Just as I thought I wouldn’t have to face the huge question of life ever again someone came from out of nowhere and made me doubt if majoring in life sciences in university is wise at all. The dust was supposed to have settled a few weeks back when I decided to go along with the area of study that is more relevant to a career in medicine than engineering – the other option I had in mind during the application window – is. I know this is supposed to be the last thing on earth for anyone to be losing sleep over but indulge me a little, and help me with the decision making if you may.
I am very clear of my goals and what I want to be working as in the future, and hence the dilemma here isn’t as much about the kind of job my tertiary level paper chase is gonna land me with as the what-ifs in my attempt to make it into a postgraduate medical program. What if I have to be forced to face the cruel reality that a postgraduate programme may be far beyond my reach? What if I have to give up my dreams and start facing employability woes that come with not having acquired a tertiary qualification that is sought after enough by employers? It’s probably known to everyone that a graduate with a major in Life Sciences can only go as far as lending assistance in a laboratory, euphemistically speaking. This is especially true in Singapore and the Ministry of Education, together with the Dean of Science in the National University of Singapore, is not afraid to let the fact be known. I can wax lyrical about the statistics recently released by the Ministry of Education on employment and wages of fresh graduates from local universities but I won’t, you have to find out the horrors yourself. And if that still doesn’t explain why I’m so conflicted, I’m sure the words of the Dean will do the job. Fancy reading about how the department of life sciences “will be more comfortable with a hundred less (students reading life sciences)”.
An engineering degree, on the other hand, promises more than a science degree. According to multiple sources, a graduate with an engineering degree is well suited for a career both in the realm of engineering research and in the financial sector. The same set of statistics reveals that a fresh engineering graduate is more likely to be on a higher payroll than a fresh science graduate. The relatively more versatile degree gives one an edge over a science graduate in the workforce. Yet, do I really have to be concerned with employment upon graduation? Afterall I do wish to proceed with my postgraduate medicine studies after graduation. This is where all the what-ifs I’ve mentioned earlier come into the picture. I could try as hell to do exceptionally well in my undergraduate studies in life sciences and yet if I don’t make it through the rigorous interviewing process to be enrolled in a medical program, all that I’ve worked hard for will be for nothing! The worst is then I will have to start worrying where a degree in life sciences can get me in the workforce. Alternatively, I could attempt to work for a scholarship in scientific research in life sciences to lay off my fears of not being employed upon graduation, but this comes with it a possibility of me falling short of what it takes to make the cut. And even if I do manage to be selected for the research scholarship, I’ll be required to spend 6 to 8 more years on my doctoral research in life sciences and that will make an entirely different career from what I have originally set out to achieve.
Having to consider the future in this way is not what I have imagined myself to be doing, but sometimes the need to make the correct decisions becomes so real it is hard to shrug off. Then again this entire post just seems like I’m intentionally placing myself in a catch-22 scenario, except of course I do have a choice to do well and break out of the cycle I just described.
