Buh-Bye, American Degree.

howlinginside
Mar 11, 2016
2 min read

Yes it was hard to let go, but I wasn't given a choice, am I?

Before the beginning of January I signed up for what I thought was the program to my dreams - Sunway University's "American Degree Transfer Program". As its name tells us all, the student spends roughly two years in a local university here then finishing the program in America. One of its pros that made me compel to sign up for this course is that the student will be given six months to a year to stay there after graduating, allowing the student to get a major-related career. To cut things short, I held the chance to leave my country & live my simple dream life there once & for all.

And so orientation day began, I met all these cool & competitive people who came from various corners of the world. Since the SPM results wasn't out yet, I wasn't qualified to officially sign up for the program yet, thus I was enrolled into its 7-week-long preparatory program. Like any other student I was allowed to pick my subjects of interest & attend classes every weekday. In a blink of an eye, I was already used to the program's system & mixed around with a pool of friendly mates. My head sat in its comfort zone, clear of what to pursue in life. Can't express how grateful I was to be in a class I love, volunteering to answer questions.

Out of nowhere, the kid in a hoodie was clawed out from a UFO catcher, thrown into the middle of the ocean.

Next came the long talks of my parents saying that ADTP was way out of the budget, and I had to pick another course that can be done locally all the way. Mad & dispirited, I was. Not at my family for inane reasons, but at their awful timing of confession. Here's what the outside world don't happen to see: all the times I questioned my dad regarding the tuition fees, the living cost in America, the currency rate, the financial status of our home- Enough. Because the answer I got wasn't a firm yes, but a solid hope that somehow promised me that I will be living in America in three years' time. And now here I am, filling up forms to enrol into Sunway's Foundation in Arts, can't help but to look forward graduating with a local degree four years later.

Gazing back at the wonderful days mostly spent at the building's 5th floor & Lecture Theatre 7 is definitely heartbreaking, but at the same time I'm thankful for all the lovely memories my friends & lecturers painted me. Moral of the story? Simple, don't make promises you can't make.

Promises mean everything, but after they are broken, sorry means nothing.