Weekend Engagement - Flying Halfway Across The World

I took a long while to decide on which prompt to pen my thoughts and I settled for something that was luck related.

Have you ever counted yourself as lucky?

As someone who lived and breathed Statistics from high school all the way to university, I was never quite a believer of luck. I mean, I don't deny there are "lucky" people who strike the lottery, but from my (statistical) perspective, I would see it more like "randomness" (just like we will get get different numbers if we roll a die) and things will tend to even themselves out over the long run.

Hence I rarely ponder if I am a lucky person, but I count my blessings and try to find positives in life regardless of the circumstances. Sometimes it can be a matter of perspective. For example, take 2020 for example, one can view it negatively and feel that it was an unlucky year because Covid wrecked their travel plans or affected their incomes (e.g. pay freeze or no bonuses), but from a positive len, one could also feel lucky that they get to spend more time with their family due to the telecommuting policies and be grateful that they still had a job in this tough time.

Write about a time or event in your life in which you felt luck or happenstance played a part in bringing an advantageous result. What was the situation and result and why do you see luck as instrumental in it?

With the serious part out of the way, now's the fun part! I had a list of events in mind that fit this description, but the final one which I shortlisted was my 7 week trip to Mexico! I chose this because I had to overcome many challenges to make it possible (and luck definitely played a role).

• Getting through the interview
  This was a summer exchange programme offered by the university and applications would always be oversubscribed due to overwhelming interest. In order to filter the applicants, they would conduct group interviews. Being a first year student, I was not on the priority list because I still had opportunities to apply again in the subsequent years, but I think what impressed the panel and got me the ticket was that I shared with them I took the initiative to pick up Spanish to prepare for this trip (which was the language spoken in Mexico). They tested me some words, e.g. one to ten, probably to make sure I wasn't lying, and I was able to recite accordingly. I would think it's partly luck, and partly myself putting in effort in this instance.

• Almost had to give up my place
  Just when I was selected to be the lucky few to go on this programme, I received news that I had an important event to attend to (which I prefer not to disclose the specifics) during the same period. I had to undergo a considerable amount of paperwork to obtain the necessary exemptions and at one point, I remembered the staff in university told me that if I couldn't confirm my availability within the deadline, they would have to give up my place to another undergraduate in the waiting list. Fortunately, I tried everything possible and was able to meet the timeline at the very last minute. Thankfully, the university was understanding of my predicament too. Probably some luck in here as well.

• H1N1 flu hit Mexico
  You probably could guess which year this was. When the news first broke, the trip was suspended indefinitely, partly travel restrictions and partly the university placing the well-being of the undergraduates first. I was quite disappointed at that point because I went through so much to secure this place and deep down I knew this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Fortunately, the situation abated and the travel restrictions were lifted after a few weeks, and the programme would still carry on with just a postponement of 1 month. And just when I thought it's finally all clear...

• Parents were concerned
  My parents were still concerned because H1N1 flu wasn't over yet and to allay their fears, I did all the precautions possible (e.g. bringing N95 masks) and they were finally reassured.

And I made it to Mexico in the end and the 7 weeks of study and sightseeing were definitely a memorable experience!