Routes.

When we were young the future was so bright The old neighborhood was so alive And every kid on the whole damn street was gonna make it big in every beat. - The Offspring “The Kids Aren’t Alright” Back in primary school and secondary school, it has never occured to me that every single one of us will grow to lead a whole new different life, each different in its own way. Some will move on to be movie stars, some will get married, some will dropout, probably become an addict. I remember once in primary school, we had a discussion on what we wanna be when we grow up. Answers given were very ambitious, ranging from movie stars, dentists, lawyers to even the president. Some went on to pursue this dream of theirs, for others, these dreams seem to slowly fade away. I just happen to be one that is so called living the “boring” life, one that goes through the generic education route that our “world class” gahmen laid out for us, going through from primary education up to tertiary education, going on to getting a degree, then start slogging one’s ass off to pay off his debts. I never liked my education, until I started doing Architecture. I guess I never was a science student. Still, despite my mundane life before, I never expect some people to become the way they are today. I have a friend that I have lost contact with since leaving primary school. She was an ambitious kid, having a serious drive in her that even the teachers feel a little turned off. I remember her wanting to a politician when she grows up. Like all primary school mates, we simply lost contact (back then people were still using pagers). I met another old friend 2 yrs ago, and last he heard she dropped out of school, got married and is now a housewife looking after a 3 yr old child. So much for her politician dreams. Ritchie was a person who also had a strong character, and very competitive in nature. We would always compete in our studies, though we remained good friends throughout. We lost contact soon after, but being in a small country, we were united again in army, being in the same platoon. He became a PHD (poly halfway dropout), trying to pick up the broken pieces. Luckily he did, and is now pursuing a course in design at La Salle. BL was someone who excelled in sch. She was always the top scorer in my secondary school and was the teacher’s pet. She is a born artist who can draw lifelike pictures of almost everything she see. Despite a little slip up in her O’ Levels, she proceeded to a Junior College to pursue tertiary education. It was from there where everything falls. She sank into depression, and committed suicide this time last year. X was a friend who was very lively. Noisy in nature, she was the clown of the class. Her results were above average, not one that amazes tutors. Now, she’s in NIE, pursuing the career of a teacher. Once a teacher’s nightmare, soon to be a student’s nightmare. These 4 friends of mine were just a few examples of how our routes changes. There are many more;  one became a celebrity, another dropout became his own boss and opened a coffee shop. In a way I guess these goes to show that to succeed in life it does not necessary mean doing well in school. I have never regretted taking the route of a designer. Sure, I could have gone the parents’ way and gone into engineering, but the huge quarrel over university course was necessary. Without that quarrel I would’ve been failing right about now. Without that quarrel I wouldn’t have been getting so hands on, building models, bookshelves and lacking sleep. Without that quarrel I wouldn’t have met these wonderful friends. Have you chosen your route?