Due: Wednesday, 16. January
You have struggled to decide what to take with you as you move into the world on your own. Now I want you to look the other way. What is the one thing you are the most ready to give up. It may be something at home, school, or the city. It may be physical. It may be metaphysical. What ONE thing are you looking forward to leaving behind you as you cross that stage and take your future in your hand?
Farewell black flies. Goodbye you little evil blood-sucking creatures. At last, after 9 years we shall take our separate ways. You have certainly made my times at TASOK all the more memorable. However, I will not miss you. I shall embrace the journey ahead of me with open arms, as far away from you as possible.
ReplyDeleteMost probably your main source of nutrients,
Farah.
Yes, you’ve probably already figured out what I am looking forward to leaving behind as I move to the bigger world on my own: black flies. Words cannot express how ecstatic I am to not have to spend the rest of my life slapping myself and itching away due to tiny little mosquitoes. It’s not even the fact that they try to feed off me in order to survive that bothers me, but the way they go about doing so. I mean there isn’t one moment where I can stand outside by the classroom door, or on the basketball and soccer field, or even have lunch without getting bit. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t seem to escape from the horrible flies even with the layers of bug spray I put on myself every morning. What adds to my hatred for black flies is that you don’t feel their presence until they have made themselves comfortable on your skin for minutes, sucking away on your tasty blood. By the time you see a little bump on the area where they bit you it is too late. That is when I can’t help but feel like getting rid of each and every black fly out there. And you want to know what the worst part is? They don't attack individually. They attack in groups, all at once, making it all the more frustrating and aggravating. I’ve shared a decent amount of memories with these little black flies and due to them I owe Coach Antoine bottles and bottles of bug spray before I leave TASOK. Who knows, maybe one day I'll look back and laugh at the hatred I have built inside of me for these little bugs but not one day, not one day will I look back and say "Oh, I miss TASOK's black flies."
I love the little letter format at the top of your post. I, too, will kiss blackflies a fond farewell when I leave - even if just for the summer. Very entertaining POV and voice.
DeleteGood-bye BBM and hello T-Mobile plan for “unlimited texts and calls”! Yes, I said it. I will be leaving BBM on August 2013. Many of you might be shocked while reading, but it is very true. With all of our ups and downs, I believe it is time for this relationship to end. It all started at my 15th birthday when I was given the Blackberry curve as a present. After seeing how everyone enjoyed BBM, I knew I had to go to Vodacom to activate it immediately. Little did I know that this tiny step would lead me to an addiction. Yes, I said it. My name is Jennifer and I am a BBM addict. Ok, maybe I’ve exaggerated a bit. I’m not an addict because I can live without it (Just making it clear for those who always bother me with that. Yes you, Shreya).
ReplyDeleteOnce my BBM was activated, I really felt like I was part of an important social network. Although it has been an amazing 2 years, I believe that in August, I will be ready to break up with BBM. I won’t lie, it is a huge distraction. If you don’t discipline yourself, you will find yourself sitting with your phone in your hands and a stack of papers on your desk marked with the letter “F” in red. Although it has helped me stay in contact with family and friends all over the world, I do believe that as I go off to college, it will be time to move on to something new: The traditional SMS. Besides, people rarely have BBM in the U.S anymore. It’s so January 2012! Overall, I believe it’ll be a time for me to focus more on what’s truly important instead of always hearing the “DING” sound of my phone when a new BBM message has been sent. However, I do thank T-Mobile for their unlimited calls and texts. We all know I need some of my social life right?
Is there that big a difference between SMS and BBM? To me they are the same thing. Like Farah, though, you have entertained me with a quirky use of voice - that does a good job of remaining the same throughout the piece. Thanks.
