Taking That Turn
Of course she's like every other person, of course she's forced to make decisions in life. Sometimes, the decisions come easy. Like a smack in the face, they reek of failure, but then again, she's reminded that before she handed in that envelope at the British Council counter, she was contemplating something else.
'What should I do?'
'I think you should finish your master's degree first. Then you can think about what's going to happen in your life.'
And so he called her asking her if she received the letter to go to the interview.
'Nope. So you ought not to worry. It means less competition for you! Hell I went last year, and I'm hoping I'll get to be chosen again, but if you got the letter and I did not, I guess I need to be realistic and head on with life.'
I honestly thought he was calling her up to gloat. Hell he always does that. We all didn't like that whiney annoying voice of his. WTF his was only a borderline first class honours. Flip a little and he'd fall under the second class honours group. Plus the fact that this was a local university, and one that's not that .... recognised. Not that local universities are very recognised these days.
Face the facts. The ones having trouble getting jobs are local uni graduates. OK. Not my friends, fortunately.
But I got interviewed last year. I wrote it into my personal statement. 'I applied for this scholarship in 2002, and I was called for the interview. Unfortunately I did not get chosen to represent the country. I'm applying again this year with the earnest hope that this year, the scholarship will be mine...'
Huh. Wishful thinking.
Goodbye Oxford University. No money, no go study. Hello Oxford University Press. No study at your campus, earn money from you lor....
'Ma, I've been thinking, I'm not going to apply for the Chevening after all. I don't think I'll be able to get through my dissertation in one year's time, at the rate UM's going with the approval of the proposals. Melina said its going to be very strict.'
'Its up to you of course. You need to finish one postgraduate before you think about starting another one I guess.'
And then I remembered what the professors had said, 'Yes you need experience before you head on to PhD. Yes the experience will benefit you greatly.'
I sat in the hall beside my designer, listening to the speaker tell us about the new KBSM syllabus and the specifications of the textbooks and jotting down notes about what were needed, and I'm thinking....
What's next?
What should I do?
What happens when you're torn between climbing the corporate ladder and going up the academic ladder?
Which would you choose?
Its so cliche, and yet Robert Frost's poem just comes to mind. I deal with 1119 questions every other day, editing stems that lead on to the correct answers... helping students all over the country understand the central meaning of that famous poem.
The Road Not Taken.
Hell I don't even know that the road I'm taking is the one that's going to be less travelled by. Wait a minute, which road is it I'm taking now? Can someone give me a pointer there?
I'll just finish my master's degree first I guess.
