top student at medical school

"Professor Fang, really? When? When can I come again?" The middle-aged man in bed 9 was so excited that he almost stood up from the bed, defying basic medical common sense.

Although he tried his best to hold onto the bed railings with both hands, he could only turn from lying down to sitting up, and could not stand up directly.

The morning sun shone obliquely, just piercing the white clouds in the east, and a small amount of light shone into the ward window, but it did not form a beam of light in the air!

Fang Ziye put one hand behind his back and stretched out his right hand to press down: "Brother, calm down. Not now, I mean maybe."

"It will take at least several months of preparation."

"You feel better now than before you were hospitalized! If you exercise properly, you can even do sit-ups, as long as your lower limbs are immobilized."

“Your illness really came on suddenly, like a landslide. In just a moment, you lost all your functions and sensation.”

"But restoring them one by one is harder than unraveling a cocoon; there's no clue where to begin. We can only take it one step at a time."

After Fang Ziye finished speaking, seeing that the middle-aged man was no longer abnormally agitated, he slowed down his pace of speaking: "Of course, you don't just need to thank me, you should also thank yourself for saving yourself."

"If you hadn't been willing to take the gamble, there would be no hope for us now."

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Professor Fang, do you think there aren't many people like me, who look neither human nor ghost, who would take a gamble?"

"I was lucky to meet Professor Fang. Others weren't as fortunate as me. Although they didn't lose both their money and their loved ones, they were still..."

"Professor Fang, you don't need to be so modest. I was just lucky to meet someone as skilled as you. I will definitely remember your kindness."

The man's wife pressed on, "Professor Fang, when can we come back to the hospital? Please let us know as soon as possible."

"My daughter and son-in-law have both gone to work, so I won't be able to give them the good news until this afternoon."

"That's wonderful..." She was so happy she was almost at a loss for words.

Actually, she is quite lucky. Although her husband became paralyzed at this age, he had earned a lot of money in his earlier years.

It can be said that as long as she and her daughter don't cause trouble, they don't have to worry about falling back into poverty.

Many people don't even have that kind of foundation...

"I will definitely inform your daughter as soon as possible, so please don't worry."

"Then, let's go through the discharge procedures in about a week!"

"Subsequent treatments only need to be done intermittently. The most important thing is to maintain a rhythm and perform functional exercises intermittently."

"As I said before, our treatment only restores your functional potential. To what extent your functions can be restored depends on your own training!"

"Just like fitness, a person's strength depends not only on innate physical differences, but also on the amount of effort they put in!" Fang Ziye emphasized.

The middle-aged man replied, "Professor Fang, you don't need to worry about that at all. I will definitely train in time and will not dare to be careless in the slightest."

"If you hadn't said something like 'too much of a good thing,' I'd probably just spend all day on the toilet!!!"

The words of a middle-aged person may be rough, but the principle is sound.

Compared to the suffering caused by incontinence, middle-aged people feel that taking a toilet with them when they go out would be more comfortable.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration. You still need to train. Developing the function of the specific muscles first will help with the recovery of lower limb function later!"

"Our walking still relies on the strength of our waist and abdomen."

"As for passive exercise, I don't need to explain that to you. You've already hired a rehabilitation therapist at home..."

"Let's stop here for today."

"..."

After Fang Ziye and his team arrived at the next room, before they even had a chance to check on the patient in bed 10, the family of the patient in bed 11 very warmly brought over many fruit baskets!

Fang Ziye, Lan Tianluo, and the others took several steps back: "What are you doing? This won't do. You've given away too much. We won't take a single one."

"You should still return it. If you can't return it, then take it back."

Goodness, the entire wall of the ward was covered with fruit baskets.

Although I know that the patient in bed 11 is well-off, it's still not appropriate to be so extravagant.

Bed 11 is a newly admitted patient. Fang Ziye obtained the admission certificate last Tuesday, and the patient was only moved to bed 10 yesterday. It's likely that the patient in bed 9 found out about the treatment progress and came to curry favor with Fang Ziye in advance.

"Professor Fang, it's nothing, we just wanted to express our good wishes." The wife of the patient in bed 11 looked slightly plump, and the gold bracelet on her wrist was obviously quite heavy.

