Learning Online 163 kilometers away from School

I am a Malaysian living in Batu Pahat, Johor. 13 July 2020 was the first day of my class for the third-year semester (final year). Due to Covid-19 border travel restrictions imposed, I was unable to go back to Singapore. 

I was very worried as I was not sure as to how I was going to continue this semester. A number of thoughts were running through my mind – Do I need to go back to Singapore immediately and get quarantined in Singapore? How was I going to do my Final Year Project (FYP)? What about my many other financial concerns? Fortunately, MDIS informed us that we will be attending lessons online, so I could stay where I was and continue my study.

Often people will ask me how do I manage my studies online. To be honest, it is very difficult. But on the positive side, studying online gives me more time self-study time. Because when I am in Singapore, most of my time is spent on traveling between home and school.  It takes about 1-hour for me to travel from one place to another.

Now that I have more time, I am able to practice my technical skills like soldering skills and programming at home. There are many online tutorials about soldering from beginner to pros. I watch most of my tutorials on YouTube channel, GreatScott!

Also, there are many DIY projects on this channel and I get a lot of ideas & inspirations for my FYP from it. However, there are very limited components available in my home town, Batu Pahat.

I hope the Covid-19 situation can get better so that people can start to travel again. I look forward to going back to MDIS to study with my classmates soon.

This article is contributed by Dean Chen from the School of Engineering pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Electronic and Electrical.