What Have You Done That Has Most Surprised the People Around You?
I remember the registration day at our university. In the relatively small green brownish room, there were four scratched wooden desks. Behind each registration’s desk, three university employees with exhausted face were writing student’s name on a list. In that hot morning, more than eighty students were trying to reach desks in order to enroll. Why were they in hurry? Late registration caused students could not take any classes and therefore, they had to cancel all the courses of the semester. In other words, it was so significant to register very soon. But, the problem was that number of university employees was not enough for such huge population of students. More badly, they did not use any technological devices or computers. Three unmotivated clerks were using a pen and in front of them, there were piles of papers. Sometimes they became confused and crossed out a name, transferred to another list and then, they noticed that they had made a mistake. They did this process over and over. Furthermore, it was a chaos in the room. Some students were standing in line while others pushed each other. Clerks were encircled by some noisy students. It was like a fight in a battle ground.
When I arrived and saw the circumstances, I was really disappointed and decided to wait until other students register. I had been waiting for almost two hours until I could reach the desk. I wanted to enroll in Statistic course.
There were two classes for this course. One was taught by a female professor who always was busy with her own researches. So, she had little time spending on her classes and most times her Master students taught instead. Another class was taught by a male professor who was exceedingly serious and knowledgeable. He was famous among students for his difficult exams. So, his classes were cancelled or a few students dared to take part. I wanted to anticipate in the second class, the difficult one, Mr.Kashi’s class.
Finally, the clerk asked me which class I wanted to enroll. I said Mr. Kashi. But the clerk said that it was cancelled due to student’s shortage. I was very sad, tired and frustrated. After spending two hours in that noisy room,” What should I do?” asked myself. I could not think of any other ways. I was really eager to learn from an excellent professor. The clerk suddenly looked at my tired face. She said that she could put my name in the waiting list. But, I have to register in Kazemi’s class. While writing my last name, she made mistakes. She corrected it three times and eventually, she wrote it correctly.
The next day, I had a call from principal’s office. The man told me that I could have a class with Mr. Kashi. I was surprised and extremely happy. I did not expect to be in his class.
Our class consisted of eight enthusiastic students. In a big bright class with empty wooden chairs, my classmates and I were listening to the professor. Suddenly, the door was opened and a tall skinny president came in. It was a bad sign. He told us that we must leave the room because at least ten students must be in the class. We had to join Mrs. Kazemi’s class. I was so angry that I could not stand this situation any more. I just wanted to scream and said how disorganized and stupid they were. Suddenly, I jumped like sparks on the burning fire. “ I do not move from here. This is your problem. You cancelled my registration three times and now you are telling me that I must leave the class?! I do not go anywhere.
Meanwhile, I noticed that all my classmates stared at me and shocked. I was a calm, patient and polite student. I was not even talking loudly. But it was an intense force inside me which encouraged me to take action. I was happy internally and proud. However, the other part of me was worried. Finally, after many disputes between students and the president, he allowed us to remain in Kashi’s class and that was one of my strange experiences in whole life.
Since then, I think, we are very complicated machines. We change every second and differ from the past second. Although some conditions like tiredness, hunger and hot weather can affect our mind, we can change anything into whatever we want.
How about you? What have you done that has most surprised the people around you?