Please give us a brief introduction of yourself, the university you currently go to, and your major (area of study) in college.
Hey, I’m Joshua, an Accountancy undergraduate at De La Salle University. On the side, I’ve been having a lot of fun exploring entrepreneurship and new concepts like blockchain and digital marketing.
How is COVID-19 affecting you in terms of your university education right now?
My university has shifted to a fully online mode of learning for at least the first term of the year. Lectures and assignments are conducted through Zoom and a variety of other platforms like Canvas. Currently, I don’t have any trouble with the learning part.
What I’m missing out on is the university social experience like events and organizations. We had a glimpse of that in our freshman orientation, but I don’t think it’s the same. I’m fortunate enough to be in the same timezone as my university, which allows me to keep a normal-ish sleep schedule.
A lot of my classmates have been having a hard time coping with that and had to turn nocturnal. Others in Taiwan are either taking gap years / semesters off, or temporarily enrolling in Taiwanese universities. A handful of us, mostly those in European universities, were able to travel to their universities already, but things aren’t looking so good.
What was the largest effect that COVID-19 brought to you and your fellow seniors before and after graduation?
We missed out on a lot of experiences that we were looking forward to having. A lot of competitions and events were canceled. We also had problems completing our senior project experiments, but for the most part, we figured it out in the end.
Now I think we, like many other people in the world, are concerned with the lasting effects of COVID-19. Every day you see something about “the new normal”, but no one really knows what that will look like. Is it simply the same world we had a year ago except with social distancing measures? Is it the start of a new era of mostly remote working, learning, and socializing? Will our university degrees matter? I personally took measures to try and cement my future in case of anything. I learned a couple of marketable technical skills and started investing in non-fungible digital assets, for instance. Many of my friends have thought about this as well and started paving their own paths to success.
How has DIS shaped you into the person you are now?
DIS taught me to be resilient. Our school is very extracurricular-driven so there were lots of chances for me to develop my skills and find out what I enjoy doing. In a lot of the experiences I had, I struggled, whether it be trying to build up the confidence to talk to another person in Model United Nations (MUN) or trying to deal with last-minute issues when managing school events. But ultimately, each time I learned something new.
What advice or word of encouragement would you like to give our current Dominican students regarding their preparation for college?
Put yourself out there. Lately, I’ve been pushing myself to be in situations where I’m out of my element, such as getting an internship without any prior technical experience or going to networking events with people that are older than me. I’ve talked to successful people who have told me that they appreciated the skills I’ve built and the knowledge I gained through external learning. Don’t limit yourself to what’s in the classroom. People look for unique selling propositions or differentiators. High school and extracurriculars give you the time to find what you want yours to be. Find what you can bring to the table.
