By Soh Jun Hee (24A01A, Peer Helper) and Ezann Lian Qi En (24S03H, Peer Helper)
Your resident Aunties and Uncles are back with our Ask Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset column, this time as a collaboration between Raffles Press and Peer Helpers’ Programme (PHP)! Ever wanted to rant about that someone you just can’t stand? Overwhelmed with too many feelings? Submit your confessions to https://tinyurl.com/RIAAUU and we’ll give them our best shot. This column will be published at the end of every month.
Would you recommend taking subjects that you enjoy or subjects that are deemed more ‘useful’ and would open up more career options?
Confused Chelsea
Dear Confused Chelsea,
Many JC students can relate to feeling stressed and lost when choosing your subject combinations. Choosing your subjects is definitely nerve-wracking – not only does it affect your 2 short years in JC, it also determines your future career options.
Arriving at your choice of subject combination would be easy if the subject you like allows you to pursue careers that you are interested in. If you like studying physics and dream of becomingan engineer or a programmer in the future, then physics would be anobvious choice of subject. However, when you’re deciding between a subject that you enjoy versus a subject that opens more general career options, things get a little tricky.
Pursuing your interests and passion
The demands of JC subjects are challenging–much more so than secondary school–as they are meant to be an in-depth exploration into different aspects of the field. Having a base level of interest in the subject helps ever so much with persisting in your study of it, especially when things get tough.
Moreover, choosing a subject that aligns with your interests and passions can lead to a higher level of intrinsic motivation. When you enjoy what you study, you are more likely to invest more time and effort into understanding the different concepts and practising how to answer different questions regarding the subject, ultimately leading to a deeper and more meaningful learning experience.
Choosing a subject that you genuinely enjoy also makes studying feel less like a chore. Having an interest in Literature or a love for reading, for example, makes reading the set texts and preparing for lessons that much easier.
Studying a subject you enjoy is more likely to bring you happiness and a more fulfilling and satisfying 2 years in RI.Moreover, you would most likely be interested in the career options the subject you enjoy opens, even if they are more limited.
Conversely, studying a subject simply for the sake of external, practical considerations without factoring in your own interests can often be more draining mentally as the workload of school inevitable increases—having to dredge through a seemingly endless sea of lectures and undone tutorial work becomes all the more worse when you have to go through the same motions each day without a innate purpose or interest attached to your work.
Real-world needs
Nonetheless, it’s important to acknowledge that taking a more ‘useful’ subject would pose less restrictions when the time comes for you to choose which university course and eventually career path you’d like to pursue.
Certain fields, such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) have higher demand and job opportunities than others. Singapore is a naturally fast-paced society. Coupled with the dynamic and ever-changing job market today, having skills that are in high demand can enhance your adaptability, which serves as a plus point when looking for careers in the future. Certain professions also offer higher salaries and/or more job stability.
So, what can you do?
Look up the syllabuses of the subjects you’re considering, and see if they interest you. Ask seniors for their exam papers or check out assessment books in Popular to get a better sensing of the demands of the subject. If you’re considering a subject that you really don’t enjoy, we’d recommend not taking it—even if it opens up more career options. It would likely make your studying journey more draining and dreadful.
Using past experiences from secondary school would be a good metric to determine how likely you might enjoy the subject too. Asking seniors or teachers about the different expectations for subjects might be another useful avenue to gather information about the expectations and nature of lessons for each subject.
If you have a degree in mind that you want to pursue, you can also check the prerequisites to enter that course! If you do not have a career or degree in mind, it’s best to keep an open mind regarding future career options and instead choose subjects that you enjoy.
Even if a subject does not directly relate to a specific job you have in mind, consider the skills you can gain from studying it. Many skills are transferable across various professions. For example, sharpening an analytical mind as you examine texts in literature is not only relevant to dissecting literary texts, but also useful in any field, like business or academia, where understanding nuance is necessary. Not everyone has a job directly related to the degree that they hold.
You can reach out to your seniors or other people you know to find out more about their professions and the fields they work in. They can offer you first-hand experiences and valuable insights into how relevant your chosen subjects are to real-world job opportunities.
You also have space to make mistakes. If after the first few weeks of school you realise that your subject combination is not for you, you can always head to the Student Affairs Centre (SAC) to appeal for a change in subject combinations. However, do note that they might not accept your appeals too far into the school year, so do try to make these decisions early!
Finding the right balance
Ultimately, deciding what subjects to take is a persona choicel. There is no right answer as to whether you should prioritise enjoyment or utility of your subjects. For the majority of the population, a combination of both is often required (and desired!) to thrive in JC.
As to which one takes precedence over the other in your selection of JC subjects, it ultimately boils down to personal preferences and what you are most comfortable with.
There are many other considerations to choosing your subject combinations than interest and relevance. It is important to acknowledge that our preferences and interests can and likely will change over time as we form new experiences and open ourselves up to new opportunities.
What types of skills or subjects might be valuable and “useful” for the future now might also vary as factors like disruptions and industry shifts might lead different subjects to be more poised for different scopes of careers in the future.
At the end of the day, picking between something you enjoy or something that might be a long-term investment is a dilemma not just exclusive to academics or picking your subject combination; similar questions might pop up in your mind during CCA selection or other choices you have to make in JC. Fundamentally, it is a question of how you want to spend your time.
Even if you are not fully decided on a path to take or still hesitating, recognising the different tradeoffs in your available choices and having a rough understanding whether you might gravitate towards an idealistic or a pragmatic view of the future will certainly go a long way in helping make your choice more informed. No one can absolutely say that they have made the best choice for themselves – after all, we will not know what we cannot experience.
However, we do not have to hold ourselves to such high standards. Carefully evaluating such choices already indicates your willingness to care and have a say in your future, and in our opinion, that makes any choice you ultimately decide on a valuable one!
Sincerely,
Aunt Agony and Uncle Upset
If you need anyone to talk to about any issues you might be facing, do drop by My Rest Space near Marymount gate and talk to one of our peer helpers! We’re open on Tuesday from 2.30 – 4.30 p.m, Wednesday 11.00 a.m. – 3.00 p.m., Thursday 2.30 – 4.30 p.m. and Friday 1.30 – 4.30 p.m. If you would like to meet a peer helper on a regular basis, do email us a request at rafflesinstitutionphp@gmail.com or fill in our request form at our website https://rafflesinstitution5.wixsite.com/rafflespeerhelpers/peer-helping-request!
