There used to be a time when junior squash players who opted to further their studies overseas were viewed with a slightly negative perception.
It is also not strange to see once promising players fall out of love with the sport after their time overseas, especially in the United States.
But for Andrew Lee, playing college squash in the US has certainly helped open a world of opportunities.
Andrew, who is back in Malaysia where he leads a regional branch of an US-based investment firm, said: "Squash has given me so much and while I'm not playing professionally, I still keep up with the sport when I can."
During his junior days, Andrew was a top competitor in his age-group, finishing second in the Under-19 category of the National Junior Championships in 2015 and was also a Malaysia Games silver medallist in 2016.
The southpaw, who was not part of the national setup, decided to grab the opportunity to head to the US to join Trinity College as part of their squash programme. And it turned out to be a decision of a lifetime.
During his four years of college squash, Andrew helped Trinity to back-to-back titles in the College Squash Association (CSA) National Team Championships in 2017 and 2018.
They were runners-up to Harvard University in 2019 and this year, as captain of Trinity, Andrew helped them finish third behind Harvard and University of Pennslyvannia.
Andrew, 24, who graduated this year, believes his time as a college squash player in the US has helped him come a long way.
"I had a realisation that I probably wasn't good enough to turn professional and I decided to head to the US after my junior days in Malaysia," he recalled.
"Initially I thought I slow down on squash and put studies as my priorities first.
"But it turns out I was wrong as the training was pretty intense since Trinity takes squash very seriously.
"And it does help that Trinity has a very big impact on squash in the US as the head coach Paul Assaiante is also the US national head coach.
"And while it was not my initial expectation, I realised after my first year that squash does help connect opportunities and I had to work really hard to keep my squash at a certain level.
"It's not easy and it's true that people do lose interest in the sport because its hard trying to balance studies and twice-a-day training sessions.
"But squash has trained me to not give up and to keep going and that's the impression I give people — that I can manage my time, be disciplined and to be able to get things done both on court and off the court."
Andrew certainly believes that junior players should grab the opportunity to go abroad and that the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia are doing a fine job in maintaining a link with players who are abroad.
It certainly rings true for men's national No 1 Ng Eain Yow currently based in Bristol, England while women's national No 2 S. Sivasangari is in the US with Cornell University.
"I think a link is absolutely essential because it is really tough to stay motivated after a while especially if you don't have clear goals," said Andrew who competed in the National Championships earlier this month.