DeleteLeaving the TASOK, family, friends, and all in all, Kinshasa will be extremely hard. There’s just so much that I’m dreading to leave behind. But, here’s a quick question, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone says “Congo internet?” or rather “TASOK internet?” Yes, a negative vibe just pervades through the air. Au Revoir! Congo connection. You are the one thing that I’m looking forward to leaving behind. I can’t wait to be able to open 40 different tabs and windows and have all of them load within a split second, opening up piano tutorials on YouTube and just breezing through videos without that red dot catching up to the loading bar then pausing for 30 seconds. Just thinking about it frustrates me. That’s just a brief overview of my sense of utter hatred towards the overall connection in Kin City. Having been at TASOK for the past 13 years, there are always assignments that consist of going to the computer lab or library to start researching, projects, etc. We would all agree that we spend most of our time talking rather than using the computers. Well, it’s not entirely our fault! Work would get done much easily and more rapidly if it hadn’t been for our campus’ connection. In a way, when I go off to college and think back at the poor connection that I had to once deal with, I’ll be that much more grateful for US internet and I can get my work done efficiently and better manage my time.
ReplyDeleteI laughed all the way though this reply. It's so very true. Thanks for putting humor into our misery.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the blog post have to have a 300-word limit, especially when you have so much to talk about? The one and only thing I really wont miss is the answer “no” from my parents. I love my parents, don’t get me wrong, but at times I just can’t seem to understand where “no” comes in play. My parents say no for the littlest of things, which bugs me because they don’t think before saying it. The conversation normally sounds like this: “mom, can I go spend the night at Frank’s place”? And within 2 seconds I get a “NO”.
ReplyDeleteI understand when parents say “no” to children that don’t listen or haven’t done their work, but in my case, all my work is complete and I have no other plans. I don’t see why my presence at home makes my parents feel better.
But the time has finally come. I am going to college and there is no one to tell me what to do, where to eat, what to eat, where to sleep and more. I have a lot of freedom but I just like to get things my way. I remember wanting to ride a motorbike when I was 11 and the only thing stopping me from killing myself on that bike was the “NO” I got from my dad. Today I thank him from the “NO” because at the age of 13 I drove the bike without his consent and hurt myself. Had I driven the bike 2 years earlier, with less vehicle experience, god knows what would have happened. That experience explains why parents say “no” but I still believe most “NO’s” I get are pointless.
I still vividly remember this feeling from when I moved out of my parent's house. From your ability to recognize the good "no's," it sounds like you will be fine making up your own when you go.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about what I want to leave behind tons of things cross my mind, but one thing I hate passionately and that I am ready to move on from is my stressing habit. I stress too much about everything, even when I know I do not need to and that things will work out in the end. I know everybody has stress but in my case, it is like sweating. I tend to be stress about schoolwork, personal business, or even just a word someone said to me. I may sound dramatic but stressing is part of my everyday life. Especially when I have an essay, a class project or a research paper to write. Last year I had acne due to stress, and it took forever before it left my face as I was worried and I kept trying to pop out. Whenever there is a challenge that I have to face, I start by stressing before I finally pick myself up.
ReplyDeleteThe worst part is that when I am in stress state it also affects those around me, my friends in particular. Rita is always there to help me feel better in these situations. She tells me ‘’stop stressing for nothing’’ or it is not good for your health’. I am working on freeing myself from stress because it really isn’t worth it. In college, I want to be able to face challenges without having to spend half of my time stressing all over the place. I want to have ‘’a just do it’’ attitude from now on. I will be dealing with bigger problems in life and stressing is not an option, nor is it a solution. I want to embrace life and its challenges and stay positive. I want a fresh start, and I want to move on with no regrets and no worries. I say ‘’no’’ to stress in 2013.
A worthy resolution. Here's to a happier and healthier 2013.
ReplyDeleteNo more Calculus, no more physics these are the two things that I am definitely ready to leave behind. One might look at me and say, “Oh! But you’re good at math and physics what’s wrong then?” Well folks they don’t say looks are deceiving for no reason. Only I am aware of the pain I go through every day in opening my Calculus and Physics books. Whenever I wake up with a smile on my face the thought of me having calculus or physics that day very easily rubs of the smile. It is very stressing for one when they are taking all three sciences at once and adding that blue humungous calculus book just adds on to the torture. Whenever I flip through those books, I start daydreaming and fantasying of the future where there will be no more maths and no physics. All I can do is be patient and definitely the lord will bless me with my deserved freedom from these two subjects. I honestly want to write more about how happy I am to leave behind these subjects but that will be me just being more redundant. Getting rid of physics and math is just half the battle I have eight years of medical school to get through as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm betting that med students need advanced maths - for sure you need Chem of all sorts and that requires Calc, no? I can feel the pain Mr. Lindstrom must feel as you write this...
