No Excuses.

Over a month has passed since my last post, and with it, a whole bunch of other stuff that I could write about.

I could write about the trip to an Indian orphanage in Rembau, and how being in the Rembau area invoked within me feelings of nostalgia, and how I was touched by how happy the kids there were with their lot, despite it not being much to shout about.

I could write about the surprise party for my birthday that had been held a week before the actual date, and how I experienced that feeling of utter awkwardness of not knowing what to do while everyone else was singing 'Happy Birthday', and how that led me to absent-mindedly cut my cake before blowing out the candles.

I could write about how an unexpected call from a former schoolmate currently studying in Canada came to wish me a happy birthday (albeit a belated one), and how I was so pleasantly surprised by the whole thing that I was probably red in the face for the next half hour or so.

I could write about how I went home every weekend for the past month or so to attend some seminars, where the speakers were some of my parents' friends from Nigeria, and how I learnt a whole bunch of stuff. Oh, and how we had a grand dinner at a fancy Arabian restaurant after all that was over.

I could write about how I was in an exceptionally good mood last week, and how, despite me being exposed to some so-called 'office politics' due to some conflicts regarding one of the subjects I've been taking for this past semester, it refused to be significantly tainted.

But no. I'm not going to write about any of that.

Wait, what? I just did? Oh, well. Anyway, we'll move on to the main point of my post now.

My mother recently completed her PhD after four long, hard years. Her convocation was held at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Bangi last Saturday, and I and three of my eldest younger siblings went with her to celebrate the occasion. We might have brought some of the younger ones along as well, but they were all too young to be allowed into the event hall.

The place was huge; my guess would be that it could hold a few thousand people. It was my first time in such a hall, and I wondered how it would feel to be sitting for an exam in such a cavernous building. I mean, it was so big that it could hold all the people graduating at the convocation ceremony that day, as well as their invited guests.  

So yeah, a whole lot of people received their scrolls that day. So many, in fact, that a good number of spectators decided to catch a few Z's while the convocation was going on. Some people even managed to get their snoozing caught on camera, to be broadcasted onto giant screens where everyone in the hall could see them.

I should also mention that the scrolls were given out by the Chancellor of UKM, who was none other than the Yang Di-Pertuan Besar (YDP) of Negeri Sembilan. His face largely contained a look of disinterest throughout the entire ceremony; but then again, maybe that's just his regular expression. Nevertheless, I found him and his overall manner to be absolutely fabulous. I can't remember how long my brother and I spent discussing how awesome his hair and moustache were. My sisters, too, seemed to be equally impressed. 

To top things off, the state song of Negeri Sembilan was played at the beginning and the end of the convocation. I honestly enjoyed singing it, as it had been a while since I'd last done so. I've always liked the song anyway, so yeah.

We couldn't get the YDP to pose for a picture with us, unfortunately.

Anyhow, after all that was over, I started to wonder exactly how much of a struggle it was for my mother to somehow complete her PhD (with distinction!) while raising ten kids, coping with office politics, and volunteering in NGOs, among other things. And then I thought of my own studies as a bachelor's degree student, and just how relatively petty my own obstacles to success were.

It just goes to show that where there's a will, there's a way. I shouldn't be allowing trivial matters to disrupt my mission to maintain my 4.0 CGPA for this current semester, as well as all the ones that come after it. I need to really dig deep within myself, and maximize the potential that I've always known was there all along.

No excuses, old boy. No excuses.