Not 'Officially', but in one way or another, I've passed all 7 modules and managed to graduate from UOL after 3 years!!

I really want to share this story about myself, on how I actually managed to survived 3 years in UOL. Well, you may think that its easy for me, but to tell the truth, I was working full time and had to juggle studies and work together.

This is a real experience,and I really never expected that I would really graduate in 3 years.

Let's start from Year 1!

Year 1:
Enrolled into Management course, thinking that it would be super easy to pass since the passing mark is 35! (Guess many of you might be laughing at their passing mark) But, its not so easy to get that 35 marks to scrap through the paper. I thought it was easy at first, after attending a few classes. So I decided to do self-study on my own. I was taking the part-time course as I had a full time job, which I've started in the same year when I enrolled into this course. I skipped most of my classes just to watch Arashi. I was super crazy into Arashi back then. Went for my first solo Japan trip too, just to watch Arashi. Skipped classes again. And then, when it was the following year March, I went to Japan again with my BFF and Ina. Skipped a few mock papers and then I had about 2 months or less left to the actual papers which were in early May. Studied like mad, and I didn't take much leave as I don't have much leave left after the 2 Japan trips.
When the results were released, I seriously panic. Out of the 5 modules (3 full units and 2 half units), I only passed 1 half unit. It really sucks! Inside, I was crying badly, and I kept thinking to myself that I might need to take one more year to complete my degree. Felt so depressed, and I went on to search for ways to make sure that I complete the degree within 3 years.
Stalked at HWZ forums, and also called the admin at SIM for help too! I ended up staying in Management course, but changing from part-time to full-time.

But that's not the end of the story!!

Year 2:
Although I had changed from part-time to full-time, I still continued on with my full-time job at Fuji Xerox. Guess many of you would be pondering why I'm schooling full-time and yet working full-time at Fuji Xerox.

I actually put all my classes to morning classes, and I had a small talk with my supervisor and boss to get permission if I could work from 12pm to 8pm instead. Everything went smoothly and I get to go for morning classes and work from 12pm to 8pm. To be truthful, I really did cried over this matter,coz it was really taxing to work and study at the same time. I know that I cannot give it up, and I'm already like 1/2 way through it. Friends like Jasmine, Shuen Lin and Tabitha whom I've met in my ESAP class helped me alot, when I had to miss certain classes due to work. I attended more lessons than in Year 1 and put in much more effort. I even took a 2 month leave before my actual exam just to make sure that I'm fully prepared for the exam. And luckily, my wishes did came true. Out of the 6 modules that I took, I passed 5. I ended up failing econs for the 2nd time. I didn't know why, and I had alot of confidence in that paper. I wanted to cry badly after I saw that I had failed my econs paper for the 2nd time. At that point of time, I decided to change my course to Business instead. Since I had failed that paper, I had 7 more papers to take in order to complete within 3 years.

When I'm about to move on to my 3rd year, I actually emailed UOL and SIM regarding on taking 7 modules. And, the answer that I got from UOL is that I can take any number of retakes, which meant that I could take all 7 modules at one shot and graduate the next year!! I was so happy, that I decided on all my 7 modules. (I had 3 retake modules and 4 new modules, so that's why I could take 7 modules).

Year 3:
Taking 7 modules is indeed suicidal. Coz, I had to cramp like all 7 modules work into less than 1 year. This meant that I had to start revising immediately. And at that time, I was still working full-time in Fuji Xerox. I decided to leave my job at the end of October, as I felt the pressure there. I had problems coping with my work and studies because I had 2 classes in a day, whereby I can only make it for one class. So I left my job in end October, and started to study full-time officially. Many people said that I was brave enough to take 7 modules, and I think up till now, no one has yet to take all 7 modules and pass them all (Correct me if I'm wrong). I started revising from late November, which is like 5 months earlier than others as I know that I want to graduate the next year with my new found friends! I'm really thankful to my group of friends who really supported me in my final year. Without them, I doubt I could survive and pass all 7 modules!! Really love you guys, for giving me support in my final year! Exams were much tougher this year, and I had a unexpected surprise when I checked my results online during work. I really wanted to scream in the office, but because I'm working in a Japanese firm, I'm not able to do such things. So I just keep grinning to myself non-stop. The unexpected surprise is my Audit paper. I never expect myself to score a first class grade in that paper. It was my one and only first class grade! And not forgetting, I managed to pass all of my 7 modules, which made me really happy too!!

And now, I've finally finished my degree with UOL, I'm thinking whether to further into accountancy because my degree is business. Not too sure, but that would be something I might consider in the near future.

I hope this post would motivate those students to score and complete your degree within 3 years. JIA YOU JIA YOU!!

If I can do it, surely you can do it too!!