Being a Kiasu Singaporean, everyone finds it weird that I didn’t join a CCA in school and repeatedly asks me why. To save my effort, I decided to do a blogpost to jot down all my answers.
No Time
You kidding me? With all the projects, assignments and tests taking up my time, you are still expecting me to join a CCA? The job of a student is to study and do well academically. Otherwise why do you think ‘student’ and ‘study’ start with the same 3 alphabets ? duh… Why bother being the king of dancing and queen of organizing event when I can’t even be the jack of studying well ? My parents put me through school using their hard-earned money and I won’t fail them. Not everyone gets to study in a world-class university like I do and I have to cherish this opportunity.
No Interest
Aiyoh, really no interest in anything. At the start of the school term, I walked up and down the entire length of CCA fair at least 5 times but just couldn’t spot anything that I like. I did put down my name in a couple of booths after they sweet-talked me into doing it. Later, they called me to go for their event but the sound of it really bores me , I’ve got better things to do and I don’t feel like going down. This cycle interestingly repeated itself for year 1, 2 and 3 of my university life.
No Money
Joining a CCA consumes money ? Oh yes. Opportunity cost is involved. Time equals money. You could have spent the time tutoring and making money. My friends who started working after their polytechnic days are already paying their own bills and eating at atas places. Whats more, tuition fees in university isn’t cheap, I don’t want to be having a net worth of ‘negative tens of thousands of dollars’ immediately upon graduation. Got to start paying off the loan man.
Life is not a Race
Even before joining the corporate race, we are starting our own mini race here in university. Not the typical salary and job title comparison that adults make but we compete to see who has the most CCA points and fanciful CCA title. Nah, I am not suited for comparing with people. I prefer to run my own race and be happy with where I am and doing the things I like doing.
Being a Master
Nowadays, there’s so much talk about holistic development and being an all-rounder, forming the backbone of the argument behind joining a CCA. Sorry, but I don’t think you can develop into a useful person in society just by joining a CCA. I rather become a master of something than a jack of all trades. I mean, look at the successful people in history, they are all specialists. Beethoven specializes in playing music , Albert Einstein is a master in conceiving physics theories and Warren Buffet is an expert in investment. They are not scattering their effort across different things like dancing, playing basketball or organizing events. They focus on the most important thing. I wonder if they would have the same level of achievement they did if they were born in our society and forced to join a CCA. I am taking a leaf out of the masters’ books and focusing on things that really matter.
I stay at Home
I start to receive hate mails from you all, I know many people have to join a CCA so that they could stay in hall(the weird university system). My sympathies to you, but my home is near the campus, hahaha!
Not a Sheep
Just because everyone joins a CCA and everyone says that you have to join a CCA, it doesn’t mean I have to follow suit. By this age, we should learn to think for ourselves and make our own decisions based on our analysis. I am the captain of my own ship and the master of my own destiny. For those who have a rich CCA life, good for them. I am happy with the way I am leading my life.
Enough Friends
Sure, joining a club allows me to make more friends, but I have enough friends. Besides, when it comes to friendship, I believe in quality over quantity. You only need a few close friends who will always be there for you, not a thousand Facebook friends who don’t even know your birthdate once you hide it in the display settings. Anyway, there’s a ton of networking events inNTU for us to know more acquaintances as well.
Old Man
After finishing army, I feel so old. I don’t fit into the activities of these youngsters anymore. Too much fun and I may break my bone. Health is more important.
Higher chance at getting a Job
Everyone says that you have to join a CCA or else a huge portion of your resume will be empty and it will reflect badly on you. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see my fellow undergraduates scaling the CCA exco ladder( not so different from corporate ladder ) to reach the top. I once had a friend ask me if there is any CCA he could join and become president immediately without doing work ? Come on, the employers are not dumb. Even if you are the supreme commander of your CCA, they will not hire you if you come across as shallow in your interaction with them. Say if you manage to get the job by luck(man, you really lucky), your real ability will still reveal itself and you will be busted in no time. I never like the idea of joining a CCA for the sake of resume building, you have to genuinely like something to be involved in it. Otherwise you become a robot.
As for me, in this day and age where everyone has a CCA in school, I stand out among the crowd by not having one :p Well, at least, when the employers ask me why I do not have one, I can impress them with my 10 answers you see here.
For those of you who feel like quitting your CCA after reading this post, think about this before quitting: Life is short, don’t follow the footsteps of other, do what you really want to do. If what you do resonates with your deepest core, then do it. Otherwise, you can quit now.