Lecturer VS Engineer

Dear Mr Diary,

An old friend of mine posted this topic on his FB wall last night. And the thoughts on this kept me awake for about half an hour before I actually fall in my own sweet slumber. Why? Bukan sebab I seorang bakal lecturer and Mr Bf pulak seorang engineer jadi kitorang nak bertinju. No, no such thing like that. Takde kaitan pun! Actually, he seek for opinions from us on which career to choose upon graduating; a lecturer/professor in mechanics or an engineer in the same area. Ha, a question requiring sturdy resolution isn't it?

First, if I am at his place, I myself couldn't even make up my mind that easily. Banyak benda nak kena consider. If you go for moneywise, an engineer gives you better salary. Itupun kena suffer dulu kerja 5-10 tahun sebelum nak dapat gaji belas-belas or puluh-puluh ribu. Once you have 10years of working experience, ha, kau demand la berapa gaji pun, insyaAllah orang kasi. Lagi satu, mak bapak kat kampung pun bangga nak bagitau orang pasal anak dia. Kalau orang kampung tanya, "Anak keja apa kat Kolumpo tu Pak Mat??". Laju je Pak Mat jawab, "Enginiaaaaa". Macho kan bunyinya.hehehe..:p

An engineer looks hot with his coverall on. Ngeee..:p

Tapi yang tak bestnya, workload bertan tan, kerja tak tentu masa, outstation sana sini, meeting meeting meeting, report report report, pastu stress tak hingat punya. Yang paling tak best, quality time dengan family pun mungkin akan berkurang (kecuali kalau pandai curik curik masa). Hang on Amirah, you tu tak penah jadi engineer, pandai pandai je reka cerita. Mengamuk para jurutera seantero dunia nanti tau.huhu.. No offense yea. But that's what I heard from engineers around me lah. Bukan berdasarkan pengalaman sendiri. Correct me if I'm wrong okay!! Peace..(^_~)v

My engineer. Ha, yang ni tak bole kacau ye..:p

Kalau jadi lecturer pulak, gaji memang la tak besar mana. Kerja 10 tahun sekali pun, payah nak cecah 10K. KECUALI!! Mereka mereka yang rajin tulis buku, mengajar part time, bagi talk, or apa apa je side works, boleh la demand income yang tinggi. Tapi dari segi kualiti hidup, I suka gila. Tak payah nak punch in or out, asalkan lectures semua tiptop, research bergerak, meeting tak ponteng, admin works tak diabaikan, ha, gasak la kau nak tungging ke terbalik ke dalam ofis tu. Takde sape kisah! (Mungkin ada yang kisah, tu pun kalau yang dilahirkan sebagai busybody). Tapi ni pun I bukan bercakap berdasarkan pengalaman. Again, correct me if this is unacceptable okay. I belom pernah jadi lecturer lagi. Habis PhD nanti baru nak balik jenguk-jenguk macam mana la dunia lecturer ni sebenarnya..I wonder..=))

I wonder how am I going to handle situation like this. Hmm..
(Photo courtesy from live.psu.edu/image/22732)

So, opinion I untuk kawan I tu, memandangkan dia belajar dalam area mechanics, I suggested him to gain as much experience as he can as a professional engineer first. Then, bila dah ilmu penuh di dada, anytime dia boleh tukar kerja jadi lecturer, provided, he needs to complete his Masters and PhD first. Dulu masa undergrad, I used to adore lecturers with working experiences in the real world. Rasa macam apa yang beliau cakap tu semua betol belaka. The way they delivered the information is so much different compared to those lecturers who came directly after completing their studies (which is just like me..sighs~). I harap I akan jadi seorang lecturer yang best di USM nanti. Aminnn..=))

Role model, Dr Zaitul Marlizawati. I always wanted to be like her. Everybody loves her.

Masa isi ruang cita-cita zaman sekolah rendah dulu, I tak pernah berangan pun nak jadi engineer. Leave alone doctor, lawyer, accountant etc.. Bukan tak bercita cita tinggi. But they are not listed in the nature of my interests. Dulu dapat tawaran ke UK untuk Bachelor in Engineering, offer turned down. Another offer to Japan pursuing the same area, again, offer turned down. Last sekali I purposely pilih untuk belajar Mathematics di UTM and here I am, ending up as a future lecturer in Applied Mathematics in USM, insyaAllah.

My all time favourite ambition; kindergarten teacher

p/s: Lepas dah siap PhD ni, I berangan nak belajar part time ambik diploma atau sijil dalam Early Childhood Education or at least apa apa diploma yang berkaitan dengan Education. Ohh, lupa nak cakap, cita-citaku untuk jadi cikgu tadika takkan padam sampai bila bila even kalau ditakdirkan berpangkat Profesor sekalipun. One day. My wish. Praying hard.