Life in The Sixth Form (Part 1)

Early 2005, life should have been more than perfect. A decent part-time job, wonderful SPM results, a great relationship with my then girlfriend, Tennya (and others), and Melbourne to look forward to. What more could I ask for?

A lot, in fact.

When Australia couldn't become a reality, I understood the reasons why, though the fact that my parents chose to tell me at the very last minute, left much to be pondered. Were they surprised that I was accepted to the University of Melbourne, or had they already plan to let me know at the latest point of time, to narrow my alternatives to just one. One they already had in mind.

"It's best that you go to Form Six"

Now, Form Six wasn't my first, second, or third choice, heck, it wasn't even my last choice. It simply wasn't a choice at all. I wasn't going to go back to school at 18. Not with the results that I had. Not when there's so much more to choose from.

"I'd rather quit studying and work than go to Form Six"

Looking back, my parents would probably tell me that I did great in Form Six. The benefits of going to Form Six was illustrated clearly during my first semester in Taylor's. But back then, going back to school was like going to hell. The uniform. The assembly. The rules. The whole fucking system. What's more, none of my friends will be going there with me. It's not that I'm not looking forward to making new friends, which I always am, but the already bleak outlook of going to a place which I didn't want to go at all, compounded with the lack of anyone familiar there, just made it all worse.

Like everybody else, I felt like I was as free as a bird after SPM. After 11 years of school, finally, college beckoned. I was so excited about Australia, and even when that possibility disappeared, I was busy looking into colleges. SAM, A Levels, ICPU, etc. But no. My parents refused to even listen to what I had to say. They refused to follow me to the Education Fair, or even bother to look at any brochures I showed them. Its as if Form Six was what they had planned for me all along, and there is no way I can do anything about it. Financial problems? I could've gotten a full scholarship to do A Levels anywhere in the country.

I was depressed as I had ever be.