Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 606

I avoided his eyes and found the blue smudge of ink on the corner of his desk particularly interesting. I
realised I was fidgeting with the hem of my uniform, so I let go of it as I opened my mouth, but couldn’t
respond. My straight A’s in IT would direct me towards that path, but I wouldn’t be screaming in joy if that
was all I was supposed to do for the rest of my life. Spending hours upon hours staring at a screen and typing
in data wasn’t really my thing. My eyes wandered to the piles upon piles of brochures on his desk; perhaps
an answer was hidden somewhere there? A tacky neon coloured cover stood out. When I looked closer, I
saw it had the bolded wording of IT and More: Hone Your Skills For A Smarter Tomorrow. The first
brochure I noticed just happened to be IT related - I guess it was meant to be. The counsellor followed my
eyes and handed the brochure to me, and I felt like I had to at least flip through it.
“IT is a fairly popular choice these days, which is very understandable because of the increasing importance
of this career, which is easily as favoured as lawyers and doctors. It’s also really popular among parents
because of how financially stable it is. The most common and popular courses would be IT for finance,
public service, and trade and logistics.
“IT for finance would focus more on maximising the functions of businesses and finance through
technology. To keep it brief, there are different technological trends that these people need to look out for,
so they need to monitor the system, as well as ensure that they have a strong security for their data - this
includes very personal ones, namely, money, so they need to keep it safe. There’s also the use of
technologies and marketing. Although this area focuses more on the detailed technicalities behind different
enterprises, there is also a lot of communication and teamwork needed - so don’t think you can avoid
people by choosing this path,” the counsellor laughed.
“Of course, finance fits snugly under the Hong Kong district, as well as Foshan with their specialty in
enterprise. Most IT courses are completed in around 3 or 4 years. You have multiple options, such as
studying in Hong Kong for 2 years, and a further 1 year in Foshan, or studying all 3 years in Hong Kong or
Foshan.”
I had to concentrate to ground my thoughts and focus on what the counsellor was saying. But I couldn’t
help it - IT? Sure, it was a popular field that many people ended up studying, but I really didn’t understand
why. The GBA had more than just technology as its selling point, and imagining even just 3 years of IT
made me faint.
“The other two, public services, and trade and logistics, pretty much follow a similar pattern.”
The counsellor was holding the same brochure as me, and I peeked to see which page he was on, just to be
polite and show that I was listening.
“IT and public services require 5 years if you want to work in a particularly specialised career, such as a
Chief Information Officer, or CIO. They work to connect IT and the government, almost as a translator. In
all three courses, you receive at least 6 months of practical placement training, usually conveniently in the
city near your campus, but IT and public services require at least 12 months of training, which is why it
takes 5 years to earn a specialised degree.”
I let my eyes flit over the pages, but no words were really entering my head. I felt my eyes droop and my
mind beginning to switch off before the counsellor’s next words woke me up.
“I would continue onto the third course, but you don’t seem impressed. Is there something else on your
mind? Did you perhaps have any dreams when you were younger? Any jobs that sparked something inside
of you, that let you know that this is what you wanted to dedicate your life to? You can think for a bit, and
let me know when you remember.”
I strained my memories and tried to reach out to that faint spark I may have had, and almost sprang up in a
eureka moment as I answered a little too loudly.
“Tourism, huh? Yes, tourism is a very interesting choice,” he said. His tone was light and his eyes seemed to
glaze over as he started thinking for a bit, almost appearing to be excited. “There are two dinstinctly
different paths you can take with tourism, rural, and urban - as I mentioned earlier, had you been paying