Muhammad Nafiz Izzat bin Md Arif, 17187, EE {Narrative}

Just Another Piece Of Paper

It was on the 23^rd of March, the day tears rolled down my cheeks like never before but before that very moment I went through unexpected event that made me appreciate the life I have and lived.

Early morning, 2 days before receiving my SPM results, I was on the way back home from Universiti Teknologi Petronas. I took the train, as I didn’t want to trouble my parents in driving to Perak to fetch me. As I rode the train, I sat next to my friend and as usual we immediately took out our laptops as in our mind it would be the fastest way of killing time in the train. The journey lasted around 2 hours, enough time to finish one whole movie but in this very journey, I felt uneasy and restless. For some reason, I couldn’t sit still. I then kept away my laptop, planned to walk around in the train and asked my friend to guard my laptop while I do so as I was paranoid that someone might steal it while I’m gone.

I got of my chair and started to move. I thought to myself, since I was on a train I couldn’t go far, so maybe I could kill time by walking from the back of the train till the front, so then I started to walk towards to back. While walking, I tuned out the outside world by wearing my earphones as I didn’t wanted to be bother by the people around me at that time.

While I was walking, suddenly my stomach felt uneasy since I was rushing to train station and didn’t have the time to eat before I left. As I reached halfway to the end of the train, I turned back to Coach C as they were selling food and drinks there. I sat there, putting my earphones aside and ate. A young lady and by the looks it, she was about my age. She sat next to me and as my instinct as a male, I immediately said ‘hi’ to the beautiful girl. She responded and ordered a drink. I offered to pay for her drink and just like that, we then started talking, I started by commenting on the book that she was holding, “ Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. I complimented her by saying that she has good taste in books. She then told me that she borrowed it from her friend since she couldn’t afford such a book. Then after talking for some time, she told me her background and what kind of life she lived. It was the total opposite of mine. Her dad died of cancer 2 years ago and her mum was battling with leukemia and she knew there was not much time left for her. She’s also from a poor family and has to take care of her little sister who is only 7 years old.

When I looked at her, she didn’t show much pain or misery, so I asked her why she was so calm about it. She told me that, this is all God’s test and if she had given up and blame it on Him, she would have lost and failed the test. She then continued by saying ‘life must go on, useless looking back as there’s nothing we can do to change it’. I was amazed by her strength to endure the challenges in her life. We didn’t have the time to continue our conversation, as it was time for her to board off the train. As she got off the train, I started to think about my life and how easy things have been for me.

Then came the day of receiving my SPM results. I couldn’t sit still, nervously waiting, then finally calling out my name. I looked at my results, shocked to the core of my bones that I didn’t achieve my target of straight A’s. I was devastated. First thing that came to mind was ‘Why God?’. I was angry and frustrated. I took my results back home and sat on my bed, crying and alone. After litres of tears rolled down my cheeks, I suddenly thought of that girl I talked to in the train. Her words came rushing back to me and I immediately washed my face and started praying and thanked God for the results I achieved. From that day onwards, I strived for the best and when things aren’t going my way, I tried to look at the situation in another angle and hope for the best.