8 Golden Months - Part 4

The scariest step of a journey is the first whereas the hardest is the last; I thought to myself now as I start the last bit of the journey.

After exams, it was time to say goodbye. A couple of events; MISAM awards and MDX end of year party was what held me back for a week or so. During that week, we went to a couple of places and the most memorable one was Casella Nature Park where we touched a lion. It was one of those moments you keep stored for a long long time come. I was the official photographer for the awards night. I attended the end of year party and had a nice calm evening. I was awarded with the MDX badminton player award which was a surprise and I felt so honored. I said the goodbyes to everyone and thought that was the end and that I wasn’t going to come back for my graduation because that was the plan then. I flew the next day after the end of year party. The next afternoon I went to the airport all excited to head back home but I had a tiny little sad feeling somewhere of leaving such a wonderful country. I had chosen the 6:30 pm flight for the type of aircraft which was the A380. I am such a huge “planiac”. I just adore travelling to the extreme bits. I could spend my life on a plane; really I can! So I spent about 7 hours at Dubai airport and then flew home. It was tiring but I made it. My dad, mom and all my cousins came to the airport to pick me up and that was special because I usually just come home by myself but this time my family insisted they come. My dad was the first to see me and welcome me. He hugged me and had tears in his eyes which was special but ever since a kid, I am not used to seeing him cry but as a strong individual. I met everyone else then and we headed home. It was special to be back with everyone…really special!

When you live alone for a period of time, it is scary to be back with family and to be honest, to an extent you don’t even wish that because you lose the one thing or the only good thing about being alone; freedom. The ability to make a decision without consulting or taking an opinion is what you lose. When I was returning, I had a couple of fears of my own; losing my freedom and what will I do now? There is no doubt in my mind that ‘He who is above all else’ has everything planned for us but as a human, you are meant to doubt and fear the future otherwise what would separate you from Him? I had a few thoughts in my mind about what I would do next but none was certain hence the insecurity but I was certain that my faith would lead me like always to the path I was meant to walk. J

Besides my classmates and the few I have already mentioned, I made a lot of friends on campus through my photography, badminton and table tennis and active participation in the university activities. As I said, I have a nag of being famous and it always happens without any relevant effort. I really can’t imagine my journey without all these people I met and interacted with. I learnt from them, I shared with them a bit of what I had to offer and in the end, I think I got their respect and I shall always be grateful to them for allowing me that. A special thank you to Sundeep & Arbaaz for the badminton award and to Royal for the tips in photography.
I explored almost the entire island and as a photographer, it was paradise for me. I loved taking photos and giving them captions to put on my page. A lot of my page likes are from people who reside in Mauritius. All I can say is that I am grateful.

When I returned from Mauritius, I was contacted by the features editor for New Vision and he asked me to come in for an interview because of my success in badminton on campus. I gave the interview on Friday and it was published the Saturday after that. Once again as I said, a nag of becoming famous. A couple of things I said in the interview that weren’t published the same way in the paper but nothing controversial but it taught me a lesson about how you say something but something else is put out there. Coming back to the main point, one of my all-time favorite friend, Kalgi was really proud of me and I was humbled to hear that. I am sure my parents and family were happy/proud and a lot of people who really have a good thought for me felt the same. I personally had a dream come true. I have always wanted to give an interview and when I was giving it that afternoon and a photographer was snapping photos, I felt so happy and blessed. I truly feel I am very blessed by the Almighty, Masha’Allah!

To end my wonderful journey of MDX, I was surprised by Him yet again. I never thought I’d return to Mauritius for my graduation but I got the chance. I want to thank dad for this. I travelled to Mauritius and then to Dubai and returned. It was a week’s travel. To be honest, I felt awkward to travel so far just for a week but then I felt I am being prepared for the future, ameen. You know how these entrepreneurs go to cities for just a meeting or a conference and return; I had that kind of a feeling and it was a good one. I flew from Uganda on Monday and reached Mauritius on Tuesday, had my graduation on Wednesday as well as a dinner with my classmates, the alumni event on Thursday and flew that very night to Dubai…quite fantastic isn’t it? I spent two days in Dubai and fell in love with the city. Besides the weather, it is a good place to live. Today as I look back though, I don’t think I’d want to live there. Once again, He has better plans for me than my thought can for myself. I returned on Sunday where my friends came to the airport to pick me up. Yes that was one hell of a week! J

To finally conclude this, I want to say again how blessed I am to have met such wonderful people. I have had a lot of memories in just 8 months and I wonder how much more nostalgic I’d feel had I started from year 1. To everyone out there, life is very precious as is every moment of it. Make sure you enjoy it, live it and love it.

I hope you have had a good time reading the articles on my journey.
I would appreciate feedback through email or whatever you have to say. Also if you want me to write on a particular topic, please let me know.

I hope you continue to follow the blog and my page on Facebook.

Appreciate it a lot.

Cheers!
Peace!

Champ!