Bismillah.
Sem I 14/15 (Feb – Jun 2015)
Semester started early February. In the first two weeks,I occupied Fit’s compartment(squatting to be exact), because there was no room available and i was in the waiting list. Got a call from STADD and i was placed at Mahallah Halimah which was in my liking. Alhamdulillah. But, have to rent the room for about two weeks, until i got my matric no. and my illegal status will be cleared, in early March. Its okay, so long i am occupying my own private place, and not squatting somewhere which was not convenient and afraid of bothering my friend.
Oh yeah, academically; i was struggling with Advanced Quantitative Method (AQM) course which was a course on spss application, and was entirely new and fresh for me. Nope. It was not learning how to key in data or how the functions in spss work. It was an application class. All my classes in the first semester started at 6pm, for three hours. And it was a challenging fortnight for me, returning to mahallah every night feeling uneasy and uncomfortable especially after AQM classes. Plus, with the illegal status with no matric no. proved some form of difficulties , in a more positive word, challenging. Why? Because i cant access the portal and i’taleem but i am thankful to my classmates for copying the class materials for me. Yes, it wasnt that difficult actually, just need to be more friendly
Alright, that part is settled.
Moving to the next month, March; second week. I was online in the early morning, at about 2 a.m when I heard some men voices outside , and that was unusual. I continued my work when suddenly there’s a knock on the door. Hmm. Other roomates were sound asleep and it turned out to be a woman security guard @ iium auxilliary police? I dont know. She was asking for a car with a certain plate number. Okay. I knew. It was Farah’s. She asked me to call her.
My first impression; farah could have parked her car somewhere illegal @ could be someone hitting her car, the security had to call her to clear things up. Still, there was some weird feeling because it was midnight, why cant wait for the daytime? Then, we went out to the garage area and waiting for us, a bunch of men securities. That was unusual too.
And to make it more weird, a sister of no-where, saying that she had farah’s brother on the phone line. Farah and I were.. looking at each other with no clues. The securities surrounding us said, be patient. And, a senior security talked to farah, confirming that car with the plate number was hers, and released the news. It was farah’s dad. Al Fatihah. He passed away that night, and farah couldnt be contacted through her mobile. She slept early that night and her mobile was in silent mode. The family members tried to contact her in many ways and at last through IIUM offices. That explained everything. Farah packed up lightly and went to the airport for her dad’s funeral the following day, on Friday.
The very next day, I got an accident. It was late in the evening, in front of Sayyidina Hamzah Stadium, I was riding my bike heading to Mahallah Safiyyah , just after rain stopped bringing together 2 sets of chickenchops for dinner. I still remember how my bike was swirling and plunged me onto the road surface and bloods pouring down the cheeks.
Concurrent to that event, me and Farah, was absent from classes for three weeks including a week semester break. Actually , I went to two or three classes in the second week after the accident but with the help of some friends fetching me to-and-fro the mahallah and class. Farah wasnt there to see my swollen face and my inability to walk due to the accident. The inability to walk or to move my hands were a slap for me, to be more grateful to Allah SWT.
In the end, both of us missed our classes, and I accept it as a small test from Allah SWT to us, and I hope we passed the test with flying colours. In sha Allah.
