Sidetrack to Future...What?

This week's gonna be (a bit) deadly. AND THIS POST TOO! (This is a TL;DR post so read at your own risk)

Currently, I am an exchange student in Sogang University, here in Seoul, Korea (yet, this status is about to end soon).  In almost a week, I'm going back to my home country and continue my studies.  The program (Junior Term Abroad) entitles me for only one semester here.

Back to my first statement, yes, this week's gonna be a bit deadly than the previous weeks.  More or less as deadly as my midterms week. This week is our finals week and every student, whether foreigner or Korean, have their faces into their books and lecture slides. (Just a comment, Koreans have a very disciplined study habits.  Perhaps, they got this from studying for the College Scholastic Ability Test or suneung (수능). This tests sometimes trigger the suicidal instincts of high school students, and that's another part of the story.)  Well, I may not have study habits as disciplined as the locals here but my study habits (aka cram study) puts me to survival in my life as a student.


THOUGHTS ON POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
So, as I was studying for my final exams in Analysis of Customer Behavior and Service Modelling (CSM), I was sidetracked once again, and started searching for Masteral and Doctoral opportunities.  I don't know why but I have this habit of suddenly searching for schools with MS in Information Systems, or MBA, or any graduate career in my field of study.  I even searched for Ph.D opportunities.

Just for sharing, here are the usual (actually, not usual. These are the what I always look when I am sidetracked) opportunities and universities that I looked at:

1. I always look on the Masters degree in School of Information Systems of Singapore Management University.  If you look at their website, before, they only have MSc/PhD in Information Systems and Master of IT in Business for Financial Services and Service Sector.  Currently, Master of Applied Information Systems was added to the family. I liked the holistic approach of the program in Information Systems field, that they tackle Data Management & Analytics, Information Security & Trust, Information Systems & Management, Intelligent Systems & Decision Analytics, and Software Systems, which, I think, are very essential to Information Management professionals, whether practicing or on research.
2. I also take a look on PhD in Information Systems in National University of Singapore. A member of their faculty once visited our university and talked about a sort of "graduate-level" algorithm, which made most of the undergraduates go "weeeee." At the end of his talk, he distributed fliers on post graduate opportunities in School of Computing in NUS.  And that started my interest in their program (aside that it ranks top in Asia, together with HKUST).  
3. Of course I can't leave the management side that much that I look into MBA programs of NUS and SMU.  In addition to these universities, I also check Seoul National University's program, together with the MBA programs of Yonsei University and Sogang Business School. (If you wonder why I started to check Korean universities, I will talk about the reasons as soon as I get back to the Philippines...sort of reflection/concluding post about my JTA experience)
4. Of course, I must not forget the universities in my country.  However, I opt, if ever, to take MBA in my country so that I would have a Philippine business perspective.  Well, Singapore universities could give me Asian perspective in business, too.  My options are Ateneo Graduate School of Business, UP College of Business, and, if I earn lots of money by the time I pursue MBA, Asian Institute of Management.  Nothing's wrong in having a dream so high like this, isn't it?

I don't know but my professor in CSM seems to have inspired me pursuing further studies on data and business analytics.  The topics we tackled in CSM are actually on data mining applications for good customer relationship management.  Though we did not tackle much on the technical side of the data mining techniques (we did not code or program anything; we just used e-Miner software for labs), we discussed most of the fundamental things about these techniques.  We discussed Association Rules (or Market Basket Analysis), Data Visualization, Clustering, Neural Networks, and Decision Trees.  He always inserts during our discussions stuff about data science and being a data scientists.  Then, it comes to my mind, "Are there any data scientists in the Philippines?" or "If I become a data scientist, how could I help my country?" Such a noble thinking, huh? But yeah. Sometimes, these things just pop up in my silly mind.

