The five Malaysian reactions to "I want to pursue my Masters"

So here's the deal: I recently applied to pursue my Master of Arts in English Literature with hopes of starting in February.

Honestly, the thought of doing my masters never occurred to me until one day, when I was in the midst of deciphering the similarities behind F. Scott Fitzgerald's novels, (who also happens to be my spirit animal woot woot!) I had a mighty epiphany that perhaps I should just do it.

My parents were cool about it. Mom went all "finally, you have seen the light!" in a "i-dont-know-what-is-wrong-with-your-generation" type of way, while my dad went on and on about me publishing my paper in an academic journal and getting into a Ph.D program and finding a niche so that I will be a sought-after academic, bla bla bla. You know, very typical parent-like responses. Or maybe just my parents.

I've received a lot of mixed reactions from people whenever I casually mention about doing my masters. As I recalled all the different responses, I couldn't help but to note how well-meaning, varied and funny some of these responses were.

"Wahh so yeng ahh do masters. Then your work how?"
While I won't say that it's very yeng (the common phrase used by Malaysians regardless of race, which stands for 'very cool' in Cantonese) for one to do their masters, I would think that it's normal for someone who wants to specialize in a related field or to get ahead with their careers.
When I was still in college, my classmates were all ready to apply for Masters in Clinical Psychology while I was the one who was opposed to such an idea and chose the unglamorous life of being a working class millennial.

As for the topic of 'your work how?', I would say that there have been people who have pursued their masters part-time while working full-time, with the exception of people who can do their masters full-time without any means of income. I plan to do it part-time.


"Umm...English Lit is good lah, but I think you need something practical" 
True. Honestly, I also wondered if English Lit was the practical thing to do. I mean, I would have chosen Journalism or Communications or my initial plan of Art Therapy/Social Psychology, but I don't know why I just gravitated to English Lit. Like, there's this unexplained force behind this decision that is telling me that this is the course that I should do.

Okay, if I think about it practically, I would think that English Lit would come in handy if I continue my career as a writer/author but in total honestly, I'm pursuing my masters for the love of English Literature. I don't really see myself in the academic line and I still want to write for magazines or content marketing. What comes out of this would just have to be a surprise (this answer generally freaks the baby boomers, so perhaps I need a better comeback for this one).

"English Lit? That's great! I could never do English Lit!"
Actually, you can. It's just whether you see it as part of your future or if you love it. At the end of the day, it's to each it's own. But really, you CAN do English Lit if you set your mind to it. Just like coding or baking or astrophysics.


"Actually, you don't need to do your masters to be good in something. Just go and travel. Don't waste time."
This answer usually comes from the millennials but then again, they are millennials and most millennials don't know what they're talking about (like you're probably wondering the same about me). Like I said, I'm pursuing my masters for the love of literature and also because it will help me with my writing career. Just like Fitzgerald, I would love to publish a novel and hope that it could be a New York Times's bestselling novel. Hey, there are Malaysians who made it to that list and I don't see why I can't. It will come with a lot of hard work, revisions, knowing the right people, but it'll be worth it.


"That's great, Carissa. I'm happy for you. As long as it is part of God's plan"
I don't know what is in 'God's plan'. I've given up on this whole 'God's plan' thing after years of hearing this buzz phrase being preached in churches, but thanks. I will do my part and work hard. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. As long as I do whatever I can to see it through.


I'm still waiting (and hoping) to receive the offer letter. It should come by this month because the admissions department said so. I've passed the first round of the application and did the writing test that they've sent me and I really, really hope to see something in my inbox soon. I have my fingers crossed. I'm also waiting to hear back from a very very important job interview, so you can probably guess that I'm in pins and needles at this point.

In the mean time...