I Made It!

Last night, I was lying on my bed holding my favorite book 'Outliers' when suddenly I heard the sound of footsteps approaching my room. It was my son, Eric. He is now studying at year 12 and soon will go to a university for further study. Two days ago, he told me that he didn't get through NTU & NUS (Singapore), but now, it was a different story.
"Mom & Dad, I made it! I go through the University of Indonesia (UI). Do you want to see the announcement?"
"Of course! How can I resist it." I said to him. So, I jumped out of the bed and in few seconds, my husband and I were already in front of the computer letting Eric lead us to the information he was about to disclose. While listening to his explanation, I turned my head to the right side of the wall and glanced through the clock. It was only shortly after midnight. Eric is always precise with what he is doing, I said to myself. The date April 4, 2009 was the very date UI would send out the announcement to all of the students who joined the placement test on March 1, 2009.

Firstly, we read the announcement. We congratulated him and were very happy for him. Among tens of thousands year 12 students from 37 cities in Indonesia, Eric was included in the acceptance list. As parents, we are always proud of him. No matter if he fails or succeeds. For me, who never ever had a chance to study in University, the news Eric brought last night was a blessing. It is my dream that one day my children will have a better education than what I had in the past.

Secondly, Eric told us that to study Information Technology, he prefers ITB to UI. So, he still needs to wait for few days to make a decision. Since the placement test for ITB was harder than UI, we realize that his chance to go to ITB is not so good. Then through websites, Eric showed us the program difference if he studies IT at UI compared to ITB. He also shared with us the syllabus of computer studies. There are five majors in studying computer and I hope I still can remember all of them: Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Computer Software, Information Technology and Information Science and only the last two (IT and IS) are available to study in Indonesia.

Finally, since early February '09, Eric had prepared himself for the schedule below:

ROAD TO UNIVERSITY:
Feb 21 & 22 '09 : NTU Entrance Examination Test at Canisius College
Mar 1 '09 : UI Test at SMAN 44, Jl. Delima IV, Perumnas Klender, East Jakarta
Mar 12 & 13 '09 : Singapore Scholarship Entrance Test at Singapore Embassy (Temasek Hall)
Mar 13 '09 : Pick up Identity Card for ITB Test at MAN Insan Cendekia, BSD
Mar 14 & 15 '09 : ITB Test at MAN Insan Cendekia, BSD
At the same time, from March 11 till 17, Eric had block examinations at School.

Now, what can I say?
1. I appreciated the work and effort Eric had done to reach his objective.
2. Eric knows what he wants to study.
3. Eric has planned his work and worked his plan.
4. One of the values every member in my family believes is persistency always pays off.