MY MEMORIES
Br Hector, the name that has significance in
each and every Josephite's life. The name that undoubtedly has touched the
lives of so many in our town. When we graduated from our primary school and
were about to enter high school, We were warned about there being a 'Hitler' in
high school. When we met Br Hector, he was everything opposite of what we had
heard. Yes, the 'Hitler' part still remained as he had a hanging skeleton in
his office which, we all as kids, innocently thought that he did kill someone for
real.
Although there are numerous memories from my stint in St Joseph's, I do
fondly remember this one particular instance. It was the year 98. I was a class
X student. Although we fared well in studies, me and a bunch of my friends were
'Athletically Challenged'. We were not intetested in any kind of sports
whatsoever. As far as sports were concerned, we were as useless as the letter G
in the word Lasagna.. It was a sunny afternoon on the dreaded Sports Day, the
800 metres relay race had just finished with all the popular athletes,
including the junior class taking part. The following event was a 1500 metres
relay which had no participants as all the known athletes were too exhausted to
run again. Br Hector had this great idea of sending all us torpid girls to
participate. He pulled us out of the spectator area, lined us up, blew the
whistle and 'The Race' of our lives began. It was a hilarious sight with all
the non-athletes sweating it out and trying so hard. The scene of Br hector
encouraging all of us to not give up and to somehow finish what we had started,
is etched in my mind to this day. After finishing 4 rounds of terrible running
with our faces turned black and blue, and panting like we were just out of an
olympic marathon, it finally ended and the 3 least slowest were awarded the top
3 positions. I was one of them. We were on top of the world! It might have been
a small thing for Br Hector and probably he didn’t know at the time that,
ultimately he sparked my inner strength and built my self confidence. I'm not
saying that I became an athlete overnight. I probably never ran like that ever
in my life again, but what it really did was, it inspired me to think that, if
I could conquer this, I could conquer anything that life throws. That day we
learnt, being the kind of person that he is, he never loses a chance in making
a difference in a student's life. Eighteen years later, I still follow these
life lessons he taught us that day. He eradicated the words “I can’t” from our
vocabularies. No matter where in life you are, you should always push yourself
harder in order to conquer your fears and succeed. In a tiny village like
Bajpe, getting us out of our homes, especially muslim girls, into schools,
throwing challenges at us and making sure that none of us are in our comfort
zones, is what he does best and I will forever be indebted to Br Hector and all
the staff of St Joseph's. I did have a lot of teachers encourage and inspire me
along the way, but Br. Hector holds a special place in my heart.
Today I live
in the United States. I've grown up to be a confident woman with a great career
and a loving family. I have a 3 year old daughter, and in the future, if she
ever gets a chance to be a part of such a great Institution, I would consider
myself lucky! Dear Brothers, 40 years of service! And now, St Joseph's will
never be the same without you all. It's hard for us to let you go, but the
number of lives you've touched in these years of service is something that
people of Bajpe will hold on to forever!
I'm sad that the future generation will not have what we had.. the exposure,
the confidence to move forward and, of course, the hanging skeleton in your
office! Good luck with your new venture Brother.
We will dearly miss you!
Adios, until our lives cross paths again..
Naghma Rehman
U.S. A.
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