Throughout the 3 months since my last post, my life has taken a 360º cartwheel turn and I’ve barely been able to catch my breath.
About a week before my A Levels, I was sitting alone in C block, revising. I was more or less waiting for Mr K to kick me out and so to quell that itching expectance, I packed up and before leaving, glanced automatically at my phone.
There were several missed calls from Rafayel, my friend and 2 voice messages from him. Curious, I immediately listened to them - my school registrar, Ms Debbie wanted to see me right then. My mind went into overdrive because this was unprecedented. My heart was beating quite unsteadily as I briskly made my way to the reception office.
I entered and as soon as Ms Debbie saw me, she wordlessly gestured towards the computer screen. My eyes fell onto the heading “Request for information - Recognition after 2020” and the word “Charles” flashed through my head. Charles University being at that time the only med school that had offered me a place to study general medicine, but unfortunately would be taken off the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC)’s accredited institution list after 2020, thus shattering all my hopes of studying there.
But that time was different. When I saw the heading I knew instantly that God had answered my prayers. Before even reading the rest of the email Ms Debbie and I took one look at each other and I gave a big whoop and covered my mouth, shaking, probably even crying a little. I remember saying: “Oh my God, oh my God, is this for real? Ms Debbie please tell me this is what I think it is.”
She smiled and nodded, saying: “You’re going to Charles.”
Essentially, Professor Sedmera had gotten in contact with the right people and wrote to them, demanding an explanation as to why Malaysia will soon be taking Charles off the list. It was the most undiplomatic and amazing thing I’ve read. I could feel each word like a punch. The reply was, in stark comparison, very diplomatic. Apparently students who enrol at Charles before 2020 can register with the MMC without having to sit for a conversion exam, contrary to my initial understanding of the 2020 expiry date applicable to students graduating after 2020. It was a misunderstanding but to be fair - both Ms Debbie and I had emailed the MMC previously seeking clarification on this and the admin staff replied, “As stated on our website, any and all student graduating from Charles First Faculty will have to sit for the conversion exam in order to qualify for registration.”
See how small miscommunications as these could have such a drastic impact on a person’s life?
The best part of Professor Sedmera’s email is probably his parting line to Ms Debbie “We will of course pursue this matter.”, the matter being the accreditation. My heart warmed at the thought of the vice dean of this university taking it upon himself to give to a lone student like me the opportunity of an education at his school. I must confess - I did not expect anyone to entertain my appeal simply because I have been brought up in a society where only the rich and powerful can manipulate and bend circumstances according to their will. It doesn’t take a lot of insight into our Malaysian politics to understand that.
I am truly touched by Professor Sedmera’s sincerity in helping me, as well as fellow Malaysians achieve our dream of studying medicine at his school. It is a gesture that speaks a great deal about Czech culture, and I am well and truly floored.
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Next, my friend Hanna.
She is a brilliant and incredibly motivated person whom I admire a lot. Without giving too much away of her personal life, I would sum her entire being as "not your average dumb blond." Also because she has a jovial personality and a big heart, as well as a great sense of humour, she knows I joke a lot ;)
Anyway, I remember back in December 2017, when I was staying over at my uncle's in London, Hanna and I were talking to each other over the phone, catching up. I distinctly recall talking about how I might sit for the entrance exam to Charles this year, and she mentioned how she would also sit for the entrance exam to VŠE, The University of Economics in Prague. In my mind, I couldn’t help but think to myself - wouldn’t it be wonderful if we both ended up going to university in the same city? Literally, it sounded like a plot for a movie or something. Almost immediately I dismissed the idea because I have this tendency to harbour wishful thinkings and I have long since established this belief that if it’s meant to be, it will happen. There is no point in trying to rush God’s plans, because they have a predetermined time of action.
4 months down the road, I passed my entrance exam, and was given an offer to study medicine at Charles. Hanna sat for her entrance exam subsequently, and also passed, and was scheduled for an interview, which she also breezed through. We also found out along the way that Charles and VŠE are 15 minutes away from each other by tram, which I believe is incredible. When Hanna finally got her unconditional offer, I marvelled at the wonders of God’s doing, because both she and I have been accepted into our universities; this was real, and suddenly the world was full of possibilities.
But, the same as my previous situation with Charles, God put Hanna through one final test. Once again, at the risk of oversharing, I would just say that the administrative staff at VŠE made a huge blunder and sent a completely unrelated email to deny her progression to the next stage of application. Looking back, I can’t help but to laugh because all of us should have had the sense and clarity of mind to see right there and then that this was obviously a mistake on the admin’s part. I mean, in what alternate universe can an unconditional offer be issued only to be retracted one day after. Also, closer scrutiny would tell us that this email was not an offer retraction, because there was no correlation between this email and the previous. But, you see, even logic escaped me because I was so upset on Hanna’s behalf. I felt that the world was playing some kind of cosmic joke on us because literally the night before, we were so excited about our future university lives, and talked till midnight, abandoning our “Good Morning, Vietnam” movie and just planning everything.
The worst part was that the next day, we had our final hurdle to jump over - the C4 paper, after which we would leave for the airport to catch our respective flights back home. One cannot imagine the emotional stress she went through that day, and as her friend, my heart split into two because I had witnessed the immense work she put in over the last year to achieve her dreams. I wasn’t the only one. The entire school was enraged on her behalf. I remember one of my teachers looking at her square in the eyes before our C4 paper and saying:“We are going to write them the shittiest email imaginable” and then saying:“Pardon my language.”
I personally did not anticipate such a dramatic ending to my A Level journey with Abbey, and I don’t believe anyone was. But when tragedy strikes, we have to learn to rise above the storm and put faith in the one above. It was the same with Charles, only the timing definitely did not suck as much as VŠE’s costly blunder. I say costly because once again, I must reiterate that we often underestimate how small miscommunications can ruin a person’s life. As a future medical student, I believe that doctors cannot afford to make mistakes, especially since they deal with patients’ lives. Humans tend to make mistakes, but some mistakes are too costly to make.
After our C4 exam, I remember stepping out of the class and there my math teacher, Mr. Haffner stood, with his hands behind his back, smiling serenely at us as we approached him. It was one of those climatic moments in life I would not forget, for the relief I felt was indescribable. We had just finished our A Levels. We had done it. All of us, together.
The anti-climatic moment was probably after we were done talking to Mr. Haffner and taking pictures, when Hanna looked at her phone and exclaimed. She held up a revised email. It was a mistake on their part. I do not think that a more magical moment could have occured. No seriously, someone should make a movie out of this; What a time to be alive!
I often reflect on the journey that my friends, teachers and I have gone through together and I cannot help but to tear up. I surprise myself occasionally by the depth of emotion I feel for them, for these 2 years have brought us closer than I had expected, and more than I had hoped for in my wildest dreams. When people ask me why I had chosen to pursue A Levels abroad, instead of just completing them in Malaysia,
this is why.
An education is more than just an 18 month / 2 year course to obtain a set of sterling results to get into university. An education is not a means to an end. It is a life-changing experience that humbles us, helps us grow both intellectually and emotionally and more importantly to create beautiful, soap opera worthy friendships which would last a lifetime.
I have few regrets in this transitionary life, and this experience to study at Abbey is definitely, most definitely not one of them.
xxx
Jie Fei
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