In an ongoing feature at PantherNation, we will be checking in every few weeks with ISB alumni as they offer their advice and reactions to university life.

Name: Janja Rattanajan

ISB Class Of: 2014

College:  Chulalongkorn University & University of Queensland

Years in College: 4

What career path are you pursuing?

I’m not quite sure yet, but most likely something in the field of psychology (since that’s what I’m currently studying).

How would you describe the transition from ISB to your new college?

I would say the transition was pretty smooth. Everyone was very welcoming, so I didn’t have a hard making new friends at all. The only thing that surprised me was the amount of content for each class. The content was too overwhelming at first, but it wasn’t too bad after I got used to it.

Do you feel ISB prepared you well for your college experience (both academically and socially)?

For academic, yes. I learned to think and work faster thanks to the heavy workload at ISB. Compared to college, there were more essays and projects we had to do at ISB and we were given shorter amount of time to complete each. At college, there’s only a few big projects and they give you most of the details for each project from the start of the semester. Therefore, if you just plan your schedule out wisely, then the workload isn’t too bad because you have a lot more time to do.

In terms of social life, I had to adjust quite a bit in the beginning since I moved to a Thai university. I was pretty unfamiliar with the things my friends talked about and the slangs they used. But I didn’t feel like I had a hard time or anything, though.

What advice would you give to this year’s Seniors as they follow in your footsteps next year?

Try not have expectations because you never know what the future holds. If you have certain expectations that your years in college have to turn out like this this and this, you’ll probably be disappointed because life is never full of rainbow and sunshine. There will be difficult times. Maybe you might get into a wrong group of friends. Maybe you might hate your major. But this is not to say that everything is bad. It’s just that you can never know what to expect in a new environment. And it’s a good thing that you don’t because if you do, where’s the fun of it?

Any other thoughts to share?

Respect yourself. Love yourself. By this I mean don’t do something that you’ll regret in the next 10 years or something. If you know for a fact that something is bad for you, step away. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try new things (as I said before, stay open minded), but it means that you should look out for yourself and know your self-worth.