The very last thing I need when my
alarm scares the sleep out of me, the bitterly cold air of London starts to
blow in through the windows and freeze up my warm bed, is the fact that I need
to be enthusiastic. Yes enthusiastic about getting on a bus with a bunch of
screaming children, who I will then sit next to in classes for the next several
hours of the day. It is a difficult time
for someone like me, who treasures every second they can spend in peace and
solitude.
I have been in the School now for a year and
the daily routine sticks in your head in a way no revision guide ever could. I
count down the seconds until I rush to my class and stumble past impatient students
who are experiencing the same amount of stress I am.
This was last year.
One Sunday morning, I woke up with the
fact that school begins tomorrow attacking my every thought. I made myself a
cup of Earl Grey tea (As 11 year olds do on such radiant mornings, no?) and
turned on my laptop. I noticed something different.
Was it the fact that my screensaver
was still a picture of revision words from my French end-of-year exam I meant
to revise for? Or was it the fact that my brother left all of his gaming
websites open, letting viruses make their way into my personal documents?
No. It was the fact that above my
email icon was a big red notification that read 1,043 emails.
1,043 emails. To be honest, I didn’t
know 1,043 emails could fit in my inbox.
I was oddly excited, not knowing how
my phone had not rang throughout the whole night, but opened up my emails.
I scrolled past all the advertising
which I never read anyway, as well as all the emails telling me my subscription
to National Geographic has ended, even though I have never subscribed. I finally
found one email that caught my attention. It was the 723rd email down.
The title was ‘Read. It will change
you’. It was sent by an anonymous person.
Thinking this was another spam letter
about plastic surgery or Yoga classes, I quickly skimmed through it. I got to a
section called ‘Quotes: When you really need them’.
I read through some of the quotes.
They were very interesting, but each one so unique and out of context, that it
was odd why they were all bunched up together.
One read: ‘Help them in the morning,
so that they’ll be help to you that evening’
Another read: ‘Life is what happens to
you while you’re busy making plans’
I merely took notice of the two.
Logged off and went elsewhere.
It is the day after.
The alarm’s constant nagging ran
through my ear canal and attacked my brain cells. The bed had lost its warmth.
The sky was still dull and dark, just like it was as I closed my eyes. My
uniform was folded and placed on the chair, just as it was last night- only
colder. I dressed, drank a cup of tea, and lugged around my backpack.
I arrived at school to the shout of my
dear friend asking me for help. I was far too stressed to think, as I had other
plans, but all of a sudden I remembered the quote: ‘help them in the morning,
so that they’ll be help to you that evening’
So I helped him. He got what he needed
and then the bell went.
After I arrived back home later that
night, I remembered that I still had that project to complete. I turned on my
laptop, and as I did. My friend called me on Skype.
“Hey” he said “So…I was wondering if
you need help with the project? I have some tips- I sent them to you via
email.”
I was dumbfounded. The quote was true.
I was still not convinced though.
I was rereading the other quote again
from the email as my friend shouted through the microphones “So…want to see a
movie next weekend, or grab a bite to eat?”
“Yeah, sure” I replied. We debated for
at least an hour on which movie was best and which restaurant was better and so
on and so forth.”
We eventually agreed and I had to go.
I ran downstairs.
Everyone was crying.
“Where were you?” My mother said “We
called you but you didn’t come”
I was worried, very worried. I asked
what happened
“We have some news…” They said
“Your aunt is having a baby girl”
I was so happy, everyone laughed and
cried. This was really a momentous occasion.
And then it hit me: Life is what happens
to you as you are busy making plans.
Until this day, I do not know who the
person that sent me the quotes was. He still sends them to me every day, and
every day is an inspiration which motivates me to do something different.
Something that might just change the way I think about life.
So at 6:30am, the alarm does not
torture my every nerve into thinking the day will be a gloomy one. It tells me
that the race to achieve and succeed has begun.
