Time to Go to University
Like O-level classes, dragging our brother to A-level classes at school was a pain. He simply refused to attend and instead, roamed about outside with alike do-nothing friends and while he was at home, he chatted or played the guitar.
With only a few months left for A-level exams, Mom again pushed him to find the appropriate tutors and take lessons from them for his subject courses. Mom and son having found the tutors, the son did go for tutorial classes but not all tutors were that caring and friendly unlike what he wanted them to be. So he had to change tutors in the process to find the ones that met his real needs.
It was easy to do well in O-levels and A-levels now if you studied hard, attended classes at school and had the right tutors. In our time, it was so hard to find the right tutors plus Dad insisted we work hard on our own and just attend the classes in school. Now that more tools were at hand, we were ready to cater for them to our brother only if he knew how to grab them.
It looked like his A-level exams did not turn out that bad either. Good for him!! There was a convocation held on behalf of his school for the students who passed A-Levels successfully that year. And I am proud to say the cultural part of the ceremony was simply gorgeous. I felt prouder to see my brother on stage and get the school certificate which was different from the real certificate that could only be collected from British Council in the city.
I had missed this kind of ceremony for his O-levels because then I was abroad for higher studies.
Now that our brother’s A-Levels were over, it was high time for him to get admitted to university. He did pass elegantly the admission test of a reputable private university and got himself admitted there. Days went by and he was more-or-less doing well in his courses. But like before, his passion for music always took over; he had several friends in this area, and he started going for jamming sessions and even performed in small concerts held within the city.
So deep was his craving for guitar that he deliberately missed classes at the university and ultimately stopped attending classes. He was rebuked by the family and was told that playing guitar could be a passion hobby but not a good source of income. He had liked Physics and he himself chose the Electrical and Electronics Engineering program at the university. So, why not continue it?
Getting annoyed with all of us, he stopped all activities and shut himself inside his room for days on. Whether he ate or drank we couldn’t tell. Now we were more than worried. How to put him in the right direction of his life was a real concern for us. Luckily one day a friend of his came to visit and mom asked his help. My brother’s friend yelled and shouted at him from outside his room to open the door but he didn’t. His friend said he would get more friends and solve the problem.
Days went by; no friends appeared. But then a miracle happened. His friend did bring a few other friends and together they all yelled out his name and banged on the door. Still there was no response from our brother. Finally the door gave away and it opened from immense banging. They went inside, talked to him for a short while, asked him to dress and they all went outside for a heart to heart talk. Secretly Mom had asked them earlier to ask him what he wanted and whether he wanted to go abroad. Some of his other problems about going to the university were that it was too far away and the long and heavy traffic jams made him sick to death plus he did not get the lectures of most of the teachers at the university. Even if he did, they frequently left for somewhere else better and it was difficult to get the lectures of teachers who came as replacements.
But his friends only took the liberty of having fun and took no responsibility. But we were still grateful that his friends had helped him to come out of his shell. We prayed hard for him. Everything had to fall into place.