Tesla's road to engineering college

Tesla finished the Higher Real Gymnasium in Gospic at the age of 14. Tesla figured his next logical step would be to go to engineering college. The problem was that Tesla was required to either go into the military or enter the ministry or face substantial jail time. This led to a deep depression in which Tesla could not get out of. Eventually this depression turned for the worse when this illness reached a critical stage and the physicians gave up on the hope of saving his life. Fortunately Tesla's father was not as easy to lose hope and worked on trying to nurse his very delicate son back to health. When this did not show much promise he promised his son he would make sure he went to engineering school for electrical engineering if he recovered. As if by magic Tesla's strength began to return to him where in 4 months time he recovered completely. Tesla's father kept his word and enrolled his son in the polytechnic institute at Gratz which was located in Austria. His father enrolled him for the term that began the following fall. Tesla's father also kept his word in not making his fragile son enlist in the military or enter the ministry even though there were serious consequences for not doing that. Instead he sent his son out into the mountains for one full year to get away from the call of the military. In this time Tesla conducted many experiments on elcticity conducted from water sources. That following fall as promised by his father on what many thought was his deathbed he entered the University of Gratz for electrical engineering.