STPM Baharu, First Semester =)

Experience, facts, rumour, pro and cons of Form 6

Hey there! So this basically this article is about some facts, rumour and my experience studying under the new Form 6 system a.k.a STPM Baharu after one semester. This is for those form 5 graduates that are still deciding which pre-u to pursue and of course for those who are keen to find out what is Form 6 all about! *More: what is it to switch from Science Stream to Arts Stream*

First of all, some facts about the new modular system of Form 6:

• Now under the modular system you’ll need to take your major exam at the end of every semester (3 semester in total) instead of the old system that concludes everything in the end of your one and a half years of studies. (Yeah, just like the colleges out there, not much differences)
• You’ll still follow the school holiday like your juniors.
• You’ll still need to participate in the 3 bodies of co-curriculum (sports, clubs, uniform body) in your school
• No particular textbooks for you (no skim pinjaman buku text or whatsoever), which means you’ll need to purchase your references book yourself (or depends on your teachers’ notes or arrangements)
• There are projects a.k.a assignments for most of the subjects, no more pure paper test.
• You’ll need pretty good endurance and discipline to continue form 6 (yeah, it is CHALLENGING, very.)
• Yeah, school uniform.

Before I start I would like to express my thoughts on a rumour which is spreading about Form 6:

• Rumour stated that the future form 6s will be reformed into a college-like style, which means the future form 6 will be combined into a specific college (like matriculation colleges), and more, from what I heard, secondary schools such as SMK La Salle and SMK Sultan Abdul Samad will be emptied for the form 6 students.

Well, for now I can’t 100% assure you whether this is a true or a false news, but for the current 2012 form 5 graduates, the chances are not that high for your batch, since our government will need to build a new school to replace the current said-to-be-emptied-for- form 6 school, and much more procedures are needed for the relocation for that current school’s students. Hence I think there is a low probability (TAKE NOTE! There is still some probabilities though!) that the next batch of form 6 after me will be in the rumoured plan. Well, just my thoughts about the rumour.

Life in form 6:

To be honest, form 6 was not my first choice (who wanna go back to the secondary school, wearing back the school uniform and face the discipline teacher for another 1.5 years?). I was actually planning to go for the Foundation in Media Studies in IACT college (I’m into the Mass Comm thingy actually), which was about to start in August. So I decided to give Form 6 a try before entering into my foundation studies, well no harm, I thought.

And in the end settling down in Form 6, LOL.

Before I continue with my experience, I went for my national service in Sibu, Sarawak from January to March, that’s why I’m kinda late when I am going to enter my pre-u studies compared to my friends. (Well, a good thing actually, I’ll explain later)

From Science Stream to Arts Stream…..

The thing I took a long long time to get use, is to cope with the Arts Stream subjects and environment. For me, I’m currently taking Economics, Accounting, Chinese, Maths M and Pengajian Am (4 subjects are the minimum, 5 are the maximum, and Pengajian Am is a must take in Form 6). I have no basics in economics and accounting since I was in the Science Stream when I was in my secondary studies, hence I was struggling with these 2 subjects in the beginning of my Form 6 life. Thanks to my great teachers, mentors and friends, I was able to pick up as the time goes by.

But I must admit, in the first few months of Form 6 life (my worse time of the year), I was kinda overstress myself with my studies, not only because I was over-expecting myself in my studies, it was also due to the workloads that I’m not quite used to. In the end, I kinda mess up every small tests that my teachers conducted. (And not to mention my bad emotions during that few months).

Luckily time goes by and I was able to climb back up again. So in Form 6, there is no Arts-is-easier-than-Sciences logic. Bullshit. Both are equally tough and need constant effort and discipline to shine.

After all,everything is about attitude. By changing our attitude, we are changing our mindset. By changing our attitude, we think things differently. Then, I found out that Arts subjects are slightly easier to handle compared to Sciences, and I do not have any regrets joining in the Arts family.

Well, the good part, since I really hated Chemistry a lot (who is with me? High 5!), I’m able to get rid of it like forever after switching to Arts Stream.

