There Is Good News Here!

Greetings, everyone! How’s life? How’re your applications going? All the best to you with your applications, interviews and exams and good luck in realising your dreams

It has been quite some time since I last posted a blog entry. School has been so busy for the past few weeks and things were happening so quickly. I have had my mock exams, had my exam papers checked, had my official exam practice papers done…and many other things I can barely recall. I don’t even dare imagine how quickly February has passed, like a gust of wind.

There’s been some good news: I’ve received four conditional offers from the five universities I applied to through UCAS. This is encouraging in face of the intense preparation for my public exams, which start just 26 days from now. Adding to that, logging onto UCAS Track is probably my most exciting activity so far this year. My heart races every time I wait for the webpage to load, which is at times intolerably slowly.

Despite nervous anticipation over the fifth response, I’m overjoyed just looking at the offers I’ve received. It’s amazing: only two months ago I was still worrying all day and night about whether my university applications would go well. And now, I’ve already received four offers. Four offers it is. It may be a cliché, but words can hardly describe how delighted I feel.

There was also good news for everyone in Hong Kong who has questions about education in the UK.

Just last Saturday, 25 February, I visited the Education UK Exhibition at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. I gained a great deal of insight into UK universities, which kind of compensated for the disturbing fact that I can’t visit the universities in person as a student outside the UK. The exhibition spanned two days and attracted thousands of Hong Kong students.

Wandering form stall to stall, I actually had some trouble looking for the locations of the stalls I intended to visit. And it took me quite some time before I could seek all the answers for my very long list of questions, from questions as simple as admissions requirements to questions as abstract as details of life on campus.

Honestly, I was rather nervous when I entered the doors of exhibition hall. I had so many questions and doubts which perhaps no one could help with after all. To my relief, everyone was extremely helpful and enthusiastic. All the uncertainties were explained and doubts were cleared. Thinking about how colourful and fruitful university life could be, I can hardly wait till September when university starts.

As the day progressed more and more people flocked into the hall. Everybody got really, really busy and almost every stall was surrounded by groups of worried parents and students. Miss Stanton from the British Council, in particular, was especially occupied. Though I happened to pass by the British Council stall, it was flooded with so many people that I nearly could not even say “hi” to her.

Shortly after meeting Miss Stanton I had to leave for another batch of tutorial classes, which had filled up the rest of my day. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the exhibition. It has helped me a lot as well as given me great insight into tertiary education in the UK.

I highly recommend international students, not only those from Hong Kong but from all over the world, to attend exhibitions like this and learn more about tertiary education in different places. I can definitely assure you that you’ll be amply rewarded.

2012 Puts an End to You and Me

The start of 2012 is but another step towards an end. No, I am not referring to the Mayan calendar prediction. Well, perhaps this year marks the end of human civilization, but neither you nor I can be sure about this. Nonetheless, what I (hopefully) can be confident of is that 2012 brings an end to my secondary school life, and sees the start of a whole new, long-anticipated university life.

As we embrace the coming of a new year, we are yet pestered and sometimes even haunted by our old fears. As much as I crave to enter the halls of my dream university, like many others, I fear confronting the open exams which start for me in two months’ time. Especially when this is the first and only open examination I’m going to take.

Also like many others, I have an ultimate fear that I’m not going to get into university. No matter how much I’ve revised and prepared, I believe there’s a possibility that I  not perform my best in the exams, and thus the slight chance that I cannot get into any universities I long to enter. Maybe you’d say I’m just being paranoid, but I must say that this remains my biggest fear, at least at the moment. After all, I presume nothing’s certain in this capricious world, just like how unexpected last year was in global affairs.

Looking back, 2011 was one of the more eventful years in recent history. There was the Arab Spring, the death of tyrants and terrorists, the quake, tsunami and radiation leakage in Japan, the Occupy Wall Street protests which in the States that spread to the rest of the world, and a whole spectrum of undesirable events affecting communities everywhere.

At the same time, 2011 was an eventful year to me too. Apart from numerous sessions of revision and exams, I’ve had some of my most memorable moments working for the school paper and the school’s Campus TV, I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to join a fantastic work-experience programme, and most importantly, I’ve made many new friends whom I truly treasure. On top of that, I’ve become one of the six bloggers for UCAS Connect, which was yet another thrill towards the end of the year.

Looking forward, a new year also carries new hopes and dreams. My hope for the New Year is: I wish that you and I, and all of us in the same boat, are going to achieve high in the exams and eventually get into our dream universities. In the year which has just begun, we might have many worries and fears, but despite it all, we should remember to be optimistic.