By Misha Dahlia  

I still remember how it was like before I became a HELP Foundation student. I had just finished my SPM and was thinking of what to do when I get to pursue my education on a tertiary level. I had wanted to become a veterinarian ever since I was a little kid and seeing how I had been in the Science stream during my high school years, I thought that maybe it would be a great start to begin looking for opportunities in the veterinary field. As the day of my SPM results day approached, the hopes and dreams that I had since I was young was thrown out of the window seeing how I did not do a good job in Biology. No surprises there as I hated the subject. After doing some research and countless BuzzFeed questionnaires, I finally decided to pursue my education in the Psychology. I love watching criminal documentaries and true crime series. These things make me feel interested to learn about human behaviour and how complex the human mind really is.  

There were a few universities that I had laid on my table of options. One of them is HELP University. I’ve heard of HELP before, but mostly on very general things. I did, however, hear that this university is known for its Psychology department. I went to a few career fairs and found out that quite a few universities offer great Psychology programmes, but HELP caught my attention the most. So here I am now, in my final semester of Foundation in Arts.  

Before enrolling at HELP, I went to one of the Open Days held at HELP Subang 2 campus. It was fun seeing all the students walking around with their friends, looking all cool and casual with their student cards tugged on the lanyards across their necks, with their laptops hugged to their chests and a cup of coffee in their hand. I envisioned that to be me, to be the cool college student walking around, going from class to class. I thought I would be able to finally live the college student life everybody has been going about – go out and hang with my friends, stay back on campus to get assignments done, go to coffee shops in between classes, but unfortunately that dream of mine got crushed by the global pandemic.  

It was tough to kickstart my journey as a college student. Every first thing I did in college was done online – from online orientations, to online examinations. It was a struggle, especially when I did not know anyone at all. I had to befriend people virtually which for me was quite weird especially coming from someone with social anxiety. I have never even met these people at all and now I’m expected to befriend them? Weird. But yeah, it was tough, especially when I was trying to do work with my bed in very close proximity. It was like my bed was calling me, reaching for me, tempting me to go lay down for just one minute- which then led me to a deep sleep for over three hours. It was an unhealthy start to my first ever semester in college. Then I met Elly. Well, no, I did not actually meet her, obviously. She reached out to me via WhatsApp. She got my number because we were meant to be in the same group together and our lecturer had appointed me to become the class rep. Being a girl who is scared to socialise with new people, I am glad Elly was my first ever college friend. She made conversations so easy that we clicked right away. Then I got to know Jasmine. She and Elly managed to join HELP’s orientation programme way before the pandemic happened and became friends. All three of us felt the instant connection and we are still friends up to this day. It’s an amazing and rare thing to discover, especially as I had only known them virtually before I got to meet them face to face. It was like meeting a pen-pal for the first time. That how I felt when I met them physically and not through my computer screen. College can be tough, with assignments piled up, lectures to keep up on and lessons to revise. It is definitely a big challenge, especially to me who had zero knowledge on how to organise my schedule seeing how online classes has taken such a toll on me. However, with the help of my lovely lecturers, they managed to make it so easy. All of them are so friendly, nice, and helpful to guide me to get to the finish line. Previously, I had this mentality where lecturers are all big and scary but turns out, they are the friendliest human beings ever. You might think I am exaggerating, but I am truthful. The experience I have by far here at HELP is one of the best things I have ever been through, and I do not regret one bit by joining his program. By time, I get to learn my past mistakes from my previous semesters. I now know how to arrange my time wisely with my friends still stuck by my side, hoping that I will one day, finally get to experience being a college student outside of the comfort of my home.