crosspaths

Life is very exciting at this stage

I was having dinner with junjie, my soon-to-be schmate. We talked about the near future, the things we needed to buy to prepare us for our university studies. We talked of the possibilities to hold a job during studies to cover our expenses. All were very delightful topics.

We expect alot of university studies. It has a great deal of meanings to us. It has been a while since we left school and committed to national slavery. The july enrollment is a mark for us to transform from muddy green men back into normal civilians, who have grown much older than we once were. We will finally be having our freedom and choice (the ablility to choose). We will enjoy living with our friends in the hostel. We may find romances and friendships in school.

Apart from the temporary pleasures that we may have, we have also thought of the long term implications that it will have on our lives. We will graduate 4 years later, commit into the workforce, earn a reasonable sum of income, sustain our family with this amount and continue slogging harder. That is how we see ourselves later in our lives. Of course, we heard of people saying that the economy will not support graduates like it used to be, but we still believe that with a paper, we will not go wrong. It may just mean that we got to work harder. Job security is still present.

Also, things may not turn out as we think. Maybe we will find opportunites in the outside world and become much better off. Maybe we will be worse than we thought, selling insurance to support our livelihood (some insurance agents do well, but i just hate going into sales). The exciting part is, nobody knows, we just have a chance to live securely in this way.

Junjie is someone who will likely share the same destiny as me. Graduate and find a job that is stable and reasonable. Work our life on it and retire very much later. Enjoying the fruits of our labour. It is definitely not the most exciting kind of life, but it will not go wrong.

We have friends who are already taking different paths. Some are similar to us though, they get a paper in a different discipline. I will have friends who r going to be doctors, dentists, accountants, teachers, and some other professions. They are similar to us, but in totally different fields.

Some are not pursuing studies anymore. Lionel is going in his business venture, working under his father. If he succeed, he will be a young businessman. If things do not turn out well, he is probably going back to studies. He has high chances to do well though because he has someone to guide.

Junqiang is planning to become a cook. Giving up a chance for tertiary studies and do things in which he believes. He takes the riskiest route of all.

The point is, at this very stage of life, people who were once similar are all going to be very different. We once studied hard in school fearing authorities but we are now doing different things. We will be able to witness the significance of our differences and how our lives are going to intertwine in the future. Life is going to be ever exciting because it is so unpredictable. Our future is a big questionmark. We finally are going to live a story of our very own.

I want to compose an exciting story. At the very end of my life, when i already know the story, let it be good, let it be dramatic, let it be a happily ever after. And i will leave quietly, with the whispers of the night breeze.