Lucky Guy 13 Final

“Boon Phiaw Kho”

I doffed my square hat, walked into the glaring lights, collected my scroll, said a few thank yous, shook a couple of hands, and dissolved back into the dark anonymity.

It was often argued that the journey is more important than the destination.

I entered Uni with the well set destination being to graduate with a First Class Honours pharmacy degree.

Luckily I didn’t just focus on the final destination. Because all I have to saviour the success of reaching my destination was a paltry 30 seconds. Yes, that’s the time for me to walk across the dais, collecting my scroll in the process. It barely reflects the four years of hard work and dedication I put in.

In the end, it was the journey which I cherished most. It was in the journey where soft skills were learnt to complement hard facts. It was in the journey that acquaintances were made and friendships built. There are so many good friends that there is no fair way to anoint one as the best. Suffice to say, they all left footprints in my heart. It was also an eye-opening journey to all things unimaginable and previously unconceivable. It made me appreciate how diverse the world really is and how limited my knowledge were.

Something that I had never disclosed before is that I also entered Uni with three dreams. The first one was academic, ie graduate with First Class Honours. The second one was co-curricular. I wanted a life besides studying and also to make a difference to the life of other students, especially international students. I felt that after all the associations and activities I joined, I did achieve that. Being given the Community Achievement Award was icing on the cake. It was actually a nice feeling to have what I had done being recognised.

The third dream, I was ashamed to say, was to be popular. I know, it was a vain little dream, a castle in the air furnished by too many teenage dramas and movies, and a personal story by a friend. He said it offhanded it ages ago, but it somehow etched itself to my memory. During his birthday one year, the whole library full of students broke into a spontaneous rendition of Happy Birthday. Gee, I thought, it must felt good to be popular.

I don’t think I managed to fulfil that dream of mine. The nearest I got was being stopped by five or six people in the library asking about assignments and how-do-you-dos. Did I try hard enough? I have no idea. It is sometimes hard to judge oneself. There were times I felt lonely in the Uni, lost in the sea of people. There were also times where I felt so lucky to have people around me, joking, having fun. However,  I was not too disappointed for not fulfilling it, as it was more of a bonus dream. Besides, there were enough things to make me feel grateful.

Yes, I had graduated, putting a full stop to my memorable journey in Parkville Campus, Monash University. Nevertheless, it was not a full stop to continue learning. It is just a milestone, with the time off now being a pause to reflect and recollect before embarking on a greater journey.

As a final note, thanks for indulging the narcissistic devil in me by reading these posts since I put the first one up more than half a year ago. I know I used a lot of Is and mes, Nevertheless, I hoped you are entertained.