CHAPTER 420: 0418 ASK FOR DIRECTIONS

Just five minutes before Lynch arrived at the school, a discussion was taking place in the school’s conference room.

The president of the student council was having a stern negotiation with the school board. The student council president wore a frosty expression, while the director of academic affairs had a slight smile on his face, giving off an impression of being somewhat servile.

In Bail Federal and even worldwide, which of the prestigious universities doesn’t have a school board with overwhelming power?

Especially in Gafura, a monarchic country where students’ power within schools is suppressed to the extreme. Some institutions with "royal" in their name have adopted a semi-militarized management system, where one can choose to attend or leave if unwilling.

There’s no talk of the student council opposing school management; even questioning the school management’s orders isn’t dare openly displayed.

But at this moment, the atmosphere in the room was quite strange, contrary to common sense.

"I reviewed this year’s admission plan, and nearly ten percent of students are recommended recruits, a number exceeding the highest historical count of recommended admissions. What you are doing is destroying our school’s environment!"

The student council president was a girl. Her golden-brown long hair and flawless fair face made it hard for anyone to feel intimidated by her anger.

She slammed the table hard. The director of academic affairs across from her had a wry smile, while the president and vice-president pretended not to hear anything.

The director of academic affairs glanced at the big shots beside him, and eventually, while wiping his sweat, he whispered, "Let me explain, Anna..."

"This issue isn’t as simple as you think. We also don’t want to take in too many recommended students, but last year’s situation, you know, with the financial tsunami, economic collapse, and increasing opportunities, even those who weren’t initially interested became intrigued."

"We all know that chaos is the breeding ground for opportunities..."

This statement, "chaos is the breeding ground for opportunities" (if the government fails to maintain stable social order, opportunism and opportunists will flourish...), was from a well-known sociologist who succinctly expressed some truths and real phenomena.

With the collapse of order, the focus of social development and maintenance shifts, providing great speculative opportunities for the daring.

The Federation also experiences such trends, with opportunists frequently emerging, coupled with recent domestic and international changes, allowing people to clearly see certain future trends.

At this point, it becomes essential to send one’s younger generation to the Saint Harmony Alliance Schools for a bit of prestige.

The Saint Harmony Academy and its members have basically become universal passes within the Federation’s elite social circles.

Because the backbone of the upper society is mostly comprised of these individuals, having such an identity results in distinctly different outcomes compared to those without one in many enterprises.

Therefore, some students who originally couldn’t get into the academy through formal means, nor had considered attending the Saint Harmony Alliance Schools, were sent to school via various connections and recommendation letters.

A little bit about the Federation University’s admission process, which doesn’t follow the straightforward approach of exam-based education but instead adopts an interview system.

A recommendation letter personally written by a significant recommender, even if they recommend a useless person, could highly likely allow that person to become a university student, even at a prestigious institution, if they can afford the tuition.

The interview system seems specially opened for those who love back doors, offering a fast track. Such a completely subjective admission method allows even potentially unsuitable individuals to become college students.

For example, a tycoon’s son who was admitted to a certain university with the reason of "loving housework, having a sunny, healthy mindset," had only barely passing grades in arts upon high school graduation.

The passing grade in arts was merely because his graduation project had a postmodern abstract artistic style as recognized by the art teacher, thus barely received a pass.

But even such a student could enroll in a prestigious school, which sparked some discussions at the time.

Now, Saint Szechka Academy faces a similar problem, with a large number of students bearing recommendation letters entering through interviews (exemption from exams?). It is destined to rapidly degrade the school’s atmosphere.

These students, without thinking, clearly have extraordinary backgrounds but are not true heirs of elite families. They will undoubtedly turn the school into chaos.

As the student council president, Anna can’t stand by and let this happen. After all, in her view, this school is not just the management’s school but also belongs to the students.

The director of academic affairs’ cautious explanation was considered successful, as Anna’s emotions were somewhat calmed. Mainly, she also knew that coming here to get angry wouldn’t change any outcome. However, she had to express her and the student council’s stance, not allowing these people to run wild.

