Two roads diverged in a wood

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference"

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Can you pinpoint a moment where the whole course of your life changed?

I can.

It was the night when I was filling the UPU form. The one where you had to fill after you have received your SPM result; where you basically have to list down 8 preferences of what and where you want to further your studies.

I stayed up late by myself thinking about my 8 choices. I was seriously clueless about what I wanted to do with my life. Some people knew that they just had to be doctors, or engineers, or accountants. Me? I didn't know what my life's calling is. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was open to every possibilities ... except perhaps medicine. I'm too lazy to be a medicine student. :p

So, I considered everything that might suit me. Among the courses shortlisted were: Accounting, Chemical Engineering, English Literature (ada ke?? I'm not sure ... can't remember), Actuarial Science (haha!) and of course: TESL.

There are other options too of course but I just can't seem to remember.

Anyway, ranking them from 1-8 came after shortlisting them. It's the most crucial part of the whole process.

After hours of thinking about it, I chose TESL as my first choice. I thought of all the teachers that I've had. Some were terrific, some were less so. But on the whole, all of them have made such a positive impact in my life and I thought: "That must be a very challenging and fulfilling job".

On hindsight, I might have been too idealistic ...

That was three years ago. Now, I'm in my 2nd year of university doing Bachelor of Education (TESOL) at Macquarie University. And I have no regrets whatsoever.

I thank Allah for granting this path of life for me.