We Can

I just came home and saw 2 much-coveted letters lying on my desk. I knew exactly what's inside and deep in my heart, I was relieved, totally. It's like removing a 1000lbs burden off my chest. I've no idea why, I guess it's the power of true passion and unwavering perseverance. Right now, I shall share with everyone my arduous path to getting into med sch, which in today's competitive world, is extremely tough to get into. I bet this recount will serve as a bittersweet reminder to myself how far I've travelled in pursueing my dream.

It all started off with a burning desire to read med. All along, I've always wanted to be a doctor because I want to contribute to the present healthcare state of the world and touch wounded spirits. I've lost count of the number of times I drafted my personal statement and spent numerous sleepless nights rehearsing the interview. Been through both the essay test and interviews. I was shot down mercilessly on a few counts during the interview and it hurt. As expected, NUS med rejected me.

Sadly, I was depressed for the days that followed. Loss of appetite, concentration and occasions where tears trickled involuntarily. My parents encouraged me to look up on the Australian unis and that was when I set my focus on quite a number of Australian unis.

Somewhere during Nov in 2006, I learnt from my friend that his classmate (a fellow schoolmate) is doing med in HKU. The cost is low and the environment is great. Only thing is that they speak cantonese, yes, freaking CANTONESE! So, I applied to HKU and spent many weekends mugging canto, by watching hk dramas and borrowing library books, in order to sit for the interview at HK. In Apr 2007, I travelled to HK on overseas leave on the principal purpose of attending the interview. The interview went well but competition was so intense (3 RJ girls, 2 HC guys, 5 smart Malaysians) and they only pick ONE. Naturally, I was rejected.

Back to the Australian unis, I took ISAT, sat for listening tests, sat through a number of interviews and wrote many statements for the admissions. UNSW was first to reject, followed by Melbourne. UQ was such a waste because the deadline for UMAT test was over at the time they offered me! I was on the reserve list for Monash and no news from UTAS. UA interview scheduled for next month but before that, just a few days ago, I was offered a place in UWA. It's enough to console me after going through so much.

You've no idea how deep the wound is after being turned down each time. I've to swallow my pride and move on but it doesn't stop me from thinking about it, sometimes late at night or in the middle of the day. The agony it has caused me, all the frustrations and emotions I released. I'm sure many people around me could feel it. My family and friends have high hopes for me, more so, I expect a lot from myself. Thankfully it's all over and I'm happy, finally.

On hindsight, there are many reasons why I couldn't get into so many med schools. Competition is number one but performance during the A-lvls and at the interview were critical in determining my success in securing a place in med sch. The healthcare line has become one of the more popular careers to undertake. Thus, many people are fighting over the limited number of places in med sch. This contributes to the extreme difficulty in getting in. More often than not, med sch chooses the brightest students-those with high academic thresholds; this is determined by the A-lvl grades. Last but not least, the interviews. Depending on the qns asked, sometimes it's tough to satisfy interviewers. They expect a lot from candidates who are often intimidated and thus, perform below standard. In a friendly and conducive setting, with more understanding interviewers, candidates can be more natural and perform better because they're less nervous. Interviewers basically look out for coherence in speech, sincerity, passion, drive, personal motivation, language abilities and definitely, your body language. I learnt from a course that body language comprises 45% of general impression (55% is content of speech and verbal tech). So, hone on these skills to stand a better chance to climb up the rungs of the ladder. Do your best in every component and be confident, tell yourself that you're the best!

There are pros and cons of studying in UWA. The downsides are: quite expensive but still cheaper than some better unis, 6 year course. The encouraging factors: small fac size with 25 intl students so very exclusive, beautiful milieu, hostel is 5 min walk from sch, 10 min from city, 15 min from beach, Nobel laureate lecturers, new research and clinical building, nearer to Sg thus cheaper airfare, peaceful and crime-free city, many other things for me to explore!

I've come to the end of this post. This is not to boast about the offer to med sch but more as a reminder that no matter how precipitous and treacherous the road may be, as long as your heart tells you to pursue your dream, go all out and tell yourself that you can. Not only you can, but everyone on this world who lives on dreams CAN.