Choices.

Just slightly less than a week ago, I was on my way to work when I received a text from my friend Deborah asking if I had checked the status of my Yale-NUS application. I was flummoxed at that moment because from what I knew, application decisions would only be out on the 15th of the month, not the 8th, but when I checked my email, there was one from YNC asking me to check the portal for the results.

I don't quite know what went through my mind as I logged into the portal and clicked on the results. All I remember was this horrendous thumping in my chest because I was so, so afraid of being rejected. When the page finally loaded, this is what I saw.

I am not ashamed to say that I was literally shaking when I saw it. You know in some movies, when life-changing things happen, there's always some sort of dramatic music or fireworks or something similarly ridiculous yet apt? I pretty much think that was what was happening in my head. I was so excited I couldn't type properly but I managed to send out texts and whatsapps to my family and friends. When they replied, well, I thought I was excited, but frankly, I think they were even more floored than I was. Their love and pride and tears (yes, some of them cried for me, which I find both adorable and touching) overwhelmed me and made me realise how damn lucky I am.

Then came the painful realization that this meant I had to make a very important decision.

SMU Law or Yale-NUS College?

For a lot of the people I talked to, it shouldn't even have been a question, because Yale-NUS is my dream. The only thing that spurred me on for A's besides my brother's legacy was the prospect of actually entering YNC. In my previous post, I had categorically stated that if it came down to this decision, I would accept YNC in a heartbeat. I wanted to, I really did, but I couldn't accept the offer until I had really, really thought it through. When YNC wasn't an option, it was easy to say that I would pick it, but now that it was, it became harder because it made everything so real. 

My father, being a traditional parent, wanted me to take law. It was safe, it was less risky, and as long as I kept my head in the game, I would have good career options. In contrast, YNC was a new school, a new concept in Singapore, untried and untested. I was a guinea pig, and we know not all guinea pigs have happy endings. I stressed so much about this that it almost took over the earlier happiness I had felt over being accepted in my dream school. 

Then, I realised one thing. When my friends talked to me about YNC and its opportunities, I always referred to all its activites in the collective pronoun. "Yes, we will be going to Yale in July" "We have to stay on-campus" "The curriculum we will be studying is multi-disciplinary" Without even realising it, I had already accepted the offer. I already saw myself as a student of YNC. 

So, after talking it over with my parents, I finally took the plunge and accepted the offer. I'm more than proud to say that come July, I will be joining my class of more-than-qualified peers in Yale University for our summer immersion, and I will be spending my next 4 years at the YNC campus. 

This is going to be my home away from home.

I am mad excited. :)