I am going abroad for my master's!🥳 You wouldn't believe where! 😱

On a cold Tuesday afternoon, in the rigid, yet accepting tall black chair; the one that pays for my food and makes me cut my hair; a message came that would soon remove so much fear and allow me once again to gasp for air; to release a breath I didn't even know I was holding, to see a dream of mine, right there unfolding, into a beautiful truth that my God all along, was molding. It was there I received the news, it was finally true, Tsinghua Daxue, see you soon.

Wow, yes, I know, the Lord is good and His mercies endureth forever--> I am happy too. I can write all day about how I felt in this most emotional, damn-bursting moment, but instead I will tell the story, of how a guy from this little island in the sun, got accepted into the #1 ranked University in China. Let's Begin

It all started in 2018 when I got into the University of the West Indies Cavehill Campus to do a Bachelor's in Computer Science and Management. During the first semester, I heard of an opportunity to transfer to a Software Engineering program specializing in Mobile App Development that comprised of 2 years in Barbados and 2 years in China. Sign me up.

Moving steadily along, I and 5 others were accepted into this scholarship opportunity and began learning Software Engineering. 1 year in, we began our Chinese classes and our preparation to leave Barbados; then it happened. On the 8th of January 2019, there was an outbreak of a very contagious virus called COVID-19 that all but turned China upside down.

Yet, I had hope, since we were scheduled to leave in August, that Covid would be handled by then, and my dream of travelling outside the Caribbean for the first time, would be fulfilled. Alas, on the 17th of March of 2020, COVID-19 reared it's head in Barbados and the infamous Lockdown began.

Skip forward 2 years and my classmates and I graduated with BSc. Software Engineering, most of us with 1st Class honours never setting a foot in China, but I would not give up. In October of 2022 I saw an opportunity and began preparing all I needed to apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship through Barbados. This involved answering tons of questions, taking mugshots and losing blood to a needle that I'm sure nearly came out the other side of my arm. Nevertheless, I had a goal in sight and no sword wielding doctor was going to stop me.

After I made it past the war, sometime in February I received some amazing news. The local Chinese Embassy had received my application and told me that It was time to be interviewed. I put on my suit, practiced some greetings and was on my way. Driving in to the Embassy, my plan was to answer most of the questions in English but then surprise them with some Chinese near the end to "seal the deal." Little did I know, the interviewer had seen me at local Diplomatic events speaking both Spanish and Chinese and so took it upon himself to make the interview completely Chinese 😭. There went my plan. What was going to be a breeze was now a very frigid winter wind and my warm suit now felt like a vest. Thanks be to God I survived and was allowed to answer in English for some of them even though they were asked in Chinese.

Now to tell every little beautifully intricate and amazing detail of this story would have you reading for a day and my writing for two so instead of delving any deeper, let's skip all the way to the end.

Boom! I made it! Praise God! I am finally in Beijing and looking forward to sharing this journey with you 😁🏮