Fang Ziye's face was stern: "This isn't how you express your feelings. Let me make this clear first, don't send it to anyone. If you can eat it yourself, take it home. Don't send it to our nurses' and doctors' offices."

"Anyone who dares to accept this will be kicked out of our department!"

joke!

Sending one or two fruit baskets is a token of goodwill, but sending four or five is considered ostentatious. Who sends twenty or thirty?

What is this for?

If it's filmed and posted online, it will almost certainly attract reporters.

Although Fang Ziye wasn't afraid, there was no need for him to cause this trouble...

Hearing Fang Ziye's cold tone, the patient quickly said, "Professor Fang, please don't be angry. We'll cancel the order, but how about we keep five?"

Fang Ziye's tone softened: "Brother, it's true that you're rich and well-off, but you can't be this extravagant, can you?"

"This place looks more like a fruit shop than a hospital. It's disturbing the rest of other patients."

“If you do this again next time, you might as well just be discharged! I can’t cure your illness, and I can’t let the other patients’ rest be disturbed just because I’m going to perform surgery on you.”

After Fang Ziye finished speaking, he went straight to bed 10 to check on the progress of his wound healing!
This is a limb-sparing surgery for diabetes. In addition to assessing function after the surgery, wound recovery is also very important.

Sun Shaoqing, the attending physician for bed 11, rushed over to bed 11 and whispered, "Seriously, what are you thinking?"

"Didn't I tell you yesterday that I didn't want you to send me anything?"

The patient couple remained silent; they were clearly nouveau riche, engaging in a form of revenge spending…

The patient in bed 10 is recovering very well. After the examination, Fang Ziye skipped over bed 11 and simply said, "Patient 11, continue with the preoperative examinations. There's nothing special."

"Be careful of deep vein thrombosis and pressure sores in the upper and lower limbs..." After saying that, Fang Ziye skipped over bed 11.

He was also afraid that if he was too polite to them, they would do something even more outrageous.

……

After finishing his rounds, Fang Ziye stood with his hands on his hips at the door of the last room where his patients were staying and instructed, "When you attending physicians see patients in the future, remember to mention it."

“Tell the patients and their families that we cannot accept gifts. If anyone deliberately tries to accept fruit baskets or similar items, I will not be polite to them.”

"If this creates a vicious cycle, it will be very bad!"

"From now on, doctors on day and night shifts can each order one serving of fruit, with no restrictions on the type except for ridiculously expensive fruits. I'll reimburse them out of my own pocket. Let's stop with all this nonsense."

Initially, Fang Ziye did not intend to get involved in these matters.

When patients come to see a doctor, some of them, especially those from well-off families, may want to express their gratitude as a way of showing appreciation. There's nothing wrong with that.

No one will investigate whether you embezzled two fruit baskets or a banner from others. It doesn't matter if you don't give them away. Fang Ziye just ordered that no one should ask patients for these things.

But now that this has become a trend, it must be regulated.

"Alright, senior brother, I'll give the order in a bit."

“It’s really not good to always do it this way!” Lan Tianlu nodded and noted it down in his notebook.

"Yeah!~"

"Today, in front of all of you, I want to express my highest praise to our group's intern, Comrade Ling Fengguang."

"As you all probably know, our friend Ling Fengguang bravely stepped forward on his way to work on the first day back this year, saving the life of a patient with a ruptured femoral artery!~"

"This kind of arterial rupture is quite troublesome even for a seasoned emergency room doctor. It's amazing that Ling Fengguang had the courage and ability to handle such a situation during his internship!"

"This kind of character and courage is something we should all learn from."

"Furthermore, Ling Fengguang also said that he had looked around for a long time before making his move. There were no doctors or teachers nearby, and not many pedestrians either. This is in accordance with emergency avoidance procedures."

"Although he lacked confidence, he still suppressed his inner fear. We should all applaud his courage and meticulousness!" Fang Ziye said, and then took the lead in applauding.

After nudging Ling Fengguang, Hu Qingyuan joined the applause.

Ling Fengguang then clapped and bowed to thank everyone, saying, "Thank you for your kind words, teachers!"

Then he explained, "Actually, I was very panicked at the time, but I didn't dare to actually run away."

That's so real.

Not many people like hypocrites, even if they themselves are hypocrites.

