I was placed at RKKI in 1995, when I was 5years old. Here,
I was given the life of any ordinary kid - food, accommodation and education.
Throughout the years, everything has been taken care of. In May 2007,
I enrolled in a pre-U programme in Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman,
majoring in Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Accounting. During the first year of foundation, everything went smoothly. Still living under the
care of the home, I was doing well in my studies and had managed to score a CGPA of 2.85. In May 2008,
I left the home to pursue my accounting
degree in Kampar, Perak. On my own, I took up a PTPTN loan to finance
my studies. I had managed to get by with the
first two semesters. In the third semester, my CGPA went below 2.0 and
my loan got temporarily suspended. Not wanting to give up easily,
I started traveling back and forth KL
to work during the weekends just so I could pay off the rental and
my living expenses. At first, the plan seemed easy.
I have 4 hours of train ride
to study, in between waiting times and yet have enough to live off. However, as weeks passed,
I find myself struggling to find time between studies,
traveling and work. I can still remember rushing to catch a late night train right after
my work, only to have missed the train back to Kampar and waited
up in McD's till 5am just so I could attend my 8am class in Kampar.
I was having a tough time and that, obviously wasn't a smart move, as
I find myself
feeling exhausted to even study on train rides, especially after having to stand eight hours a day and convince customers to purchase
my products.
After a while, it came to the attention of one of the home's volunteers, and he tried to help by paying for
my school fees while another helped with
my living expenses. Soon after, the home started to help
me out financially and academically. Today, I had successfully completed
my degree and have
managed to get a job in Puchong Jaya.
~Chia Shin~