November

Disclaimer: Written under the influence...

It's that time again - where the exam timetable is posted and we collect our exam cards and compare each others' exam timetable. I checked and double checked my timetable (and probably will check again) so that I don't miss an exam. People scamper about taking all the books from the library and suddenly this cold, hard mask covers many faces. I smell the exams coming like rain. We're all either zombies or invisible because we can't seem to notice anyone, yet it's plain to see that our world has become black and white. There is no condoning of grey areas as we stretch our grey matter in hope that it was not beyond the elasticity of sanity.

I was reading a book about leadership and communication in the library on Thursday (the cover was pretty and the book was small...and there were pictures in it!) and besides the fact that the book seemed very motivational - talking to losers - there was an interesting story I read. I won't attempt to recall the story but the gist of it was that just as there are waves in the ocean, a company cannot operate with all cylinders firing throughout the year. Then the thought soaked through me; I can't study all day everyday with all my might. Like the ocean, I need time to ebb before I flow.

Then there was the unusual Thursday morning car trouble which left me carless. Having no transportation is usually terrible and waiting on your family to pick you up is even worse. They think that you will forgive them and then they come 20 hours after they were supposed to come - when you're chilling with the second watch of the night. I had to go to my sisters on Thursday and my mom asked me if I could get a drop there. I said I'll try and then went and asked my friends. They gave me the usual run around (I have class now, I'm not going home yet, dude where's my car) so I decided to tell my mom I couldn't get a drop then lime where all the cars pass - hopefully I may get one before she comes.

How Not To Hitch A Ride

I sat down and talked with another friend (who has no car nor licence) and as we were talking I saw a familiar face. We stopped and watched as the car climbed and descended the hump. "Now!" I whispered to myself and shouted out his name. But he just nodded and waved and drove away. Then another friend passed. I saw her car from a far and thought that the person looked familiar. So again, we sat in wait and watched the front go up and down, and the back up and over. With baited breath we stood by as the driver stamped on the gas. "Now! Now! Now!" As I was just about to shout I realised the terrible fact that her windows were closed. With quick thinking, I began to wave frantically as our eyes met, hoping she would understand the urgent request. I waved. She smiled and waved back and drove off into the sunset.

I had lost my will after that and when the next car passed I barely had enough power to let my head drop as he waved and drove off. Fortunately, my mom came for me after I was waiting for over an hour and a half. I learnt a very important lesson that day: Maybe running in front of a moving car to get a ride home is not as bad an idea as people make it out to seem.

There are 3 more weeks of teaching left in this semester and I'm not as excited as before to see exams coming. I think it was about time I took them seriously and not call them "Pre-vacation questionnaires" (That is also not as bad an idea as people make it out to seem). I was only joking about jumping in front of a moving car folks!