Charline

"Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses." - Alphonse Karr

I still remember clearly how my last day of high school ended. The thought of graduating definitely terrified me. Coming to university and starting a new life could have been better than it sounds. One step further, I will finally enter adulthood. But I keep wondering, how does it feel like?

Coming from a small city in -Indonesia, I was still determining if I could make it to the vast competition outside my hometown. In my life thus far, I felt like I could have always made better decisions. I specialized in Science during high school but was interested in art. Starting from drawing to fashion and graphic design, I was so sure I would be jumping into art. However, I finally ended up with engineering as my major.

Why? The idea of studying art at university conflicted with me. I have always enjoyed creating artwork; however, visualizing it as my full-time career has never ignited a spark.

I learned about HKUST by chance when I ran into my cousin. I was first hesitant to enter the fierce competition at university. Nevertheless, I gave it a shot. I'm majoring in computer science, and it has been a journey full of thorns. It was a brave decision to study algorithms, data structures, artificial intelligence and big data for me, who has zero programming background.

Moreover, my dream of being a software engineer will not succeed without jumping into projects and exploring new stuff. HKUST provides broad opportunities for a dreamer like me. It offers many options to work on practical projects, such as internships and student organizations, to advance my career and accomplish my objective. Thus, despite always debugging, constantly doubting myself, and having tireless nights, the abundance of opportunities and fascinating discussions with diverse people push me always to look forward.

Sometimes life can be full of thorns, but if we take a step back and look ahead, beneath the thorns lie beautiful roses.