DeleteAs much as I looked forward to moving on to middle school when I was finishing elementary, and as much as I enjoyed finally moving up to high school, I will be happy to continue up to college. In each of these shifts upward I have always been happy to leave behind the immaturity and childishness. With each level of school I have grown, as expected, and am now quite ready to move on. TASOK is a very easy school, partly because there are so many whiners and complainers who make it difficult for teachers to get them to do anything. While I also like to get out of as much work as possible, I understand the necessity of school, learning, and doing work. I will be happy to move away from this immaturity. I know that there will always be those kinds of people around, but at least in college there will be less of them. Most people there will hopefully want to be there, and will hopefully know that a little bit of hard work is good for them. I want to be surrounded by people with a passion for what they do: students for what they are learning, and teachers for what they are teaching. I don’t like seeing people acting lazy and bored, because their laziness and boredom is contagious. It is way too easy to slack off and be unproductive while in a good work environment, but with their help it is even easier. Next year I want to be encouraged to work and do the best at everything I do, because I don’t feel like that is happening here at TASOK.
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying. I feel much the same way about classes I've taken and projects I've been a part of. Teachers are some of the worst offenders when it comes to taking the "easiest" class in order to "get through" with a necessary credit or course. I go in super excited for advanced, impassioned discourse and hate it when I end up in a group who wants to cruz through. Especially in your major and upper level classes, you will find the passion you seek.
DeleteGoodbye SAT! My life, my friend, my enemy, my test – good bye! Our relationship will end by 1st of June, which will be my last SAT test in my life.
DeleteI remember the days when I met you every day, every evening and every night. You made me struggle with your reading passages and you made me go to sleep at 3 o’clock in the morning. You are still taking a big place in my shelves but I will not see you again after I leave Kinshasa. I know. It is sad. We have been so good and wonderful together, but don’t cry because there’s always an end to every start. When I met you for the first time, you seemed too hard for me. You looked like a huge wall blocking my way. Now, I don’t know what happened. I say, “I hate SAT,” but I like helping anyone having problems with SAT questions and about 50% of my brain is filled in with SAT, SAT, SAT, SAT, SAT and SAT.
After 5 months, we will be over. I will never see your questions asking me, “What is the purpose of passage 1?” or “The author’s tone in the second paragraph of passage 1 can be best described as one of…” Oh, farewell my friend! The joy and sorrow that you gave me, cannot be forgotten. Because of you I had to give up my economics homework but be with you. Because of you I had to spend my holidays in my room dealing with your questions.
SAT, it’s almost time to say goodbye. Thank you for making me studying for 5 hours a day. Thank you for making me know all the “abstruse” vocabulary. Thank you for improving my critical reading skills. Until June, we will be together but after that…
Goodbye SAT Forever
I love the first person letter style here. As a reader, I can laugh and cry with you.
DeleteWell, there are so many things that I would like to leave behind but, the most essential thing that I’d like to leave behind is My Immature behavior, my childish side. Yes, my childish side, I said it, you heard me. I want to already start behaving and acting like an adult and, not fooling and goofing around. Am not saying fooling around is bad or something but, I just don’t want to anymore. It’s good, at times you can fool around but, not all the time. I want to start taking life seriously rather than being all lazy. Am going to college, I can’t afford to take with me my childish behavior, no. Partly I blame my parents for creating this bubble where, whatever I want I given to me. I love my parents for whatever they have done and I thank and appreciate them because my life wouldn't have been all this without them but, they have been spoon feeding me for my entire life. Well, now the time has come to pop this bubble that they have created. I know it will be hard but, with time I will adjust to it. I can’t be totally dependent on my parents for everything. Am growing up and I need to learn to do things on my own, make decisions myself.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me sad. Sad because you are really just beginning a time (college years) when the childLIKE attitude will be encouraged (socially, at least: not academically). Enjoy the silly times that will come - times to de-stress after an all night study session by doing the Chicken dance on the quad, times to have a dorm to dorm competition about who can put the most furniture outside in 5 minutes; times to skip a class that you really should go to - just because you can (please don't skip them all). Enjoy all the time to come.
