Aargh. Update on the university issue.

[sivaroobini]

So, uh, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

Randomly: I seem to have become nocturnal. I stay up until it's almost sunrise, which is about 6.30 to 7AM, then I go to bed and sleep til 2pm. No, my bed isn't a coffin, why do you ask?

I spent the last month in Egypt and Dubai and had an absolutely AMAZING time. I have loved Egypt since I was about 4 or 5 and I actually got to see and touch the pyramids of Giza and Saqqara and enter the temples of Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Karnak and Luxor and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and sail on the Nile. *__*

I promise I'll put up my travel journal and photos... soon. Right now, though, I am worrying about the future.


I did my A Levels earlier this year and am waiting for my results, which will be out in March. I need these results to get into university. And I really, really want to do Egyptology. Obviously I can't do this in Singapore; the damn National University of Singapore (NUS) doesn't even offer Ancient History, for Someone's sake. Archaeological discoveries are covered up again here. Anyway, ever since I was a child I wanted to study archaeology in England. For quite a while, I thought I'd be doing Egyptology at the University of Liverpool. I liked the modules offered, they have the largest Egyptology department in the UK, a cool in-house museum, etcetera etcetera. It was also 10 500 pounds per year, though there was a Regional Award for international students - as long as you met the criteria to get in, you got 1000 pounds.

So yes, long story short, it would be too expensive. So Dad said no. He wants me to be stuck in a boring Arts degree here - English Lit or Journalism or something.

I really, really want to do this, so I talked with my sister, and for a while our plan was for me to go ahead and apply anyway and then apply for a student loan. Except... well, your job opportunities are restricted, and for one to actually be an Egyptologist you'd need a PhD. A BA (Hons) isn't going to cut it. So we thought about my doing my undergrad here in Singapore, getting my BA, and then going overseas to get a Master's in Egyptology. Liverpool requires that you have obtained a degree in something relevant. So we (my brother, sister and I) were discussing this and alternative routes last night until it was this morning.

  Talking things out with sunflower_mynah  resulted in my pondering a double major in ELit and History, which I wasn't that happy about because I bloody hated the Modern History that I had had to do in junior college, and while I love books, doing ELit in uni wasn't something that particularly called to me. But it might at least qualify as 'relevant' because of the history and lit tagline, even though modern history has as much relevance to Ancient Egypt as Fareed Zakaria (no offence meant to him, I like his Newsweek articles) has to whoever wrote Beowulf. Broadly speaking they're both the printed word, but content-wise...

  Also, I was pretty damn touched when my brother said he'd actually be willing to pay for my living expenses in Liverpool, so we'd just have to worry about tuition fees and books and things.

  So at about 5AM my brother went to look more things up on the computer in his room and my sister and I went to bed. Some time later my brother came to get me (I couldn't sleep anyway) and I went to his room and we discussed my doing European Studies here at NUS first, getting a BA (Hons) in that, and using that to go for my MA in Egyptology later. It would also broaden my options because the course would include learning French and/or German, which means that for postgraduate studies I needn't be restricted to the UK. (German universities would cost me less than a tenth of UK fees, but I would need to know German) Plus a knowledge of either French or German or both is needed for Egyptology, as half of the journals are in one of those two languages. And proficiency in those languages also broadens career options, apparently.

  I can't say that I think I'll enjoy it, because while I like languages, there'll be other modules involving politics and financial things and so on, but the fact is I would actually rather do this than History. I love ancient history, not modern history - that just makes me want to smack a lot of people. And it's going to delay my dream by a few years. Still, if it all works out, it'll be worth it.

  So... The Plan has undergone quite a few changes, but for now it seems to be: do a BA in European Studies here for now, and then try for my MA in Egyptology. Mmf. It's going to take a while, but Egypt, here I come.

Oh, and one more thing: Screw you, Singapore 'education' system. There are more important things than money and Maths and the Sciences.

Comments

[vnfan.livejournal.com]

There's a lot to be said for getting some sort of general purpose Arts degree for your B.A. It gives you a lot of flexibility for future degrees should your focus change and you decide to shift/expand/redirect things. General B.A. degrees like English (literature) or History or anything Liberal Arts shows that you are well versed in writing, reading, research, critical thinking, etc. They generally transfer well into any sort of M.A. that isn't technical/medical oriented. As an M.A. candidate, you may have to take a few undergrad classes to qualify for your targeted M.A., but most M.A. programs have built in space for you to do something like that.

As someone who's known a lot of students who've gone abroad at a younger age for B.A. work, I'll also say that there are many good things about staying near family while young. Not that you couldn't handle being away, but it gives you whole other areas that demand your attention and energy which could be focused on your studies.

So.

Now that I've probably repeated everything your parents have said, good luck on choosing your school, your focus, etc. I think it's fabulous that your brother has offered to help you out should you head off to Liverpool. NUS has a very solid reputation worldwide, so I think that choosing a general degree from them would put you in great shape for grad studies abroad.

When I studied Lit, I tried to avoid as much modern lit as I could since I usually hate it. I LOVE medieval and Renaissance literature. But I did end up liking some of what I was exposed to. I hope you'll find the same threads of ideas you already like in things you don't particularly want to study.

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

Actually, you're not repeating everything my dad said - his arguments were more of 'we can't afford this/you won't get a job/it won't pay well/you're good at English so you should do journalism! Then you can write books!' >< But thank you very much!

I love medieval lit too! But I do enjoy 18th/19th century lit as well - I grew up reading Dickens, Austen and Jane Eyre, so I always loved it. I hope I'll find some things about European Studies enjoyable, but my brother - who hated his medicine degree - keeps warning me not to expect too much. I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised. :/

Thank you so much!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_silverfox/]

Um ... Doesn't your Dad know that writing books doesn't pay well for most authors either?

I say go with the German, though, even if you should change your mind about Egyptology, that's probably not the only subject you can study more cheaply at a German university. (Austrian universities aren't all that good, but at the moment at least they seem to be free again, which means you'd only have to worry about living costs.)

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

For some reason, my dad believes that I'm the next JK Rowling. ><

Yeah. So that's my plan for now. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_silverfox/]

Well, I'm not saying you're definitely not, but to be that successful is too rare a thing to count on.

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

XD Which is why I'm not counting on it.

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

*hugs back*

[eidolon-bird.livejournal.com]

*HUGE HUGS* I'm glad you have a plan that you feel a bit better about. <3

[sirius-luva.livejournal.com]

*SNUGS* So am I. Thank you so much for the support. <3