"Let's go, we're off the operating room. Let's get to work and finish the surgeries as soon as possible today," Li Nuo called out.

The others immediately followed Li Nuo on his journey, or went to the ward to revise the medical orders.

Fang Ziye did not follow immediately; he could wait until Li Nuo and the others had completed the preoperative preparations before going down into the operating room.

By the way, he also wanted to have a chat with Ling Fengguang.

"Professor Fang, Professor Fang..." The two had only just reached the door of the doctor's office when they were pulled back by the voice of the wife in bed 9.

"Hello..." Fang Ziye gestured for Ling Fengguang to go to the office first.

"Professor Fang, Professor Fang, I'm sorry to bother you again."

"Let me first say that it's not that I don't trust you, but I still want to know, Professor Fang, were the things you said this morning more of a comforting remark or something else?" The middle-aged woman's eyes were exceptionally sincere, yet somewhat flickering, as if she was afraid that Fang Ziye would be angry because of her words.

Previously, she and her daughter had talked to Fang Ziye, hoping to say more kind words to encourage her husband and give him more confidence.

Fang Ziye has always done it this way.

This morning, Fang Ziye suddenly dropped such good news that she was unsure whether his words were the truth or a comforting "white lie"!
Even though they come to see a doctor, they tend to be greedy.

Neither she nor her husband anticipated that one day they would actually be able to stand up.

According to them, even if one day their husbands could regain the ability to walk by wearing devices and take a few steps at home, they would consider it a blessing from God.

I've seen many similar patients when I was admitted to the spinal surgery, neurology, and rehabilitation departments before.

There are quite a few patients who stay in the hospital for several years or even ten years.

Disappointment, when repeated, eventually becomes a habit.

However, they were still unwilling to give up and hoped to try their luck here. Unexpectedly, Fang Ziye actually took them in.

Moreover, after two "operations," her husband is now able to relieve himself, and he is so happy that he hasn't dared to sleep for several nights.

I was afraid it was a dream, and that I would wake up and return to reality.

"It should be something to look forward to!"

"I'll say it again: nothing in medicine is 100% certain. If someone tells you that something is 100% certain, they're either bragging or trying to scam you out of your medical fees!" Fang Ziye replied cautiously.

I dare not boast so arrogantly!
Even in surgeries with a high degree of certainty, there is a very small probability of various uncontrollable "accidents" occurring, such as sudden cardiac arrest or other extremely low-probability events.

"Professor Fang, so you're saying you weren't just trying to comfort me?"

After saying that, the middle-aged woman bowed and thanked Fang Ziye without waiting for his reply: "That's good, that's good, Professor Fang, thank you."

"I'm just a little uneasy. I feel like all this beauty is too unreal, so I wanted to confirm it..."

Fang Ziye replied with a smile, "It's alright, Auntie. I can only tell you that it's something to look forward to, but the timing is uncertain."

He can understand the other person's feelings.

It's important to understand that from the perspective of the patient's family, after the first time they entered the operating room, they underwent "surgery" but made no progress.

Although the family members did not express their opinion, they must have been disappointed for a long time.

They just didn't express it; they were unwilling to cut off the patient's hope!

……

In the director's office!

“Teacher Fang!” Ling Fengguang looked at Fang Ziye nervously, slightly at a loss, sometimes placing his hands on his side, sometimes in front of his abdomen, his hands flashing.

Finally, he lowered his head slightly to look at his toes, then returned to eye level with Fang Ziye.

"Ling Fengguang, how confident are you about your postgraduate entrance exam score? Can you get over 300?"

"Have you estimated your score?" Fang Ziye touched his earlobe and asked.

Upon hearing this, Ling Fengguang's breathing became rapid. He quickly looked up, his chest heaving, and asked, "Teacher Fang, is it really possible that I am?"

“Answer my question first, okay? Although Han City University has the authority to set its own admission cut-off scores for graduate students, it can’t be too outrageous,” Fang Ziye replied.

Independent admission for postgraduate entrance examinations refers to a method in which 34 key universities selected by the state can set their own admission score lines based on their own admission needs, and are not completely restricted by the national unified score line.

In other words, apart from the relatively limited number of places available for enrollment, everything else can still be changed under certain circumstances.

