16 December 2011: A Learning Day for Me
No matter where you go or what you do, you will always learn something, even the faintest of all things.
Our year 8 awards ceremony was more than just handing out awards to students, especially when our principal told us about one girl’s statement from a survey conducted for kindergarten students. The girl said that Principals should be nice, teachers should be funny, and students should be treated as if they are Gods. The Principal finished of her speech by saying that our school already implements two of the three statements. As she left, I believed that the third statement should be implemented. This goes to show that everyone should listen and respect to what others have to say, no matter how young they are.
After our awards ceremony, my father, little brother and I went to watch the Chairman’s XI v India cricket match at Manuka Oval. The purpose of going there was to get Indian Players’ autographs for my little brother. I have found that getting autographs from players on the field a difficult task. I was surprised to see the players who were gossiping did not pay attention to their young fans who were desperately pleading for autographs. I was shocked to see how these adult players hurt the feelings of little children who are supposed to be treated with respect. I suggest that those players read the findings that my Principle explained at our award ceremony- children should be treated as Gods.
In that match, my brother managed to get autographs from three players including, Indian captain M.S. Dhoni, but he was still gutted for not receiving the number of autographs he expected. My brother means more to me than a signed cricket bat. I therefore, gave him my cricket bat which was signed before by the legendary Indian captains’ Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, and Sourav Ganguly. Having this bat, he was “over the moon” with happiness which, in turn, made me feel happy. This experience showed to me that the happiness of child far more important than all the wealth in the world.
Returning from Manuka Oval, my father and I attended the Bangladesh’s 40th Victory Day seminar at Bangladesh High Commission in O’Malley. At the seminar various presenters were talking about Bangladesh’s economic challenges and prospects. I did not understand most of the presentation, however, when the speakers started to focus on natural disaster awareness, unplanned urbanization, traffic congestion, and the competent and honesty of the government, I found the presentation was worth listening to. This interests me maybe because of my practical experiences in Bangladesh early this year.
I now realize that what I have seen in Bangladesh and what the experts have said about Bangladesh are related. As an Australian-Bangladeshi teenager, I believe that we can offer a lot to Bangladesh’s economic development. I can relate to what I have experienced from my little brother’s friend’s birthday party. At that birthday party, they were requesting funds for making mosquito nets, building sanitary toilets, providing educational equipments for Cambodia rather than toy’s for their children. These types of initiatives taken by NRBs’ families (Non-Resident Bangladeshis) can assist, to some extent, Bangladesh’s economy to grow.
