Graduation Day by Shanzay Sameen

Those precious memories
Of all those years in school
Come crashing down in your mind
As you stand there, fingers wrapped around your academic degree of a graduate

The ear-piercing screech of the chalk against the blackboard
Your teacher towering over you, glaring daggers at you
As you stand there as still as a statue, facing down
Red-faced and ashamed for being late in your homework submissions

The sweet aroma of freshly baked bread
Invading your senses once you enter the cafeteria
And the mouth-watering sight of the crispy zinger burger
Making your stomach growl furiously

The muffled stillness and the hushed atmosphere of the library
The kingdom of books, the mesmerizing sight of the mighty shelves
With you completely oblivious of the world around you
As you slowly start drowning in your own realm of stories

Who knew that one day you would want to live all those years all over again
Your heart aches
Eyes brimmed with unshed tears
As you prepare to say goodbye to your old school life on your graduation day.

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If reading is a means of escaping the harsh reality of the world, then writing is a way of creating a whole alternative universe, full of one’s own passions, fantasies and dreams.

Shanzay Sameen of Grade X-G (Gratitude), has always wanted to live more than just one life, and reading and writing is a way of doing so because reading enables her to explore the world of unique characters, look into their perspectives and broadened her vision. By writing, she could build her own world, lay the foundations of her OWN heaven, bring life to HER characters and revel in the happiness that she wants her characters to feel while sympathizing with the antagonists SHE has created and pity at each villain’s misfortune. This is how she believes an ordinary human can live a thousand lives or maybe even more.

She usually writes her own fictional stories occasionally, sometimes on her Word App or sometimes in her diary. Most of her day is spent with her relishing the godly smell of the old pages of her books as she secludes herself in one corner and gets bombarded with her best friends, i.e. books.

What inspired her to write this piece of art, i.e. Graduation Day, was the thought of her A2 seniors who will graduate this 2020. Had this massive destruction of COVID-19 not happened, along with no lockdown, these students would have had enjoyed their graduation ceremony with full enthusiasm. Recently she received the news of Barack Obama, Malala Yousafzai, some famous music artists like popular boy band BTS and singers like Lady Gaga contributing in the celebration of Virtual graduation for the batch of 2020 students which touched her because she knows the day of graduation is the biggest event in a person’s entire student life after which one will only have precious memories embedded in his/her mind of his old school life.

Hence, this is a tribute to all her A2 seniors for their ideal graduation day.

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Cover Photo by Ekrulila from Pexels