Time to say Good-Bye
Back in 2017, Ali Zafar got the whole country jamming on a jingle saying “Phir seeti bajy gi, Stage sajay gaa, Or taali bajay gi, Ab khel jamay ga.” This jingle kept coming back in my head when Ma’am Rabia sent a message in the announcement group on Feb 19th announcing that we would be having our last class the next day.
I was taken back. I had been absent from the second last session, and I had no idea the ship had almost sailed to the shore. I had just started to love this course and it was about to end.
As we woke up to the dreadful morning, there was sadness all around. One last time I would be waking up early on a Saturday morning, one last time I would be turning on my laptop. One last time someone our instructors would be greeting us with a wide grin early on a weekend morning.
In the early days of the fellowship, you think about when its going to end, and you come to realize that as you approach the end, you don’t want it to end, because our instructors had provided us that safe space where we could just let it out and relax.
On Feb 19th, ironically, I did not spoke while everyone did. Maybe I am just not good in expressing feelings. But that day everyone else did. Emotions were shared, tears were shed. Funny, how we have never met each other in outside of a laptop yet we feel there is a close connection with each other.
What I liked about that session was as we all were departing to our separate ways, everyone was expressing how valuable each one was to them. Those sharing of emotions did not only show the impact of Amal but also showed the impact the instructors had on us. Thus, while the last session was a really sad session, but it also did uplifted us. I got to learn that when you work in a positive manner than people remember you in good light. Hence, one should do good work to leave a memorable experience.
But the goodbyes did not end there. The goodbyes continued on the weekdays as well as the fellows messaged each other and said their goodbyes. I also received one such message in which the fellow had said Allah Hafiz. I was little offended by that message as we say Allah Hafiz when we depart, maybe I just did not want to depart.
LinkedIn will keep us all connected, as we all followed each other and keep getting updates and notification when one gets a new job or completes a project. I am sure many would not be leaving the WhatsApp group as opportunities to get shared. Maybe if I ever go to Peshawar, than I would like to meet some of my class mates over some Jalil Chappal Kebabs.
I have made it a goal to meet up with Umair Jibran one day as he was a fantastic group member in our Amal Project.
I am not gonna lie, but initially I had only joined Amal for the certificate as Covid gave me some free time. But the fellowship was more than just a certificate. I got to learn how bad my resume was, and how I needed a cover letter to land my self interviews and jobs.
I just can not wait for an interviewer to throw me a question where my strengths are questioned and I start of by telling my story.
My excel skills have really improved, and I have finally learned that to remove text from certain pages you need to use page breaks.
Recently, my friend shared with me a dilemma regarding how his LinkedIn is not neat, and I have promised him that I would help him out in creating a good LinkedIn profile for him. Thus, I would be sharing what I have learned here.
So long Amal, hope to cross paths with you all one day
