I always wanted to enter management, perhaps in the management of an already established company, MNC, etc. My Prefect experience has given me lots of fun, I really think that management is my thing, my strength.

But over the past few months I have been drawn to the prospect of starting my own company in an undetermined field. Maybe it is a dream from God or maybe it’s just my desire, but I really feel very strongly about this. Every time I pick up a book about great businesses like HP, Dell, Starbucks, Apple, etc., I would feel so excited and enthusiastic and try to pick up a management strategy or two to be applied in the future. Sometimes, I already find myself thinking about what name I should give my company. (Lin Inc. or something, what a joke!)

Thus, my goal for a university education now is just to explore avenues for a new business venture instead of for a job in itself.

Pros:
1) Money was never in the equation, but if the company takes off, I could stand to earn more than a conventional fixed pay job. But I am never into this for the money. No passion, no progress. People who start companies for the money are bound to fail.
2) I love management and interacting with people, and managing a company would be a great excitement for me. I would be so fired up about the company in the way that I was so “on” about the Prefects’ Board last time.
3) It’s fun?
4) Whoops, how come I am so short of pros?

Cons:
1) You fail, you can’t even feed yourself. And failure is commonplace in such ventures.
2) It’s a cruel competition out there.
3) At the start, I would not be earning much even as everyone else gets a good fixed pay check to support themselves.
4) A LOT of hard work and slogging to get the company off the ground. Even more to ensure that it survives beyond my lifetime.
5) Even in Singapore, and Malaysia, entrepreneurship and ventures in innovation have not been known to flourish and thrive given the risk-averse society and environment. (but I do want to come back to either one of these two countries to set up a business)
6) There are too many reasons to fail.

My goal: To establish a company which would survive beyond my lifetime, to grow a multi-billion dollar company and be one of the greatest companies on the planet. (I am rather sick of the fact that many of the known and large companies have their origins in the United States)

What an audacious dream.

Latest rankings in the Times Higher Education Supplement:

click here

I think that I have had enough of rankings already. University of Hong Kong and University of Tokyo is better than Stanford? ANU is better than Stanford? Oh come on… gimme a break. Rankings and their methodologies are really inconsistent and unreliable. Another one: MIT dropped to 10th placing, and Imperial better than MIT? This is absurd. And it sounds absurd too.

Stanford held 6th position in 2006 and 5th in 2005. And now in 2007, 19th???!!!! The volatility of such rankings scares me to no end.

My confidence and faith in such rankings have diminished over time. I now have to go beyond the numbers and see which university is best for me without the influence of very tempting rankings. I suggest that students look beyond the rankings; please do not select a University based on rankings alone.

Halfway through A levels and just finished my H3 Math paper today. Rather tough. Quite disappointed with myself for not being able to complete all questions as I was just stumped by some of them. Anyway.

It has been so many months here in Singapore. Now I’m facing much problems with funding if I were to go to the US to continue my studies. No grant or scholarship, no need to go, said my mum. If getting admission into the top Us was hard enough, there’s another barrier called funding woes. And I’m the type who wouldn’t want to be bonded to any scholarship. So maybe that’s why I am facing a money problem. Praying hard and hoping that God will answer my prayer and open a door for funding.

Applied to Stanford two weeks ago. Should know the result by mid-December. Didn’t apply for financial aid since Stanford would most likely reject me if I did apply for financial aid (it’s not need-blind to internationals). And it is my dream school, have been looking at it for many many months. As I want to be an entrepreneur, I thought that the Stanford culture and education really nurtures one to think out of the box– something really good for entrepreneurs. But it is going to cost me (or my parents) USD 55000 per year. That is REALLY A LOT OF MONEY.

Looks like NUS here in Singapore is very probable indeed.

Hope that God will show me the best way for me and open a door to wherever it is that He wants me to go. Amen.