What’s the biggest chance you ever took? Did it work out? Do tell!

It was 7 years ago, I was still in seventh grade at junior high school. I got my first semester school report with my mother accompanying me, it was good enough so at least I could relax about passing the grade. Being a not so smart student at elementary and having a difficulty in math, I didn’t expect much to change in junior high. My mother, like any mother I knew that time, expect me to succeed at every major in school without failing. After having my report card and my parents talking with my classroom teacher, they told me that the psychologist want to meet me, dang….., now that’s trouble.

After waiting in front of the psychologist room (which felt more like being conjured to the principle office), I found that I’m not the only one, in fact, there’s 11 other friends waiting with me. We entered the room one by one, with the rest of us waiting outside and didn’t know what’s happening. Then my turn came, I entered the room slowly, and saw an old (I guess she was 50 that time) lady sitting behind a grey solid desk with piles of archives. She interviewed me regarding my educational background, learning motivation, and we reviewed my report card. After “hours of interview”, or it seem so to me, she asked me whether I’m interested taking an acceleration class for two years in junior high rather than the normal three years. I remember I was saying, “I’d like to try it” and she responded rather harshly (quoting Master Yoda), “do or don’t, there is no try”.

Having some conversation in home, my parents leave it up to me to choose and I did jumped on the chance thinking what’s the worst could happen. The next semester I studied with friends I met while waiting outside the psychologist room before, the class named “acceleration 6”, which means we are the sixth generation of such class to exist (and later, I found out we are the last generation, because the government educational institution think it is not so wise to speed up children learning rate). The class contained 12 person including me and “supervised” by the psychologist herself.

A year gone by, and I do have fun with my peers but it’s getting harder trying to keep my head above the water. My weakness in mathematic worsen, although I exceled in physics, strange huh? Maybe I’m just not interested with random counting without application of it. My mother summoned to meet the psychologist to talk about my grade. I remembered being frustrated and feared of being dropped out (3 months before, one of my friend dropped out because of his grade, so the class contained only 11 people now), and I promised to do anything I could to avoid getting kicked.

There’s shame, guilt (of not learning harder), and most of all, fear of failure. The last has the most profound effect to me, I thought that by failing in learning it would lead to failing for everything else. But my parents and the psychologist helped me through the adversity, I was tutored by one of the best physic teacher in the area until I graduated and the result is outstanding. My grades started to improve, until finally in the national exam, I’m able to take the fourth rank above 120 something other students. In my class alone, i’m in the third rank out of 11 people. Not bad for a kid that almost failed, or that’s how I thought until now.

It may not be easy to me, or to my family, but the result is worth the price paid. I save a year faster in school, my parents saves 6 months tuition fee (due to my more expensive tuition fee in acceleration class and the private tutor), and the most important to me is knowing that I’m not a failure. My self esteem increased, having accomplished something I almost lose hope for.

And there’s a domino effect to that, I continue to excel in high school, now in medical school with GPA >3.3, and i understand the importance of learning in every way I can. The next time life throw us a challenge, think of the probable outcome and say, “what’s the worst could happen?” Then do our best and hope for the best, let God leads the way.

dp: take a chance on me