My
name is Felix Putra Prasetyo, and I was a transfer student at Langara College
back then from September 2015 to April 2017.
I had the pleasure of meeting ci
Ratna and other Universal groups like Pak Suwito, for they were so professional
and highly experienced in handling my college application and preparations
prior my departure to Vancouver. And by the way, I forgot to mention, they have
free services from document translation and everything else.
I have always been
interested in languages and technology, so I thought going to Canada was the
perfect choice to study Computer Science and French. For those of you who are
thinking “what the hell is Computer Science?” it is basically the study of
computers, both hardware and software with some “scientific” approaches. That
is why we call it Computer Science. If you want to be a software developer or
engineers, computer programmers, analysts, or even want to challenge your
logical thinking and analytical thoughts in this crazy major, then Computer
Science is definitely a good suit for you. And for French, well, il n'est pas
nécessaire que je tel'explique. Knowing that UBC is ranked 36th in the world
and offers such opportunity to combine both subjects, I toiled hard to get into
UBC from Langara, which resulted in my winning of the I.K Barber Scholarship
Community. If you would like to know how I did it, let me tell you in advance:
I am neither lucky nor highly intelligent; I just strived really hard and
endured. This burning ambition was all due to UBC’s policy to adjust its
international tuition fee by increasing it to $35k a year from the previous
$28k. Rather than wasting my time by complaining and ignoring it like all other
“average” international students, I chose to study even harder and aimed for
the scholarship to alleviate my parents’ spending. Do not get me wrong, I had
my tough days as well. I had two semesters where my GPA were both below 3.0 and
was rejected by UBC in the first place. Did I give up on my dream school at
that time? Absolutely not. I studied even harder and involved in various
communities such as the IEVP Volunteer at Langara, the Burrard Toastmasters,
and worked part-time as a math tutor and assignment corrector. All these things
kept me busy, and I had no time for partying. That explains everything about my
lifestyle in Vancouver, I guess. And in May 2017, while I was traveling alone
in New York with my hard-earned money from working part-time, I got a letter
telling me that I just won a $5,000 scholarship. I used that scholarship to
appeal against UBC’s admission decision. I won the appeal. If you asked me
“what is my most memorable experience in Canada?”, it would be about these
predicaments. I failed the Langara English Test three times, had two semesters
that were below 3.0, and was rejected by UBC.
So to those of you who are
planning to come here and transfer to universities, my advice to you is be
prepared to face difficulties and do extensive research about your transfer
credits. Avoid asking Langara’s advisors and just go directly to your
university’s advisor. There are so many international students here that waste
so much money on useless classes that will never count as transfer credits to
their applied universities. And I am not of them, by the way. Just work hard,
be disciplined and committed to your goals, and have fun. Remember, you have a
lot of people counting on you, especially your families.
Do not disappoint and
forget them. See you at the top, future students!
