Alice*, the older sister of Melissa* was brought to us when she was in her teens. Not being able to even speak simple sentences in English then, Alice was nevertheless doing okay with her studies at school. Alice had suffered severe trauma from her father. He was reported to the authorities and all the siblings were placed in different homes and three of them have been placed with us as their mother is mentally unsound and is not able to take care of them. Their oldest sister has already left us as she has made up mind to pursue her own personal plans (She was already 18 then).

Despite a difficult past, Alice is really resilient. She adjusted to the environment and pushed herself to pick up English. While her strength does not lie in her academic ability, her hard work, determination with a whole lot of resilience helped through her SPM exam. She got 4As, 3Cs and 1D. ; One wouldn’t call this ‘passing with flying colours’ but to us, she really did well.
 

After her SPM exam, she did not know what she wanted to pursue for her tertiary studies and yet, she did not want to waste time just idling around. An offer for internship at Le Meridien was given to her; she took it up along with other girls from different shelter homes. The long hours of the hospitality industry was something new to her and without a doubt, challenging. However, the pressure kept mounting on. One by one, her peers started quitting! This is where she really impressed us. She proved her maturity by standing by the commitment to finish the internship. She refused to give in to the pressure to quit and be the only one left to complete the internship. She knew her future was in her hands and to make the most out of the opportunities and not taking it for granted.

After finishing the internship, she was asked if she wanted to continue in the same industry. She said “Yes!”. Hence we started to help her with the application process. Even as she was waiting for the interview to be scheduled by various institutions on the scholarship, she went to get a part- time job.  Eventually, with much gratitude to KBU (Now known as First City University College) and Elena Cooke Foundation, she has started her diploma course in Hospitality at First City University College since May 2015. Today, she is working hard each semester, attempting to keep her CGPA in good standards.

 

She has currently finished her first year and that means she is halfway through her journey in the Diploma studies. We are proud to share her journey with all of you and we want to continually provide the best opportunity for her. She has clearly expressed her wish to complete her studies to the Degree (Hon) level. Let us all get her there!

*Not their actual names