During those difficult early years of his life, Giok Po Oey worked hard as a student, taking a wide variety of courses in high school, including many business and language courses. He did well in his required language courses, taking French, Dutch, English and German, testing “amply sufficient” in the first three, and adding those to his knowledge of Indonesian. Giok Po took the opportunity to formally engage with the Chinese language while he earned the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and literature from the Sinological Institute at the University of Indonesia from 1948 to 1951. While in school, he paid for his tuition and living expenses by managing the Institute’s library, beginning his lifetime connection with libraries.