Degree collection

Personal time off from work. I love midweek days off, there's a sense of freedom and individualism, almost akin to being awake late in the evening knowing that you are not apart of the majority. My day starts with morning yoga, followed by one last visit to the HKUST campus to fetch my degree.

I hand them my HKID, they hand back an envelope with my degree and my transcript. There's no handshake, no congratulations, no break in stride in administrative workflow. So comes an end to my post graduate adventure. I spent the last final moments strolling around campus before making my way back to Hong Kong Island to address the other thing that I started in August 2017, my heart.

 

The first day of school

What started as a mild curiosity, married with the severe guilt of a hangover has now developed into enrolment and my first day as a part-time student. Here are the list of questions that I had prior to today's class:

1. How long is the commute from work to school?
2. How long is the commute from school to home?
3. Will I cope with being back at school, especially after such a long time?
4. How many attractive females will there be in my programme?
5. Will I last more than a semester?
6. Will that reoccurring dream about not being prepared for exam resurface?

It was the second time I had visited campus; the first was orientation. I must say, I'm pretty excited to be able to experience higher education overseas. The campus isn't huge, a fraction of the size of Sydney University, however it still manages to be pretty confusing, I'm standing in front of a large map trying to find my classroom. I arrive early to familiarise myself with the the lay of the land and to scope out the gym and eateries on campus. The gym, free for all students, smells like a college gym, I'm instantly taken back to HK Ward in first year university. A lot of the eateries are closed for refurbishment, but there's some cool spots, a resident Ebeneezers, a couple of sandwich bars and your typical school cafe; I'll have to explore more.

Butterflies in the stomach, as I look for the classroom. It's a milder version of undergraduate. Again, I don't know anybody. Again, I'm lost. Not again, I feel like the oldest person on campus.  Eventually find the classroom and it's rammed. Students are sitting on the floor. Not what I was expecting. 7:30 pm, class starts - I brace myself for a long evening worth of new material after a long day in the office.

10:20 pm, class finishes.

1. From work to school, door-to-door, by public transport, it takes approximately 40 mins, that includes MTR, with one line switch and a minibus.
2. From school to home, door-to-door, by public transport, it takes approximately 60 mins, that includes the same minibus, the MTR, with one line switch.
3. That was super dense, but also oddly interesting, my brain hasn't warmed to the idea of learning. Yet.
4. Zero. This was expected from a joint Engineering and Science programme.
5. TBC
6. TBC

I get home just before midnight. I'm exhausted. Day 1. Complete.

July - Junk

The annual Fourth of July, Independence day junk. Takes us out to Clearwater bay for a day out in the sun, swimming, corousing, listening to Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and eating hamburgers.