Forget Me

Chapter Thirty-Four

The first week of school felt like a trip to the twilight zone.

Everything had changed. Not in any visible way. But their entire class went from being normal students to The Senior Candidates. They were sitting their final exams in three months and that was all the time they needed to either fix whatever they hadn't figured out yet or face the possibility of failure.

Korn knew exactly which side of that arrangement he wanted to come down on. He had decided the life he wanted and he was going to do whatever it took to make it. Mew wasn't any different. He had made it clear there was no alternative to passing. There was no need to ask him what he thought.

But long before they sat for their exams, they were going to have to make their university selections. With certain universities and faculties, they had to make applications directly. That is where the application essay came in, along with multiple forms duly filled and occasionally, references and testimonials.

With the second batch of universities, they merely needed to put in a letter of interest and hope their results were good enough to get them a placement.

[Author's Note: I am using the application process for public vs private universities that we have where I'm from. I have no clue if that's the same in other parts of the world but I think it is similar. Forgive me for anything that doesn't track from a Thai perspective.]

They had taken a break from studying to figure out what their options might be. Mew had done the most research so he was the natural point of reference for the rest of them. But after Korn had made up his mind about what he wanted to do, he'd taken the time to figure out what he needed to qualify, where he was best suited to apply and what he would get out of his choices. That is how they came to be sitting as a group making their selections.

"Why the hell don't you know what you want to study?" Game asked Nat.

"Because I already know I want to play basketball."

"Why don't you do physical education or a sports major?" Mew asked.

"You can do that?"

"I am so glad you're helping with this because I honestly wouldn't know what to fill in either," Game said as he looked over Nat's shoulder to see what he had circled on his form. Leaving his conspicuously blank.

"What about you, Chimmon?" Mew asked.

"My parents were pretty clear. If I got a scholarship, I could study whatever I wanted. But if they were paying for it, I would have to do Business Administration. Now that I have to make up my mind, I'm thinking I want to do Architecture."

"I thought you'd take art or communication," Korn said, "What with your love of drawing."

"I thought about it. I can draw no matter which course I take. But Architecture gives me more choices down the line."

"I take it you two already know what you're putting down," Game teased.

"Yeah...mechanical engineering for me, medicine for him," Korn answered.

"Wow...geek alert!" Game teased and got hit on the head for his troubles.

"What does it mean by second and third choice?" Nat asked after filling all the parts of the form that made sense to him.

"Just in case you don't get your first choice, you can improve your chances by picking a lower course or a lower university."

"What are you putting down Mew?"

"Bachelor of Science from the same university and medical technology from the technical college attached to the medical school."

"Oh...those are good choices," Nat seemed to figure it out with just that explanation because he quickly put in his alternative choices.