also a quadcopter along with some amazing posters in the room. It feels awesome to be able to pimp up my room turning it into a Man Cave.
3. Ability To Do Things For Mum
One of my greatest joy and gain of being a working adult and not a student is that, now I am able to do things back for my mum. Small things such as bringing her around where ever she wants to go. Buying her dinner or more recently buying her a brand new stove. This small things which makes her happy means the world to me. During the past I was not able to do all this for her, but today I am in such position and it is priceless.
4. Better Dates For The Million Dollar Smile
Back when I was studying, during our dates, most of the times it was she who does all the spending. She would buy me lunch, pay my bills buy me countless of presents. She was working and she could afford to do so, but I was a student living on a budget and it was extremely hard for me to do things for her.
Today I feel so proud that I am able to buy her the things she likes, take her on proper dates to wonderful dinners and spent for me. I am able to lead the relationship a little more on a financial aspect. I still have things to work on but things are surely better than how it was a year ago.
5. Accountability and Responsibility
One of the biggest thing I have learnt and gained from my working experience is that how I should learn to take up accountability and responsibility. I entered a field which has nothing to do with engineering, therefore I had to learn a lot of things from scratch.
Which means there are many moments I have made mistakes which are costly and when I say costly it means I causes the company a big sum. But the biggest lesson I have learnt is that whenever you make a mistake you have to be accountable for and take responsibility to limit the damages caused.
Instead of running away and trying to hide mistakes, I learn to acknowledge what went wrong and make quick decisions to improve the situation. Because the truth is you can never learn without making mistake but that doesn't mean you just make mistakes and leave it. Make mistakes, learn from it and quickly solve it. A big thank you to Unilever for giving me this learning curve.
What I have learn over the period of one year is that you can never run away from changes. As life goes on, changes are immanent, you can't run away from it so it is better to embrace this changes with an open mind. The life we plan and the life we have are always going to be different but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to achieve the life we plan. Keep working hard and make your dreams come true
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