School years, especially those of university life, are indispensable stepping stones that lay the foundations for every teen before emerging into adulthood. Pre-university and university years serve as the transition space as they mimic the context of the real adult world in terms of social interactions and working life. However, it is not entirely replicating the overall adulthood context but will cushion students for future circumstances. Students are open to meeting all kinds of people in university, and interacting with new friends, lecturers, and office departments.

It is essential for university students from their early years – pre-university – to find a balance between school work and life. Facilitating the best university experience they can to generate the most favourable transfer between adolescence to adulthood. Here we share with you some of the few things you can do to have a great university experience. Specifically, if you are pursuing our Foundation in Science or Bachelor of Medicine degree.

1. Be Active

RUMC aims to create a safe space for students to not only learn but grow along the way to become efficient global citizens through a variety of clubs and societies for students to join. Ranging from sports, and community to arts, cultures, and even adventure clubs. RUMC students are encouraged to engage in the full spectrum of social and cultural aspects that act as additives to the future of a work-life balance capability. You, the students, should join a sports team or social, or cultural club after school to enhance both physical, and social skills and to meet new people and make new friends. This is for you to diversify your social interactions. 

Not only delivering an international teaching experience but RUMC is also known for its worldwide recognition of the international medical degree system. Students besides receiving cutting-edge teaching quality will also be provided with extra careers or degrees-related experience. Through a set of annual academic and social events from RUMC, students will have the opportunity to receive consults, advice, and fight for what they want to protect in the future, human health and well-being. With events such as “Aspiring Doctors” where students will listen to career experiences and consult with alumni, and make new contacts in the field. 

2. Mingle with Everyone

Emerging into learning and experiencing school activities are always encouraged, but school activities aren’t the only place you can make friends. Don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone and make new friends, locally. RUMC campus is located in Penang, the “Pearl of the Orient”, with a rich cultural background from being the intersection of Asia’s great kingdoms and Europe’s powerful colonial empires. Students could choose to spend their time with the people they like, friends, lovers, or they could take the opportunity to get to the place, talk with locals and emerge themselves into this tropical climate nation. 

“Going out and making friends” is not limited only to domestic terms but also consists of going overseas and making new connections. Since all three campuses of RUMC are closely linked, students could obtain the chance of running for exchange opportunities with the most popular route being between the Malaysia and Ireland campuses. Meeting people from different walks of life will help students broaden their worldviews (doctors, international students, and students from different states). 

3. Explore the City

The Malaysian campus is located in Penang, famous for its cross-cultural cuisine and the Ireland campus is located in Dublin, the heart of Ireland with a long history accumulated over the years. There are many places in Penang and Dublin worth visiting and some are hidden enough for students to explore. 

Penang is a historical city with some of the best food Malaysia has to offer from Malay, English, and Penang Hokkien, to Mandarin and Tamil. A truly uniquely cosmopolitan of a wide range of nationalities coming to work, live and retire here. People could enjoy unique cultural foods such as Hokkien Mee, Claypot Apom, and Curry Mee. Additionally students should also once pay a visit to Penang Hill, the oldest British hill station in Southeast Asia dating back to the late 1700s. 

Dublin has been Ireland’s capital since the partition of Ireland in 1922. Which enhanced it with the beauty of the mixture of historical architectures that has lasted since Dublin’s early years and the modern life penetrating in. A way for students to learn more about the local culture, make new friends and enjoy a night out could be coming to the seven oldest pubs in Dublin with the oldest one being The Brazen Head (1198). Therefore, if students want to experience a new breeze of culture but still want to feel included, they could consider having a short time to pursue pre-university science courses in Ireland. This will allow the students to have enough time to experience the culture and prepare for future career paths as Dublin is also a gateway for travel to the rest of Europe, with cities such as London, Rome and Paris.

4. Don’t Forget to Rest

As aforementioned, a healthy student should not always be occupied with readings and assignments. An effective student should be hardworking in learning and also knows how to find pockets of time and allow him/herself to put down the books and rest. This is what creates the balance between life and school that lay the foundation for students’ future work and life balance. 

Eventually, life is more than just getting a high score, it is a never-ending journey of learning through experiences and creating memories in and out of the classroom. Students should not let themselves be buried in just studying and forget about the wonders out there in the open world where they could make new friends, meet new people, eat new foods, and travel to another culture.