To the knowledge of everyone, we have scientists in the Philippines; yet, it seems that they are not much honored.  They may be honored in the academe industry, perhaps. But every high school student's mindset (not all, most probably) is to get a college degree that will surely bring prosperity to their families.  That is why, most of the students either go to health sciences (especially Nursing) or Business.  Not that I dislike the students who took/currently taking these courses (you're awesome! Our country and the entire world need you too!) but if we look at other countries, nations who have a lot of PhDs (whether in Natural, Applied, or Social Sciences, or Arts) tend to grow more! This is not an issue on good governance (our country is currently progressing in a rate of more than what is expected. Thanks to Daang Matuwid!) and also not an issue on being rational thinkers.  Perhaps, I can put these as "another roads to choose from in helping our families", that is to help build our nation, in order for our nation to help our families.  These scientists have worked so hard in order to put our country in the map of countries with great contribution to the general knowledge. And I think, valuing them, their contributions, will give us more appreciation, not just of science, but our nation as well.  We could have think what they're thinking of when they were doing their research, of giving back to the society.

I, too, came from a not-so privileged family; yet, my parents work so hard just to give us opportunities that will ensure our future (such as allowing me to go on JTA and studying in one of the ivy league schools in my country, and my sister studying in an exclusive school in our city) and I value them so much for that.  Yet, I can't also neglect the needs and lost opportunities of other families. That is why, I always look on opportunities on how to actually have an impact in the society, through my field of interest.  Perhaps, this is what Frederick Buechner was talking about, finding where our passion meets the world's greatest need. 

So much for that, I'm still in my undergraduate degree. I haven't stepped on my fourth year in my university. Too much discernment, I guess. Now let's talk about something more relevant to me, and what I'm about to experience, internship.

THOUGHTS ON INTERNSHIP

So in my degree program, we are required to take an internship in an organization outside our university so we could have a view on what is happening around us that might affect our future career, and to apply also what we've learned in real life.

Last November, I had the usual talks with my dad, and by "the usual" I mean, we are talking about my future career, as I seek coordination with what they want to what I want. (Yes we don't have that "NO YOU SHOULD DO THIS AND THAT" relationship. We value each others' side.) I was asking him if he could find me an internship opportunity in Singapore.  He told me that he could get me in the company he's working with and I can hold one of their IT projects.  That would be interesting since that's where I would really end up after I graduate.  But then I asked, "How about an internship which works on data analysis?" (Yes, that is influenced already by my aspirations to be a data scientist.) He told me that that would be very technical and companies might look for more experience in that field since one miscalculation or wrong analysis of data might cost thousands or millions to the company. So, jokingly, I told him, "Okay! I might consider the opportunity in your company, as long as I don't work under you! Haha!"

Just so you know, when I go back to the Philippines, we, JTA students, will have our second semester from Late January to around mid-April; yet, our internship schedule starts on April to May or early June.  This gives us less time in preparing/discerning for companies (though, there would be a career fair in our university as soon as we our asses back to work).  I just want to be prepared when that time comes.

I consider a lot of companies, but I prefer working with multinational companies, as they could give me an broader perspective on Philippine business/IT.  Well I prefer working on other country for internship as they could give me their perspective in dealing with issues revolving their company.

I remember my conversation with my friends here in Sogang (who are also JTA students).  When we started talking about internship opportunities, we told each other, "Sa ibang bansa na tayo mag-OJT para tuluy-tuloy na ang pagka-international ng resume natin!" (Let's have our on-job-training abroad so that our resume would look international.)  Studied in another country, worked for internship in another country, what would made that unappealing to employers' eyes when they have their first glance on your CV/resume???

But, honestly, this option would end my opportunity in having a position in my organization.  As much as I want to serve the organization, I am also thinking about my own growth.  I've been loyal to my organization since I was a freshman, and I really want to serve the org. But, I think I could serve you in other way aside from being in a position. As much as I want to think of your growth and the member's growth in you, I'm also considering mine. 

TL;DR - SUMMARY OF THIS POST

So while I was studying, my inattentiveness attacked and made a sidetrack. Instead of studying for my finals later, I searched for masteral and doctoral opportunities, and later on, I was looking already for companies where I could have my internship.  And as I was looking on to my future, I tend to consider not just my own desires, but also what is good for others.

Fin.

Comments? :D