It was yesterday, February 20, that I received two scholarship awards for my academic performances in Spring and Fall semesters of 2017. Though the monetary awards were given through a cut in fees, the ceremony was mainly held to distribute the certificates, and most importantly, to appreciate the brilliant students. 'Appreciation' that's what my title for today's blog is, that's the secret behind all my successes and achievements. But, let's first go through a glimpse of the event and then come back to the main topic.
I knew that the scholarship was going to take place, but the text I received that day affirmed it and as well as the date and venue. It got real from that moment on and my excitement rose from day to day. For the invites, the alumni called all the scholarship holders to Main Hall of the campus, where they gave each of us a letter named for our male parents, congratulating and inviting them to attend the event. I called my elder brother who studies in Karachi to come join me, but his consecutive classes made him unable to do so. I called home too, but just to let them know of the invite, their attendance was already made impossible due to the long travel distance and shorter time until the event. However, I had one of my closest buddies living with me in the hostel, so I decided to take him along.
The day finally came, I changed into my suit, and he blow dried my hair, got ready himself (which took twice the time it took me to get ready), and we left for the university. I had an outside look of the big tent placed in the garden for the afternoon's event when I went in the campus that morning to attend my usual classes, but I was instantly awe-struck when I entered the venue - it was breathtaking. The interior was vast, high, and puffy white. The stage on the front, chairs for the guests and staff members up ahead, while the chairs for us were numbered and placed behind. On the sides, there were tables holding refreshments, the buffet type, which included: tea, cakes, cookies, samosas, sandwiches, add-ons and many more.
The program started just as we settled in. I had a seat among my classmates and the atmosphere between was amazing. We were blooming, all of us. The recite of the Holy Quran and then some words from the Dean of the campus, I would like to quote his lines, "Providing a quality education is not a one man's job. It takes students and teachers to achieve it.", and then very quickly, we were on with the awarding of the certificates. Our department was the first, Business Administration, and we stood in line, waiting for our names to be called. The single certificate awarded students were called first, while we, the two certificate receiving students, both for the Spring and Fall semesters, since the event takes place annually, were called later. Ali was there in the audience' seat along with all the parents, cheering for their children. My name came, and I walked - I walked towards the stage, I knew I had done it. Later, the mix up of the certificates caused a little chaos, and we were all looking for our own ones while handing others their's. Ha-ha, it was fun, and we exchanged excited, fake, nervous chats.
After all the departments received their certificates and we received our own ones, the treat started and all peopled gathered around the tables. Photo sessions started immediately after, and since we were all there to take photos, the presence of the staffs and our favorite teachers, only doubled the excitement as we excused each lecturer and clicked some photos. A lot of congratulations and thank yous were exchanged, and it was refreshing - a casual interaction with teachers, amazing! Then we went on our own little photo-shoots around the campus, posing with our certificates and with our dashing suits. It was a real fine day!
What stood out for me the most from the ceremony wasn't how grey and off-toned the event was, without any background music, but rather, when we excused our accounting ma'am, known for her very deep, thought-provoking, attractive phrases and her great teaching style, to take a couple of photos with us. She came aside, and congratulated me like all others, but her next sentence remained with me, "You really deserve it, Ejaz". The recognition from a teacher I remained, and am, a student of, really made my belief more real and doubled the reality of moment - I once again felt, I had done it! But what made me achieve all these was the incredible forces of 'appreciation and belief'. Some people only believe in themselves when others belief in them too, and I am one of those. It doesn't mean I don't have a healthy relationship with myself and I don't believe in me, but the appreciation coming from others ignites that fire within me - which however little it may, a small compliment, a pat, a motivating phrase, a read-out of my writing before the class, ignites this fire that lasts as long as it achieves the goal, and then doubles for the next one.
I will close it off with this, my first encounter with the power of appreciation: I was in my most senior class, called level advance, in the English learning academy, and it was the day when our essays were about to be returned. I had no intention of passing this class because it usually is a tough job, and I was just there to sort of involve myself into something. Anyways, my name came and I was given my essay back. I had a score of 19.2 out of 20. It really made me happy, but what made that happiness and motivation last, was the recognition of it in front of the class from one of the most influential person in my life, Sir Khadim. That little appreciation pushed all the way to the end of the term and I held three 1st positions: a position among the class, one in the essay competition and another in the seminar competition. But these weren't as important as the relationship I had now built with Sir Khadim, he was my mentor now, and he is the reason I am here today.