Lucky guy Chapter 2

Being a student ambassador is something that I am relatively proud of. I viewed it as some sort of recognition from the faculty that I am good enough to be entrusted with the job to represent them.

Hence, come every and any open day, a number of us decked in our highlighter green shirt will enthusiastically greet you, with a great big smile pasted on our face - and proceed to sell you the faculty.

"This faculty is one of the best in the country. It is also the oldest, with 127 years of history"

"It is located right on the Parkville strip. Had you heard about the Parkville strip? It is the premier location in Australia for bio-medical research."

"It is very difficult to get into the Pharmacy. Even if you achieved an entry score of 95 and passed your UMAT, we still need to rank you and only get the top 250 students."

"Last year 99.4 percent of the graduating class managed to get a job within six months of graduating."

"You know, the drug to treat influenza was synthesized right here in this campus. We are also now working on a drug to treat malaria - with great success."

It was ironic.

Four years ago, I chose to do Pharmacy here without knowing anything about the background of the faculty at all. I came because of two main reasons: one, a lot of my friends will also be here in Melbourne; and two, Monash University is a very established and well known University.

That was it. Thinking back, it was funny how I made such a seemingly important and potential life-changing decision so easily. But then again, making decisions was never my strong suit. It still isn't.

I never knew the pharmacy campus was actually an independent entity until it merged with Monash in 1992. Or more interestingly, that the campus is so small. First day I saw Uni was kind of a shock. "What? only three buildings in the whole campus?"

It was smaller then my primary school! On a side note, it now consists of four buildings.

And more importantly, it deviated away from my concept of a University - the clock tower, circa 1900 castle-like buildings, flat lawns with lush leafy trees, and the need to run across brick steps to get from one lecture to another. In short, a place full of quaintness and rustic charm, seeped in tradition and history.

Here, we sat in the lecture theatre with the lecturers coming to us. The buildings are modern looking, square with glass-paned windows, and there were wild ferns growing rather then carpet grass.

If I knew this before hand, most probably I would chose University of Queensland instead.

Luckily, serendipity is something that I always have faith in.