The difference is huge. If there's a basketball scholarship and it's not spent extravagantly, at least one year's living expenses are covered, which can greatly ease the burden on the family.
If he relies on academic merits to get into college, even if it's a prestigious university, his high school teachers can help by writing recommendation letters. He's quite outstanding academically, and compared to test scores, American colleges value recommendation letters more. But for a basketball scholarship, teachers aren't much help—both can be obtained together, and for a basketball scholarship, school team coaches assist in recommending, yet even Illinois State University wouldn't offer a full basketball scholarship.
Currently, the average annual income domestically is only three to four thousand. Comparing this to the tuition fees for international students at American private universities, academic scholarships are merely a drop in the bucket, insufficient even for living expenses. Like in high school, American universities charge foreign students more than locals.
As for loans... Being Chinese, it's pure fantasy for an American bank to offer him a loan. He wishes to repay it by earning post-graduation, but with such hefty university tuition fees for foreign students, most American students rely on loans... Though his dad will undoubtedly provide some money, Zhang Hao wants to lighten the family's burden a bit.
Zhang Hao is feeling pretty down right now. Money, the root of all evil! He doesn't really know how to make quick money; what does he even know in this place in America!
Recalling the past when he was the best-performing domestic player in the Sino-American youth basketball competition, noticed by the American high school coach, but after coming to the U.S., everything he experienced was far removed from his hopes and dreams.
It's nothing but harsh... wait a minute, Zhang Hao's mind flutters, and the subtitles that only he can see appear again.
"Remaining life: 365 days; Usable life: 364 days."
"... Damn!
I friggin' only have 1 year left to live... Although I don't know if this truly shows the time I have left to live, two overlapping memories have already happened... If I only have a year, what's the point in considering so much crap?
What's the big deal about entering NCAA? Am I supposed to chase a basketball dream in one year? Screw the basketball dream!"
Just as Zhang Hao suddenly gets agitated, the subtitles change!
"Want to dominate basketball?"
The sudden change startled Zhang Hao!
He glanced around, seeing no one; fortunately, nobody witnessed his foolish look just now. Zhang Hao quickly ran back to his room and closed the door.
Looking at the words "dominate basketball," now, although he still likes basketball, the idea of dreaming to become a superstar like Jordan had gradually faded after hitting walls repeatedly over the past month.
Even though after the California high school league ended, Sports Illustrated ranked him 22nd among high school students nationwide, at this time, high school rankings are all over the place. Different media have their own rankings, and Sports Illustrated favors Los Angeles. Some state's media couldn't even find his name.
But that's quite normal; these days, across a state, it's tough for a high school student to gain fame elsewhere, only about three to five become known nationwide.
The college teams don't trust him, neither do they want to give him a chance.
Seeing basketball, Zhang Hao still loves it now, but at this moment he feels inexplicably irritated; all the grievances of failing repeatedly over the past two months surged up.
Add in that only one year left to live... If the countdown of life expectancy is true, what's the point of dominating basketball within a year!
With all the negative emotions piling up, Zhang Hao couldn't help but shout out, "Screw your basketball dream, I don't want it!"
After shouting, he seemed to vent his dissatisfaction, Zhang Hao thought to himself, he must be crazy to shout at a damn subtitle. Luckily, Pierce went to school, and it's late afternoon; aside from students like him who already passed the university entrance culture exams, everyone else is at school. Apparently, no one got disturbed by his yelling... Even if someone did, they wouldn't understand!
But when Zhang Hao regained his senses and looked at the subtitles again, he felt like the words were getting "closer" to him.
Moreover, seemingly getting closer, Zhang Hao had an illusion as though the words were about to attach to his eyes... They really did attach!
Zhang Hao was startled, he backed up repeatedly, leaning against the wall, yet the subtitles kept getting closer... For some reason, he felt the words in front were asking a final question, once he rejected again, he would miss this chance.
He didn't know why he saw this bizarre scene as a 'chance,' but his heart just thought so.
At this moment, the ambitious dream he once had when he came to America, wanting to become a figure capable of changing Chinese Basketball's future, seemed to return.
Furthermore, he suddenly remembered, the subtitles were previously counting down his remaining life; if there's a way out, it probably has to rely on these subtitles! They might just be his golden finger!
The key is, in the memory that belongs to this era, he has been striving to become a real basketball player for over a decade; even with the merge of future memories, the passion for basketball couldn't be erased.
He has the urge in his heart, he wants to accept it!
Moreover, he wants to live! Not just for a year! Even though, from the perspective of his future memories, being able to move freely for a year seems like heaven-sent good fortune, from the memory belonging to this era, it truly feels like a nightmare.
At this moment, Zhang Hao firmed up: "I want to! I want to, okay!"