In case readers are wondering if I survived the high fever… yea, I’m still alive, coughing my lungs out.

Well, more stuff to rant about.

Having done nearly half a dozen projects with local students here, I’ve come to realize a very big difference between them and my counterparts (including myself) back in NUS. The majority of students here seem to feel less compelled to score, compared to NUS students. They tend to do projects and approach coursework more for the sake of interest (or disinterest) rather than duty (or grades).

This is both good and bad. The positive side is that since they approach their studies for the sake of interest, they tend to be less stressed out than people (read: NUS students) who study for the sake of scoring or for a degree. They also tend to participate more (which makes sense because one would participate more in a class that is interesting), compared to back in NUS where participation is mostly propelled by need (for participation marks) rather than by keenness to participate.

The negative side is that they tend to be less focused in their work – all the teams I am working with have a common problem – they tend to want to do things that seem interesting to them, things that they like – they genuinely want to do the project in a certain way because they feel that would be interesting… but that might not necessarily be the most efficient or effective way to do it. By less focused I mean less focused on the end result – of grades. Whereas in NUS we usually see students working towards the most efficient/effective ways of completing a project so as to get maximum grades possible… which means we hit on the nail more accurately.

Not saying that doing projects for the sake of scoring is healthy… but think of it this way – when we go out into the corporate world, projects are always guided by end results and objectives – we can’t just do things a certain way because we like or prefer it that way, unless we’re the bosses.

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