The last semester was overly unfair in my academics. I remember I received a text message from my classmate concerning the deadline for submission of our assignment. I was not around campus at that time, and my classmate knew I would not make it to school and submit the assignment within the set deadline. She was reminding me to send her my work via email to print and submit it for me. I was not around school because I had traveled home to attend to my sick mother.
Earlier on Tuesday that week, I had received the heartbreaking about my mother’s hospitalization, who was scheduled for an operation on Friday. She was to be operated on to remove a tumor in her right breast. The news had brought the focused student in me to a standstill, and I had to leave everything concerning my coursework and make travel arrangements to Malborne Royal hospital to attend to her. On my way to the hospital, I received another call from my elder sister. From her statement, I could almost tell that there was a problem. There was tension in her voice, and she did not use any fancy name she usually calls me over the phone.
“Can you make it to uncle Joseph’s home now, please?” I hesitated a little bit, but before I could answer, she hangs up. At that point, I sensed that something was amiss, but I could not tell what exactly it was. I became so confused that I could not know whether I should go to the hospital or call her back to explain uncle Joseph’s home. However, it occurred to me that calling back was not an option because it was evident that she was not in a position to give more information. I was lost in thoughts, and before I could deliberate on what to do next, I received another call from my father, who breaks another distressing news to me- Uncle Joseph has been murdered.
How can someone murder my uncle? What could be the motive? What could come of his girlfriend! What about his wedding scheduled for December? Among all the uncles, he was my favorite, which made me realize why my sister did not want to break the news. Though I was in distress, I managed to get to my uncle’s place. The police had already taken the uncle’s body, and investigations were underway.
I mourned my uncle for days. During my grief, I was unable to engage in anything constructive. However, the context of my situation did not bar me from thinking about my academics. While grieving, my classmate always kept me updated about the coursework in our class. When I was still at home, she did send me course notes and assignments given by professors. She had even advised me to communicate with my course instructors about my situation to make him understand my situation and extend the submission deadlines for my assignments. On the contrary, I assured her that there was no need to ask for the extensions since I would manage the situation and report back to school and attend to my assignments soon.
Despite assuring my classmate Cathy that I would get back to school and focus on my academics, the grief was never too easy to manage and get back to school immediately. I had to go through therapy sessions for me to accept and move on with life. By the time I resumed the semester, all my assignments were rejected because they were long overdue. To make the matter worse, I was taken to the dean of academics, and it was concluded that I defer the semester. I had to accept that my failure to heed my friends’ advice of communicating my situation had cost me a semester. I was distraught with my ignorance that I had to go for other therapy sessions to recover. From the therapy sessions, I learned that while grieving, one must always know that there is life after grief.