In addition, some outstanding professors have their own "special admission quotas," which are not limited by the school's regular admission quotas and can be used to recruit additional students based on their own circumstances.

Generally speaking, after the postgraduate entrance examination, the national minimum score is usually below 300, while the minimum score for different majors at the 34 universities with independent enrollment is above 300. If Ling Fengguang doesn't even score above 300, then it will be quite difficult to get him accepted.

Ling Fengguang shook his head and replied, "Teacher Fang, I don't know either. English and political scores are hard to assess."

"Although I saw the answer key for the Western Medicine Comprehensive exam, it was just a self-made answer key from the institution, not the standard answer key."

"However, my comprehensive Western medicine score should conservatively be around 190."

If you pass English and Politics, you'll get a score of 310 or higher.

Fang Ziye nodded: "Have you chosen a mentor yet?"

Ling Fengguang's postgraduate entrance exam score is over 300, which will make it easier for the university to set its admission cut-off score. As long as Ling Fengguang makes it into the final round, his application is basically secured.

Ling Fengguang still didn't understand what was going on: "Teacher Fang, I, I, I definitely want to choose you."

"But the results and cutoff scores haven't been released yet..."

Ling Fengguang never imagined that his accidental saving of someone would have such a chain reaction.

After all, he hadn't thought that much about it at the time.

"It's good that you have this idea. You should study hard! From now on, you can read more academic papers and some relatively professional books."

"You can borrow some books from your senior brother Hu, and then ask your senior brother Lan Tianluo and others to find some document classifications of articles. Go through the literature category by category and understand how SCI articles are actually written." Fang Ziye's words were no longer just hints, but explicit instructions.

Putting everything else aside, Fang Ziye also knew that not all the students he accepted could be geniuses like Hu Qingyuan.

Ling Fengguang may have limited talent, but he has plenty of courage.

It's fate that we met such a student; we can still try to take advantage of the situation.

With that kind of guts, Fang Ziye would forcefully pull Ling Fengguang out of the water!
"Thank you, Master!" Ling Fengguang immediately changed his address upon hearing this.

To reiterate, as long as Fang Ziye is willing to sign, and as long as he passes the school's admission requirements, he will definitely be able to attend school.

Universities that admit students independently are so powerful that they can ignore the 'procedure' of the re-examination!
"You're quite good. Can you tell me how you convinced the academic affairs office to let you stay in the orthopedics department for an extended period?" Fang Ziye asked.

"what?"

Ling Fengguang was taken aback, somewhat surprised: "Master, do we really need to say that?"

"Isn't keeping quiet the best excuse?"

"Our university in Seoul is very lax about this!"

This time, Fang Ziye was speechless: "..."

Good grief, so the difficult problem I set for Ling Fengguang was just a waste of time, right?

Fang Ziye had also heard the saying, "Play at Wuhan University, study at Huazhong University of Science and Technology," but he had never studied for his undergraduate degree there, so he couldn't fully appreciate it.

During Fang Ziye's undergraduate studies, Jinshi Medical University was quite strict in checking internship records. Fang Ziye did not expect that the Academic Affairs Office of Hanshi University would not check internship records at all.

Do you care whether you go or not?
"Oh, that's good!" Fang Ziye was also very satisfied with Ling Fengguang's answer.

Sometimes, if you speak up, you might not get anything done, but if you don't speak up and others don't care about you, that's the best answer and choice.

There is no standard answer to this question; Fang Ziye only wants to see the result.

Once a directional outcome is achieved, there must be considerations and choices involved.

"Master, is our team very busy? I heard from others that our team is the busiest and most tiring surgical team." Ling Fengguang asked.

"Hmm... it's not too late for you to regret it now." Fang Ziye nodded in agreement.

Ling Fengguang quickly shook his head: "No, no, no, Master, I quite like this fulfilling feeling."

“During my undergraduate years, I didn’t know what I should do. No one guided me, and no one forced me to do anything.”

"It's like if you just pass the exam, you're all the boss, nobody will care about you, and nobody will guide you."

"This relaxed feeling actually made me feel more at ease..."

"I didn't dare to ask other professors for research projects before. After the postgraduate entrance exam, I heard from my seniors that I should find a good supervisor, so I shamelessly came to the orthopedics department to try and get in..."

