Carving different pathways

For two students in particular, last week’s University of Nizwa graduation ceremony was particularly poignant. Reem al Thuhli, from Hay Al Turath, and Buthaina al Yahyaee, from Bahla, even coincidentally received their Bachelor’s Degrees in English Language and Translation despite carving very different pathways for each other throughout their studies.

Their paths were different, as they should be, in that as academics, and each having their own strengths, they chose different ways to express themselves in class, and in their approach to their studies, along the way earning the respect of their peers, teachers, and lecturers.

Al Yahyaee is no doubt the bolder of the two, with a very single-minded approach to her studies, always looking for ways to improve herself, and her work, not by asking for reconsideration of marks, but by seeking clarity at every step of the learning process. A member of the faculty described her as being, “incredibly intense, accurate, and passionate about her learning,” while another said, “She’s such a cheerful and willing student, and nothing seems to be any problem.”

Being as driven as she is, it’s no surprise either that this bold young student played a key role in the development of a group of young students who were having difficulty with the demands of academia, by assisting their teacher across a semester. Al Yahyaee revealed an inner strength and resilience to play a key role in convincing a boisterous learner group to commit to their programme, and with their teacher was rewarded by their success at the semester’s end.

“I’m not special,” she said, “but if I do something, I want to do it properly!” And thus, a young woman who appears strong, willful even, achieved the first of many significant life objectives, and will surely respond positively to the Chancellor, Dr Ahmed al Rawahi’s exhortation that the degree is only the beginning of the work, and to keep working for the good of themselves and the nation.

Graduating alongside her, Al Thuhli is cut from a very different cloth. Although possessed of a similar sharp mind, this young woman has an entirely different nature, demonstrating that indeed there are many different learning types in our institutions. Al Thuhli absorbs teaching, and then prods, pushes, pulls, and tests it in every possible way, testing its accuracy, its fit with other teaching and learning, and only questions what she cannot rationalise for herself.

She has too, a little more ‘surgical artistry’ about her it seems, with an ability to make her words profound, her gestures meaningful, and writing sincere. She wrote this two years ago, and still it resonates:

I am old, ancient and dry. One that every environment hater wants to cut. I’ve been here for so long and I’ve seen so many ceremonies, weddings and funerals, I feel like I have known everyone. !

People have come to feel comfortable beside me, and I am like the beating heart of this town. Children love to play under me, lovers carve their names in me to perpetuate their love and passion.

One day someone came to me and just gazed at me for long time, then walked away purposefully, as if he had made a decision. I wished he hadn’t come. He was different, and he had made me uncomfortable.

The next day he came back with tools in his hands then I knew for sure he had come to do me harm.

He cut and chopped, the sounds made it even worse for me and lay a dreadful feeling in my heart.

Until I was gone, just a memory.

He killed me without care, with no mercy in him.

Clearly, he didn’t understand the value of a tree.

Reem al Thuhli is more conservative, though with a quick wit and smile never far away, like her best friends and study buddies, Ekhilas and Nouf.

These two young women have both chosen their paths, and let their personalities guide their approach to learning, which is an approach that allows them to be true to themselves, what and who they want to be.

No doubt, among the 1423 graduates at last evening’s ceremony, there are others of the same ilk. There will be those who achieved without breaking a sweat, and those who have had to, academically, kick bite and scratch, for every mark, and its that diversity that makes the university experience so valuable to young people. Now, all these 1423 young people have to do is keep learning, keep working, and stay positive knowing that “Nothing worth having comes easy, but the hard work makes it feel like it’s worth a whole lot more.”

PHOTOS BY LENA PETERSEN