Yeah, one more thing to say, you’ll find out that in Arts Stream, students are less exposed to English, as in the subjects taken such as Accounting and Economics are taught in BM, which I would say that most Science students can speak or master better in English. So, if you wanna go for Arts Subjects in English, go for private colleges instead.

The Awesome Part of Form 6!

To tell you the truth, the main reason that I remained in Form 6 is because of the friends I got to know in my class. With them, I don’t remember a day that I didn’t LMAO in the class. Really, I never expect such a class when I entered Form 6. Even in the most stressful days, they are able to come out with some crazy and really humorous jokes that will really distress you. =D 

And though Form 6 is really packed with their syllabus, there are still time for us to have fun, some photos here:

With my Lower-Six friends & Upper Six Seniors in a Haunted House Event!

With my classmates & my own CHS Running Gangz in the MCS Fun Run organized by KDU College

Ultimate Frisbee tourney in my school with friends! =D

Running together in the Nike We Run KL 2012 with some of my Form 6 buddyz!

With my Upper-Six seniors in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012!

With my classmates in the Adidas King of The Road 2012

Best of All: Class Trip to Penang & Langkawi! FUN!

 Not only that, I'm lucky to have the chance to participate in camps and also school events!

Volunteered in the 30 Hour Famine Camp

Along with my classmates, performed in the CHS Merdeka Day Celebration

$$ matter...and it really does.

Besides all the fun, studying in Form 6 is really saving up my parents' money, a lot. There are only 2 things that will be using your money: tuitions and reference books. And better if you do not have any tuitions. Compared to private colleges out there (well basically almost everything requires you to pay), Form 6 is much much much more AFFORDABLE. Lets say I have 2 tuitions at RM80 per tuition per month and I spent RM300 on my references books, I only used RM1260 for my first semester in Form 6, while a whole course of AUSMAT will cost you around RM20,000! Multiply RM1260 by 3 you'll also find Form 6 much much more, yeah affordable.

Graduating later is a good thing, actually....

Moreover, one of the reason people do not prefer Form 6 is because Form Six-ers seems to be graduating later. Well, not a bad thing actually. I have friends who studied in other pre-u courses that allow them to graduate within 10 months to 1 year, but they are still not sure with their future after they are done with their pre-u. For me, I am lucky enough to have more time to consider my options and to find my passion compared to my friends.

The Shitty Part of Form 6...

Form 6, modular system they say, easier to score they say, brought down the level they say. Those are myths! Whether in the Arts or Science stream, both are very tough, and relatively hard to score.

For Science streams, it is undoubtedly stressful, especially those who take up 3 Sciences. Projects are to be done, endless homeworks etc etc... From what I heard, Chemistry in Form 4 & 5 are totally different with Form 6's. Physics is much much tougher. Same to Biology, all the terms to memorize. Mathematics for Science Stream really kills.

For Arts Stream, the STPM timetable alone is a K.O. We gotta sit for 3 subjects for our first day (Pengajian Am, Chinese, Accounting)! Accounting and Chinese are both killer subjects in Arts Stream by the way. And until now, the reference books for Arts Stream are relatively few compared to Science Stream.

Not only that, since the system is still new, teachers, students, publishers are struggling with the syllabus. (Thanks to our 'brilliant' education system) and basically no official study leave for us before STPM like other college do before their finals.

In the nutshell...

I summarized out the pros and cons of Form 6 and in the end it is up to you to decide which pre-u courses are the best for you. But honestly, I learned a lot while I am in Form 6, albeit all the cliffs that I got to go through before I came to realized that.

Life in Form 6 is not easy, but I believe you will learn a lot from your experience in Form 6. Keep motivated, keep up with the constant pace in studies and with some stress-releasing activities, Form 6 is not fatal. Good time management is very very and in fact, one of the primary importance and the quality that will need to be trained and learned in Form 6.

With this, I conclude my article with a thank you and sorry if I could not answer your curiosity and if I mentioned anything that offended anyone in the article. Jiayou! =D