ReplyDeleteWhat am I going to leave behind? That’s a pretty big question. There are so many things that I'll leave but the question is “What do I choose to leave behind?” Some of things that I’ll leave behind will not be an option or my choice. One thing I want to absolutely leave is my ugly laziness. I want to be able to finish up my work on time and not wait till the last minute. Especially this second semester I have been very lazy and lethargic. I decide that I’ll finish up all my work a week before it’s due and not worry about it the night before but I still end up not finishing everything. This laziness will surely not work in university and will have wondrous effects. I know that during this period of time seniors have senioritis but i feel this is just way more than senioritis. For example I thought of doing my blog posts every week as soon as they’re up instead of waiting till 3 to 4 are up but unfortunately YES I HAVE 4 BLOG POSTS LEFT TO DO. The worst part about being so lazy is when you sit down to do all the work pending you just don’t feel like doing any of them because you know you’ll never finish. So I am going to try everything possible to get rid of this awful laziness so that I can survive in university.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with this. Many uni students LEARN procrastination at uni. Too much free time for the first time ever, I guess. Too many choices. But your resolve will serve you well.
ReplyDeleteIt is time for me to leave behind the night life. Wait! Wait! What? No I was just kidding. I enjoy being out at night and I just love night life.
ReplyDeleteJust like Falak, what I would like to left behind is PROCRASTINATION. It’s crazy how I procrastinated to my work and I know it will not work well in college if I keep on doing that. Since we are back form Christmas break, I hand in EVERYTHING late. I can have time to do my work but I just tell myself that” I will do it later, I still have time». Sometimes I think that it’s because I’m a senior, I just can’t wait to graduate. I don’t understand my laziness this year and I would really like to leave it behind. I just decided to do all my blog posts one month after. What procrastination!!!
I think that I won’t be lazy in college because I will do everything for myself. If I’m lazy, I will be wearing dirty clothes, I will die with hunger. I will do my best to keep up with my work in college because my parents want to see good results at school. Laziness doesn’t lead to anything good but failure.
I hope you will not die from hunger and I believe you will be up at sunrise rather than wear dirty clothes - you always look well put together. As a test, try keeping up the rest of this year. After all, your parents are paying as much here as they will for college. Enjoy the last few months!
DeleteThe one thing I can’t wait to leave behind is being treated like a child. I am the oldest of eight children in my family but why then do I feel like I get treated like I’m one of the youngest? I do understand that it is a huge responsibility to be the oldest. My father has very high expectations of me as the oldest. For my siblings and I, rules and responsibilities are made in the house to follow and live by. What is frustrating for me is that if I break just one rule or don’t fulfill just one responsibility just one time, it becomes a big deal. My father yells at me as if I break rules all the time. He even takes away my allowance at times just so that I never do it again. He always says that my little sisters look up to me and want to be like me one day; so if I mess up, they mess up. The way he treats me makes me feel less mature and more like the youngest child in the family.
ReplyDeleteAll of this will soon end. As soon as I graduate and leave home, I’ll be singing “free at last”. Although leaving home and living by myself comes with more responsibility, than I would have at home, not being yelled at for the little mistakes I make will be one less thing to worry about. I know I’ll miss having my parents to help me fix the little mistakes I make, but them being there to yell at me and punish me has taught me to be a little more careful and responsible with the way I do things. This means that I won’t need them anymore. I will be leaving behind being treated like a child and I know I will become someone my little sisters can look up to.
See, you can focus on one idea. Well phrased and explained. Interesting, though. I definitely get "oldest child" from you - the way you take charge of others and mother them to get the best from them.
DeleteThere a several things I would like to leave behind as once again, I move to a new location. What I would like to leave most though, is my poor time management. Throughout school, I have always left things to the last minute. I have gotten by, by staying up till the early hours to get the job done, and only really sleeping on weekends. It never really was problem, till I caught the evil seniorities, which only worsened my situation, by making all my last minute work into late work. After a recent trip to the doctor’s office and a progress report however, I realized that it’s time for change. As I know for a fact that in college, I will have more work than I do now, and there are just not enough hours in the night to get everything done on time.
