Opinion | A second chance can allow Hong Kong’s protesters to contribute to society
- Many of those jailed for protesting in 2019 are young with potentially bright futures, if as a society we can show compassion and support their rehabilitation
- As for the thousands arrested who are still waiting to find out their fate, a swift decision must be made whether to bring charges against them
Among my circle of family, friends and acquaintances, many don’t know that I never went to university. After all, it’s not something a person brags about, and they do know that I have a genuine degree from a prestigious UK university. The explanation for this seeming contradiction is simple: life gave me a second chance.
After six years of secondary school, I passed in three A-level subjects, but the grades in two of them were not good enough to win a university place. So I stayed behind for another year, studied the same two subjects again, repeated the exams, and got exactly the same result. Not a single university was prepared to offer me a place. I was devastated. A whole year wasted, and my hopes for the future in ruins.
When, despite repeated nagging, I declined to complete them (too afraid I would be rejected again), she deployed the nuclear option: no dinner until at least one of the application forms had been filled in. Outgunned, I complied. That is how I ended up in a small college in Bristol where I studied for, and obtained, a degree in economics from London University.
Armed with this qualification, I have since enjoyed a varied and rewarding career which has included part-time lecturing to tertiary students, some on master’s degree courses. The first time I entered a university campus, it was in the capacity of honorary professor.
There were two key features of this reversal of fortune: the system provided an alternative route to success if the first failed, allowing a good degree to be studied for externally; my family provided the support necessary to overcome fear of repeat failure. These two factors combined to give me a second chance.