The road I never travel.....

 

The road to collage had been rough for Yun. She had been very independent and things did not go the way that I had wished. Yun had special dreams during her final few years in high school. I had been giving support but sometimes what she asked had been way out of my expectation.

Those extraordinary thought like taking up a tuition course in Mainland while aiming for top design school in US, or studying in a night school for undergraduate Japanese language course at the northern tip of the island while preparing for university entry examination were presented to Ving and Me during the last few months of her high school days.

We did not approve her idea and finally I successfully persuaded her to take up the course she was offered – a multimedia design course at an university near our area.

The university was 20km and it was quite late when Yun decided to take the course. We had a short duration to prepare her for the course. She was not eligible for the hostel (home residence too close to the school) and luckily there was this private dorm with single occupancy nearby the school. Price was acceptable and it was 300m from the university. The room came with a small balcony but unfortunately located on 4^th floor and did not come with a lift. Well, nothing much to shout as Yun was till aiming for another course and I had told her that she might need a suitable environment to prepare herself. She had adapted well as she was good at this multimedia topic; she had performed well and won top prize in the school design competition. However she wanted something else.

During the last few months of her high school days, she had taken an active part in the organization of the graduation prom for the whole county. Their working group had presented a ticketing app and light shinning app which could coordinate mobile phone torch light in the prom.

Both app was developed with app inventor; very basic tools but it was a success. The ticketing app was initially tendered to a vendor and after the company failed to deliver, Yun had thrown out a usable app and presented to the county administration and the tender was awarded to her.

She had gotten report over newspaper and letter of thanks from the county administration for her contribution.

Unfortunately these stuffs came after the application phase of university.

She had prepared her port folio with this result and started application at the end of 1st semester through the talent selection program. Talent selection program was initiated few years ago by the ministry of education for talented students who do not have outstanding academic result to apply for undergraduate course in university. Seat was very limited and only less than a handful of seat was available each year.

Some of them needed interview. My brother had a chat with Yun when we met during CNY this year and told me that if interview is needed, Yun would definitely be selected as she had great presentation skill.

Indeed, my brother was right; Yun made it to list and there was the only university who asked for interview.

I still remembered that day she went for the interview. We took the high speed rail as  2 interviews (different faculty) was scheduled on the same day. The university was located beside the famous FJ night market in central part of the island.

We headed to the high speed rail station early that morning. Yun was prepared and she had put on a former suit with black blouse and white shirt that she seldom worn. She was nervous as I could tell from her eyes. We arrived at the station on time and took a cab to the school. I wished her good luck before the interview building and gone to the park nearby for a rest. I did not want to be one of those parents who nervously sent their kids to the doorstep of the interview room. It was her fight and not mine and I would need to show her that I backed her up all the way and not fight the war for her instead.

After waiting in the cold wind around the park nearby for 2 hours, Yun finally came out and she told me everything went smooth and the interviewers were satisfied with her, however they told her if she did not make the list she would be definitely chosen should she apply via the normal examination pathway.

It seemed that we had one ticket in hand and Yun was more confident during our chat during lunch. We found a good Korean restaurant nearby the school and I reassured her that she would make it. The afternoon session started at two and I had waited around the resting hall this time instead of open air. The waiting was a torment...

The interview lasted for 1+ hour and Yun told me that the professors were more interested on how she got the tender rather than her skill..

Anyway both interview gone smoothly and Yun made it to the list for both faculties. She had however opted for computer engineering after deep consideration…The hunt for hostel room,laptop, and driving license had just begun…..