By Alicia Ng

I TOOK a common route after junior college: I went to university, together with most of my peers, and majored in finance.

My classmates and I enrolled with dream jobs in mind - to be bankers with five-figure bonuses, partners at accounting firms by our mid-30s, or even directors of our own consultancies, but with graduation now only months away, many of us have kissed those dreams goodbye, thanks to the dismal state of the economy.

Instead, we have resigned ourselves to anything decent that comes our way. The salary may not be as enticing but it is still a salary.

Spare a thought for those coursemates who bent over backwards priming themselves for an investment-related career - they aced their finance electives, dutifully attended every other career talk hosted by banks and financial consultancies, and were regular fixtures at networking engagements with banking representatives. But what for, now?

The Mumbai terrorist attacks have also made us think twice before embarking on work stints overseas or holidays in exotic locations.

So this is what four years of further education have come to - uncertain career prospects and a reluctance to leave the safety of Singapore.

It is no secret that the purpose of attending university was to obtain an advantage over the rest of the less-educated workforce.

But when such externalities come into play, what else is there for one to leverage on? We are given only one chance at a university education.

And given the recent spate of degree mills, the quality of a proper degree is questioned. We become yet another bunch of graduates swimming in a sea of degree-holders.

I have studied but what have I learnt?

It is at times like these that soft skills distinguish adaptable individuals from the rest.

I wish I could have picked up more EQ skills in university. It is mighty tiring having to fend off attacks from grade-frenzied vultures, and even more worrisome that such behaviour migrates to the office soon after graduation. The pecking order is formidable, and I haven't even started work yet!

Nevertheless, even in the dimmest of circumstances, the smallest of joys do matter, whether a tearful reunion with primary school best friends, the experience of surviving the roughest of accounting modules as a class, or allowing love to step in and leave just as quickly.

In hindsight, it was impossible to tell how things would turn out at the end of four years.

When I cross that stage, degree scroll in hand and a smile on my face, it will mark the end of one incredibly long ride, and the start of real education.

Alicia Ng, 24, is a final-year accountancy student at the Singapore Management University

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 12 Jan, 2009.