Remembering why you do it.

The final exams are just round the corner and everywhere these days I see tired eyes due the stresses of exam preparation. It's not unheard of to hear of hermits here in NTU who spend all their waking hours in their rooms studying.

"Too much exam stress leads to the dark side!"

Exams can be stressful, but in university, should it be the case?

Whenever the pressures of my course start to get to me, I ask myself this simple question - why in the world am I doing this?

Nobody forced me into university, I wanted to do this on my own free will. I chose to come back down to Singapore to study, not because everyone else was doing it, but because I wanted an education that will help me accomplish what I want to do in the future.

Which would better prepare you for the future? The degree, or the wisdom you've earnt?

I'm not here so much to chase that piece of paper that they call a degree, but to learn as much as I can about businesses from my professors and peers, so that I would have the necessary expertise to start an enterprise of my own in the near future.

That's what I'm really here for - to learn, to grow and to become a better person, not to join the paper chase just because everyone is doing it.

And with that, the dust just settles and the stress just flows away. The air even smells better. I even start to see how relevant the things I am studying actually are. It all makes studying so much more enjoyable, and something that I am actually excited doing. And it makes all the difference.

Wouldn't it make you happy to study without stress?

Remembering why I am in university has also emboldened me to dare to try the new, even if it means making mistakes along the way.

I have seen so many people who just follow the crowd and just come up with business presentation that just seems acceptable and 'safe' - just because it looks just like the one that the previous group came up with. But I strongly believe that there's just no point in learning through just photocopying.

I dare to come up with different ways to approach a problem and present because I know that it's the best way to enrich my learning; I dare to try my hand at activities I held back trying in the past because it's going to make me a stronger person.

If you're out there, stressed due to your coming exams, just ask yourself why you are in that course of study in the first place. Like for any love affair to truly last, you have to keep remembering the reason you first fell in love to begin with, and fall in love with that person all over again, every single day.

Just remember how it began...

Remembering why you do it makes all the difference.