"I really miss high school, when teachers would tell you what you should do and what you should do!"

Ling Fengguang considers himself a task-oriented player.

He may be quite capable of execution, but without guidance, he's like a headless fly.

"Let's go, let's go down and perform the surgery."

"Before the start of the semester, I have a few requirements for you: read more professional books, read more literature, and practice your basic skills more."

"Before the start of the semester, you need to submit reading reports on twenty articles, all in English." Fang Ziye assigned Ling Fengguang the task at just the right time.

"Yes, Master!" Ling Fengguang felt reassured.

It's already February, and there are only seven months left until school starts in September.

Writing a reading report on twenty articles is no easy task, especially since it has to be entirely in English.

But this task assignment made Ling Fengguang know what he should do.

……

Even after the surgery on Wednesday, Ling Fengguang was still grinning foolishly.

After watching Fang Ziye leave, Hu Qingyuan went over and patted Ling Fengguang on the shoulder: "What are you doing here? Trying to be a role model? Your eyes are practically squinting."

Ling Fengguang immediately revealed his eyes: "Senior brother, you have no idea how tough it is for us postgraduate entrance exam takers. It's very likely we'll fail."

"I've made it ashore ahead of schedule, and I'm even doing it with my master! I'm so happy!"

After Ling Fengguang finished speaking, he frowned again: "But I'm afraid that I'm too weak and will be completely crushed by you senior brothers."

"When Master comes again, you won't be able to outlearn him or outplay him..."

Hu Qingyuan, with his hands behind his back, tilted his head and asked, "Isn't that the truth? How about we have a one-on-one match?"

Upon hearing this, Ling Fengguang immediately broke down, shaking his head vigorously.

"Senior brother, then I'll just admit defeat..."

Hu Qingyuan continued, "By the way, Xiaoling, what do you think you're good at?"

Upon hearing this, Ling Fengguang thought for a moment and replied, "Senior brother, it seems I don't have any particular skills either."

"Let me rephrase the question: What are your hobbies?"

"Watching TV, anime, and playing video games all count!" Hu Qingyuan asked again, changing his approach.

Ling Fengguang thought about it carefully again, then smiled and said, "Senior brother, it seems I don't have any particular interests or hobbies."

Hu Qingyuan suddenly turned his head and looked Ling Fengguang up and down carefully: "So what did you usually do during your undergraduate years?"

“I stay in the dorm, sometimes go out for a meal with classmates, watch short videos… and wait for dinner…” Feng Junfeng said.

After careful consideration, Feng Junfeng realized that his university years were unremarkable, with no particularly memorable moments.

Hu Qingyuan continued, "So, all these years in college, you didn't play games, didn't chase girlfriends, didn't read novels, and didn't watch TV series..."

"Five years have passed just like that?"

Ling Fengguang nodded: "Except when I was preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam last year, I was always going to the library. Otherwise, it's been like this."

The words "empty" and "ordinary" best describe Ling Fengguang.

His studies relied on a combination of diligence and a bit of talent, and he managed to get a passing grade or above. That was a true reflection of his five years of university life.

He's so ordinary that if you threw him into a crowd, no one would think he was a college student.

Aside from some medical knowledge, he has no other strengths.

"Have you thought about what you want to do?" Hu Qingyuan asked again when he realized he couldn't find a suitable point to guide Ling Fengguang.

"No, I just heard from others that orthopedics is a good major, so I applied for orthopedics."

“If it weren’t for the residency training, I probably wouldn’t have thought about taking the postgraduate entrance exam. I would have just found a job after graduation…” Ling Fengguang’s answer was rather honest.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Ling Fengguang immediately added, "Senior brother, you must not tell Master these things!"

Ling Fengguang still hoped to leave a good impression on Fang Ziye; otherwise, he was afraid that Fang Ziye would dislike him for being so mediocre and content with his lot.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't tell my master."

"But I was really surprised that you don't have any hobbies or interests."

"Maybe you'll gain it later if you follow your master for a long time. You don't understand the true value of your master yet."

"Try to learn what SCI is, what research ranking is, what impact factor is, and what scientific research is. You will gradually get started on the academic path."

"Anyway, you don't have anything else you're interested in, so just pick a direction and start moving forward slowly." Hu Qingyuan had a pretty good understanding of Ling Fengguang.

