Couple of days ago, when I got back from work, my son looked visibly distressed. So, right away I asked him what is wrong?

It turns out that he forgot to accept/defer his QTAC ( for Queensland) university round 1 admission offers. He got an OP1  and that meant he gets admission to whatever degree  he chose and in his case it was dual degree in Engineering and economics and minoring in mathematics. On the same day, he also realized that he forgot to apply to UBC and deadline has already passed. I would have liked him to apply to UBC because they have an exceptionally good Mechatronics department and he could go to Whistler for skiing/snow boarding during winter and as a Canadian, he would pretty much be guaranteed a place at UBC. So UBC was supposed to be the standby.( Yaya too applied at UBC and was offered a place)

So, here is an OP 1 student with no Uni guaranteed admission anywhere and looking at a minimum loss of two years ( if he wants to go to US/Canada)

I wanted to scream at him, but I didn’t. Only because I had  promised myself that if I ever have children and when they are already upset, I won’t do anything to make it worst. My mother used to make me feel horrible every time I went to her because I made the wrong choice/decision. She would go on and on and all I wanted from her was her support. Eventually I learned not to go to my mom with my troubles, which beat the purpose. Your parents are meant to be your rock, the ones you can lean on.

So, I made myself a cup of tea and talked to my son.

He had two options. Contact QTAC and wait for round 2 offers. Find a full time job, travel around a bit and see where life takes him. I told him, if I was in his place, I will work like crazy the next 8 months or so, save every dime and travel to Costa Rica and then on to other S.American countries and of course head to Peru and  drink ayahuasca. He looked relieved. It is not that I am deliberately trying to make my kids addicted to drugs. My son just needed to know that sometimes you make a mistake, and some times those mistakes can have life lasting consequences, but it doesn’t mean that it is the end, there are plenty of other things to do. I want my kids to have hope.

He managed to get the admission offer from the QTAC round 2 offers. He has deferred it for a year. and now the waiting game starts.