Fri, 29 Mar, 2024

Just You Wait

By Osheen Shrestha

I am in the hall trying to get to my class as fast as I can; not because I was late but because of the anger that I was hiding or at least trying to hide. What happened was not okay. It clearly affected me a lot as I could not think about anything else. Luckily, on the way to the classroom, there was a friend who came to me and comforted me. I felt thankful for the gesture he showed and I was happy that he got the point that I was trying to make. The person whom I love the most didn’t know how I was feeling. He didn’t even try to comfort me. Instead, he kept on blathering about something else. He was oblivious to the situation. So I thought I’d let him know how I was feeling by giving him the “finger” right to his face. It was kind of a relief for me to express it. I ran as fast as I could so that I didn’t have to see his face. This is what I usually do when I get angry. As I was packing my bag and about to head home, I found out that other people were equally pissed off about what had happened just as I was. Everyone shared the mutual feeling that the people in power were so full of themselves and drunk with power that they were starting to abuse it. Not cool. Thoughts of revenge started overtaking my mind. The thing is, I know all this anger was justified because I wasn’t the only one. I’m very sure everyone I know will agree with me on this because just like me, they’ve been at the wrong end of the stick a handful of times already. Wait…even you must think that I am rambling, right? Well, I don’t blame you. I haven’t actually described what had happened and why I’m feeling so angry. Actually, a situation came up that made me write this article. Today, I had this huge presentation to do in front of my classmates and teachers. I’ll be honest, after looking at my friend’s presentations, it made me feel like I was not very well prepared for it at all. A few of them had done such a fantastic job. Now look, it would’ve been oh so easy for me to go up there and put in a bland presentation and just get it over with. No one would’ve ever remembered it and no one would talk about it. However, that’s not the kind of attitude I have. I want to stand out in everything I do. No exceptions. That’s why, on the spot, I needed to make something up that would make me stand out. I got an idea and I thought everyone would love it because it included some light humor and also would clear up the point that I was trying to make with my presentation. Killing two birds with one stone. Sweet. Except, it didn’t quite work out like that. Well, I was right about one thing, the majority of the audience loved it (Except for the judges). Let me drag you to that scenario. We (me and my partner) made an application for a college project. It was a very basic application we managed to build with the limited knowledge we had and the limited time given to us. Before our turn, there were people who gave their presentations and I was blown away by them. Our project looked a bit pale in comparison. I didn’t want our application to look underwhelming in front of them. So I thought I would try to stand out by giving an example which would make my point across. I started by describing a man that wanted to stand out at a party. In order to do so, he wore some expensive suit and branded shoes. He had hopes of being the center of attraction. He wanted to be perfect. However, when someone came up to him and asked him for the time, he found out that he forgot his watch. His little negligence made him a step backward. He wasn’t perfect anymore. I thought it related to our project. That watch represented our project. Although it was a simple application, it was something that could be very useful and needed to be taken into consideration. So what do I get for trying to stand out and get my point across? A snide, cynical remark about my example. The same people who are supposed to instill confidence in us students just shattered mine to bits and pieces. Why? Because they can and no one will say anything against them because they are the ones with all the power. A simple advice on what I said wrong or why they didn’t like the example would’ve been helpful at least; but no, how could they ever feel good about themselves without putting anyone else down? They had to crush my confidence in order feel good about themselves. That’s what an obsession with power does to people. To hell with them. I refuse to fall into that category. A great teacher and person once taught us to always question authority. Maybe it’s about high time we did so. It’s a rule of life that whatever goes up, must come down. In fact, life is all about ups and down. Today it was all about the downs. I consider myself a super-optimistic girl. You’ll struggle to break me down. Rather, I’ll take it as a challenge. Someday, I will force you appreciate my artistic words and make you eat your words. To quote Hamilton, “There’re a million things I haven’t done, but just you wait….” Just you wait!