This is just an ordinary person who doesn't know what they like or what they should do, and just goes with the flow!

If you don't show him the way, three years of graduate school will become six, seven, or eight years of undergraduate studies!
"Okay, sure!" Ling Fengguang replied casually.

"Let's go, your senior brother is treating you to dinner. You're still an intern... After dinner, I'll take you to the training room to familiarize yourself with the place." Hu Qingyuan was still trying his best to fulfill his duties as a senior brother.

……

At 4:30 p.m., Fang Ziye ordered two stir-fried dishes at a small restaurant outside the hospital and started eating.

It wasn't mealtime yet, and Fang Ziye didn't want to go far, so he just grabbed a quick bite.

Fang Ziye had only taken a few bites of his meal when his phone rang.

It was an unfamiliar number, and it even seemed to be an official one.

"Hello!" Fang Ziye started.

"Hello Professor Fang, this is the Provincial Department of Science and Technology. You can call me Xiao Li." A sweet female voice came from the other end of the phone.

Fang Ziye quickly nodded: "Hello, hello, what can I do for you?"

The Provincial Department of Science and Technology is responsible for the application of scientific research projects in the province. Although I don't need it now, my students may need it.

For example, Hu Qingyuan would start by applying for his own 'funding' from provincial and university-level projects!
"Professor Fang, it's like this, our leaders know that you are working on a new research project, so we would like to discuss something with you. We are willing to provide strong support for your project..." The person called Xiao Li explained their purpose.

The gist of it is that they hope Fang Ziye's new research project will only use funding from the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology, without mixing in other funding sources, and that this project will be led by the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology.

In this way, the credit for such a single project can be attributed to the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Hubei Provincial Health Commission.

They have a keen eye for talent.

Upon hearing this, Fang Ziye found it somewhat amusing: "Boss, aren't you putting me in a difficult position?"

“I’ve already spent all the money in the previous budget book. Now you’re telling me not to use other budget accounts anymore. You’re telling me not to use them anymore. Isn’t that making me make a mistake?”

"How am I supposed to explain this when they investigate?" Fang Ziye subtly expressed his refusal.

Xiao Li said, "Professor Fang, actually these things are not difficult to do. You just need to buy what you need and then buy the rest."

She was actually trying to come up with a solution for Fang Ziye. She suggested that he treat the funds already spent as reserves for experimental materials, stockpiling them without using them, thus balancing the books!

Fang Ziye felt he might have been too polite, so he didn't want to waste any more words: "Boss, you called too late!"

"It's impossible to do that now."

"Moreover, if I had applied to the Provincial Natural Science Foundation Committee for such clinical and animal research projects from the beginning, they would have been 100% rejected."

"Because you can't provide such a large amount of funding."

"If you try to cut in halfway through now, I'll have a hard time explaining myself."

"There's no need to go through all that trouble."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Li wasn't angry. He smiled and said, "Professor Fang, could you please do me a favor? Our leader is very sincere. He has already said that no matter how much it costs, I'm willing to arrange it..."

"In principle, there is no upper limit," Xiao Li said very generously.

"This isn't about the money anymore. Just give your supervisor the information I'll give you. I'm quite busy here, so I'll leave it at that for now." Fang Ziye finished speaking and hung up the phone.

Then, Fang Ziye looked at his phone screen and smiled thoughtfully.

It's not easy being a member of the system.

They've racked their brains for all sorts of things!
Before I became famous, I would try all sorts of ways to get research funding. Back then, I would scrape together money from various sources and split one grant into several parts to spend.

Now, the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, for the sake of its own performance, actually came up with the idea of ​​intercepting projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. They really dare to think of such things!
Fang Ziye could not possibly agree, because the Provincial Natural Science Foundation Committee could not afford to fund the project, nor could it provide a title that matched the project's prestige.

Fang Ziye was still hoping it would win a National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars award or something.

Although these things are just empty titles, they are now right in front of him, and Fang Ziye is not so "aloof" as to ignore them!
Fang Ziye didn't take it seriously and went to the animal laboratory after finishing his meal.

Now, Fang Ziye's future is becoming increasingly clear; he hasn't even experienced many setbacks before seeing the light at the end of the tunnel... (End of Chapter)