ReplyDeleteAlso my poor time management has not only affected my studies. It has resulted in me having a record number of tardies at TASOK, and has caused several arguments. So it has become clear to me that I should work on this part of my life for not only my sake, but also for the sake of my relationship with my friends and family, and for the sake of my studies. That is why I have made it a goal to work on my time management skills for the last few months of school. So as to get a head start and go into college with the skills I need to succeed. Even if it means I need to go back to my old Belgian school ways, which involve a well-kept agenda, a writing utensil, and a calendar.
Good time management is a superb life skill to hone, but do be aware that in university, you will have much more time on your own to get class work done. That can be terribly freeing or terribly tempting - you decide. Sounds like if you are going to overcome the evil senioritis in the next few months, you will be well on your way to sunshine and lollipops.
DeleteThere are several things that I will like to leave behind me after graduating this year, but one of the main things that I will complete like to be set free from is being LAZY because ever since last year I haven’t been putting most of my effort and time to my school and personal work, and this year everything has just gotten worse.
ReplyDeleteI have self motivation but I still don’t get what been stopping me to do my work when being asked to, and personally I will say that I would not want to be lazy on my last year of high school because senior does mean all of work, but all of this will soon end because I am a really hard working person that can be capable of always achieving the best.
Although as soon as graduate I will be forever be set free from parent surveillance which is really annoying and a very nice step of your life, I really wish that the time that will be walking out of my house to go to college that I leave as hard working, courageous, and self-motivation person because I think that those three words listed are really going to be helpful to my learning ability in college.
It's interesting to me that so many of you say you will be on your own next year. While this may be true in a day to day way. Remember that if your parents (or anyone, for that matter) are helping you out financially, you are still responsible for reporting to them, and they could decide that since you are legally an adult, if you get lazy and don't seem to be doing well in college, they have the legal right to pull all financial help and leave you to really be "on your own." So, when you all say, "I want to work harder next year" remember that your parents are paying as much for your education right now as they will be paying next year, or you say "I will be happy to be on my own" if your parents are helping you in any way (for instance, paying for part or even all of your living/school expenses), they are still very much in control of your decisions and studies and life. Nevertheless, this is a fine idea. Why not begin now? You don't have to wait till next year.
ReplyDeleteWhat to leave behind? This is a hard question for me because Congo is not my home, but I am so ready to leave my blackberry. It is hard for me to believe that I am saying this but in August I will change my white baby of blackberry to an iPhone. Faster internet, free txt’s and calls. “Sweet Life” like some people says in Kinshasa. I will finally have a real 3G+ internet on my phone. No but let’s think about it, being able to download a four minutes video in less than a minute and not letting it download in the morning to watch it when we come back from school. I will definitely miss Kinshasa but his network and internet, definitely not. Everyone is asking me: why are you changing your blackberry to an iPhone? Just because I think BBM will not help me in college. You can ask anyone that owns a Blackberry, as soon as that little red light start we all go crazy. Plus BBM was for my high school years and with an iPhone I will be able to have thousands of different applications that will actually work.
ReplyDeleteDear Kinshasa,
Thank you for the three amazing and unforgettable years that you offered me, but it is time for me to go my own way. Hope that you will have a faster internet when I come back.
Sincerely, Maelle.
I know people who have internet on their blackberrys, and I know folks who use blackberries in the US. so I don't really understand why you need to change?
ReplyDeleteGoing to university leaving behind friends and family and Kinshasa will be hard. One thing I will not regret to leave behind is the internet in this place. It so slow, it takes and hour to load a video that is supposed to be a minute long. I think People actually grow old waiting for something to load on the internet in Kin. The whole of Kinshasa probably shares 2 Mb per network that’s how slow it could get. Think about it 1 million people sharing 2 Mb worth of internet.
ReplyDeleteI use Standard Telecom’s internet and other people use different networks but they all say the same thing that the internet in Kinshasa is slow. So you see it’s not only me. Just can’t wait till I get to Canada or the States where the internet is fast. I can’t wait to stream golf, soccer, or basketball games online. Also shows like Psych and White Collar. On top of that I can stream and watch latest episodes as they air that same time.
I could Skype with people without the screen freezing or crashing. I would be really happy to leave the internet in Kin behind. I wouldn’t even think twice, before throwing the internet here in an active volcano. If it was a solid visible thing we could see and touch.
It is faster in most of NA, but it is way more expensive. Enjoy.
ReplyDelete