The Federation doesn’t have just one Saint Harmony Alliance institution. They can completely push those people elsewhere!

The atmosphere in the room fell silent, and finally, Anna seemed to make a concession, "There’s nothing we can do about the past, but moving forward, I don’t wish for more recommended students to enter the school. This is responsible for the school and students!"

The president, vice-president, and other management continued to pretend as if they had dementia, with only the director of academic affairs nodding and wiping sweat, saying, "Yes, I’ll definitely find a way to refuse them."

It seemed like the school’s management was indeed wary of Anna, or at least avoided offending her, which was also unique to the Saint Harmony Alliance institutions.

The student council held great power, sometimes sufficient to change the school’s management roster!

It should be noted that students who can enter here, apart from the recommended ones, either excel academically and morally, having the potential to become top scholars or even change some aspect of society as potential scientists,

or they are children of Saint Harmony members.

The student council has a sufficient social network, allowing them to contact all levels of people, host various events without the need for school assistance. They even have funding to directly approve some research projects!

Always some parents would readily throw money at the school, disregarding the value of money, to ensure a bright future for their child, literally throwing their children into a future.

Additionally, the student council itself is an elite group among the student body. Behind each person is more than just an ordinary family.

They may come from scholar or expert families, or they themselves have influence in some field and are thoughtful.

They may come from capitalist families, possessing wealth.

They may come from political families, possessing power.

This group of people, united with thought, wealth, power, and executive ability, left the school board with no means. This was yet another feature of the Saint Harmony Alliance institutions, where the student council’s power sometimes surpassed the school’s management.

With mutual compromises, the room’s atmosphere gradually calmed, and Anna achieved her goal, then started apologizing.

She, too, came from a very extraordinary family, so she knew how to face this world.

After achieving her demands relying on her power, she saw fit to lower her stance, say some inconsequential but conciliatory words to maintain everyone’s dignity.

It was also at this moment that Lynch walked through the school gates.

Nowadays, wherever Lynch went, he wasn’t as unknown as before. After all, the newspaper dubbed him a youth leader, regardless of what significant thank-you note the reporter received from Lynch for the report, at least the media reported it that way.

After declining the invitation from two cute girls who volunteered to guide him, Lynch found the administration building by himself, considering it was right in front of the main entrance.

After registering at the security office, he entered the place where ninety-five percent of high school students across the Federation aspired to be.

The mirrored marble was spotless, and some metallic fillers filled the gaps between the marble tiles. Meticulously maintained, walking here felt like being in a palace or a grand hall.

The bright and airy architectural style made the building’s overall structure quite transparent, a very special sensation would often arise.

It was said that the school’s architect was internationally renowned, even the President’s Mansion was designed by this architect.

The place was good, but finding people was a bit tough.

Lynch went around several offices without getting a response, unsure whether it was because it was still the holiday period, so the school management was absent, or some other reason.

He regretted not letting those two girls guide him before when, during his aimless wandering, he vaguely heard some noise at a corner.

From the sign, it was a conference room. The deep red door with shining golden edges wasn’t fully closed, maybe because the people inside didn’t realize during the holidays, someone might sneak upstairs.

If he were just an ordinary student, he would wait quietly here until the people inside finished their work, and then tell them he had been waiting for a long time to demonstrate his sincerity.

But he wasn’t an ordinary student, so he directly knocked on the conference room door.

It might be impolite to do so, but he really didn’t want to waste time, because who knows how long he would have to wait!

A few seconds later, a teacher-like person opened the door slightly. She stood in the doorway watching Lynch, initially not recognizing him.

In the teachers’ view, students mostly looked the same, except for those they taught and remembered vividly; the others seemed cookie-cutter.

She glanced up and down at Lynch and softly asked, "What can I do for you?"

While sizing up Lynch, Lynch was also assessing her, "Yes, I’d like to ask where to attend the recommended admission interview..."