Aargh. Update on the university issue.
So, uh, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.
Randomly: I seem to have become nocturnal. I stay up until it's almost sunrise, which is about 6.30 to 7AM, then I go to bed and sleep til 2pm. No, my bed isn't a coffin, why do you ask?
I spent the last month in Egypt and Dubai and had an absolutely AMAZING time. I have loved Egypt since I was about 4 or 5 and I actually got to see and touch the pyramids of Giza and Saqqara and enter the temples of Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Karnak and Luxor and the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and sail on the Nile. *__*
I promise I'll put up my travel journal and photos... soon. Right now, though, I am worrying about the future.
I did my A Levels earlier this year and am waiting for my results, which will be out in March. I need these results to get into university. And I really, really want to do Egyptology. Obviously I can't do this in Singapore; the damn National University of Singapore (NUS) doesn't even offer Ancient History, for Someone's sake. Archaeological discoveries are covered up again here. Anyway, ever since I was a child I wanted to study archaeology in England. For quite a while, I thought I'd be doing Egyptology at the University of Liverpool. I liked the modules offered, they have the largest Egyptology department in the UK, a cool in-house museum, etcetera etcetera. It was also 10 500 pounds per year, though there was a Regional Award for international students - as long as you met the criteria to get in, you got 1000 pounds.
So yes, long story short, it would be too expensive. So Dad said no. He wants me to be stuck in a boring Arts degree here - English Lit or Journalism or something.
I really, really want to do this, so I talked with my sister, and for a while our plan was for me to go ahead and apply anyway and then apply for a student loan. Except... well, your job opportunities are restricted, and for one to actually be an Egyptologist you'd need a PhD. A BA (Hons) isn't going to cut it. So we thought about my doing my undergrad here in Singapore, getting my BA, and then going overseas to get a Master's in Egyptology. Liverpool requires that you have obtained a degree in something relevant. So we (my brother, sister and I) were discussing this and alternative routes last night until it was this morning.
Talking things out with sunflower_mynah resulted in my pondering a double major in ELit and History, which I wasn't that happy about because I bloody hated the Modern History that I had had to do in junior college, and while I love books, doing ELit in uni wasn't something that particularly called to me. But it might at least qualify as 'relevant' because of the history and lit tagline, even though modern history has as much relevance to Ancient Egypt as Fareed Zakaria (no offence meant to him, I like his Newsweek articles) has to whoever wrote Beowulf. Broadly speaking they're both the printed word, but content-wise...
Also, I was pretty damn touched when my brother said he'd actually be willing to pay for my living expenses in Liverpool, so we'd just have to worry about tuition fees and books and things.
So at about 5AM my brother went to look more things up on the computer in his room and my sister and I went to bed. Some time later my brother came to get me (I couldn't sleep anyway) and I went to his room and we discussed my doing European Studies here at NUS first, getting a BA (Hons) in that, and using that to go for my MA in Egyptology later. It would also broaden my options because the course would include learning French and/or German, which means that for postgraduate studies I needn't be restricted to the UK. (German universities would cost me less than a tenth of UK fees, but I would need to know German) Plus a knowledge of either French or German or both is needed for Egyptology, as half of the journals are in one of those two languages. And proficiency in those languages also broadens career options, apparently.
I can't say that I think I'll enjoy it, because while I like languages, there'll be other modules involving politics and financial things and so on, but the fact is I would actually rather do this than History. I love ancient history, not modern history - that just makes me want to smack a lot of people. And it's going to delay my dream by a few years. Still, if it all works out, it'll be worth it.
So... The Plan has undergone quite a few changes, but for now it seems to be: do a BA in European Studies here for now, and then try for my MA in Egyptology. Mmf. It's going to take a while, but Egypt, here I come.
Oh, and one more thing: Screw you, Singapore 'education' system. There are more important things than money and Maths and the Sciences.