Kelvin Teo

It is said that the initiation step into the working world is when we walk through the hallowed halls of the institution that we graduate from. Yes, from then on, it is “Welcome to the working world!”

Of course, some of us will continue studying but others will complete this rite of passage to being a salaried worker/working professional. I never did walk through the hallowed halls of my undergraduate instition, having been thrusted into working life all of a sudden, but that is a story for another occasion.

However, there are others who make the journey back from working life to school. Yes, to earn the coveted MBAs, CFAs, MScs, Ph.Ds, LLBs, MAs, MDs, MBBS, JDs, etc. An interesting question is really what goes on in the mind of these salaried workers/professionals when they make the transition back into student life, and what really are their perspectives?

Having being one who make the transition, I have compiled a list of thoughts. I have a disclaimer though, all these are compiled thoughts from those with similar backgrounds, and they DO NOT NECESSARILY represent my viewpoints.

Without further ado, I present to you the list of thoughts:

1. You start counting academic months/duration in terms of the dates you get your paycheck.
    
2. Instead of using academically-loaded terms “tutorials”, “assignments” and “homework”, you use the commercial/working world-loaded term “projects”.
    
3. You start losing your sense of fashion. Put it this way, the only fashion that you have been exposed to 9/5 is typical office wear..and of course..your home clothes during knock-off hours.
    
4. Addendum to 3, your reaction is “WTF” instead of “Wow!” when you see a female classmate in the latest fashionable wear. Put it this way, your sense of fashion has been obliterated.
    
5. You find yourself out of touch with student realities, especially when interacting with undergraduate classmates or those whom have never been through the working world.
    
6. When carrying a notebook/laptop bag, you use the same one that working professionals use.
    
7. During free times, you tend to do more of your hobbies than frat parties/fraternalising with course mates, simply because working life tends to make you simple. Let me have a show of hands, which busy working professional can devote ample time to doing hobbies? Which is why tending to hobbies is a common thing that professionals do during free time.
    
8. Addendum to 7. You think that social gatherings outside with younger and less experienced classmates are a waste of your time. After all, social gatherings in the working world is another catch phrase for commercial networking. And as Zhi Xiang will attest..how much of a commercial network you can get out of socialising with inexperienced course mates…none.
    
9. You start thinking that your inexperienced classmates are losers. Maybe our friend’s definitions of winners and losers is on the scale of exposure to the working world.
    
10. You start treating contact hours in school like the typical hours you put in during a working day.
     
11. You start developing a tendency to skip classes on occasions when there is a public holiday near a weekend. In working parlance, this is called “taking leave to enjoy a super long weekend”.
     
12. You start dressing for classes as though you are dressing up for work. Well, if you work for a firm that stipulates that you can wear anything so long as you don’t turn up naked; GOOGLE, Inc comes into mind, then good on you.
     
13. You start viewing student life as a welcome break from the working world.
     
14. Addendum to 13, you definitely like student life more than working life. I speak for myself – worked in the same field as that of my undergraduate degree, and had to learn to cope with insane projeect deadlines, and being scrutinized by my boss and colleages. Study life thumps working life any time!