2007 ~ 2012 |
A NEW CAMPUS AND THE BIRTH OF SASS
How I remember Monash SASS
Mindy Wong
Granting wishes as a fairy
godmother (2011). ▶
52
I hope
each grain
of sand
is a fulfilled
one that
carries
the most
memories
it could
hold,
just like
my time
at SASS.
I was 20 years old when I graduated. That was
because I grew up as a third culture kid and relocated
every couple of years – from Penang to Shanghai,
then to the UK and Hong Kong, all before joining
Monash. And with each move, I skipped a few months
or a year of school in between. Change was constant
for me – new sounds, new sights, new faces. of sand, we would all start as children with a glass full
of hope, excitement and wonder. And as time passes,
our individual experiences are captured in each grain
and trickled down the glass until the end of time.
Those three years at SASS felt like each grain of
sand carried more weight, more meaning, and was
more fulfilled.
As with many third culture kids, I became so familiar
with adapting to new cultures that it became more
apparent I had a growing need to connect with my
roots, my home country. While the undergraduate
years may be a time of self-discovery for some, my
time at Monash was also coupled with the search
for self-identity. When I joined Monash, I was the
Malaysian who didn’t grow up patronizing the same
restaurants, didn’t share any common friends that
went to the same school, didn’t know enough Bahasa
to string a complete sentence together. But the place
grew on me. At 17, I was clueless about what I aspired to be, not to
mention which subjects to take, but I am glad I chose
SASS where there was a good variety of subjects
available. I particularly enjoyed writing but didn’t feel
I was good enough. Then, Dr Sharon showed us
creative writing classes where the instructions were
creative to begin with, i.e. write a piece without the
letter “e”. That was also when I could identify myself
with being Malaysian – when she read my piece and
commented that I think a lot about food. I had also
gained confidence to write through constructing
and deconstructing my own work in producing an
unexpected end piece.
Fast forward a few years and little did I know that
I would be graduating during the financial crisis. I
landed my first job in a local PR and events agency
where Dr Jaga’s PR lectures became applicable. Then
I added on to my event management experience
in the next job with a global market leader in the
shipping industry. As President of the Activities
Club, I organized a company annual dinner for 200+
employees themed “The Dream Factory”, and I
dressed as the fairy godmother with the hope of
granting wishes and unleashing the child in all of us.
With a decade of work experience, I have realized my
passion in people that would be translated to Human
Resource, Talent Management and Development in
the corporate world.
If we imagined each of our lives as an hourglass where
time is constant and each moment in time is a grain
Another favourite of mine was Dr Andrew’s post-
colonial literature lessons. He challenged us with open
questions and when students were not answering to
the point, he would mimic someone digging a grave
which was amusing in comparison to some of the
business school electives that I took. More importantly,
the subject itself was instrumental in my self-discovery
journey as a Malaysian Chinese, such as being
introduced to concepts like Orientalism - seeing
how the remnants of the idea applies to how I am
perceived and making a more active decision of how
I wanted to be perceived. As well as understanding
that my hybrid of British and American accents from
my schooling years was relatable to post-colonialism
where I took on elements from each place I grew
up in.