KARACHI:
With four hectic years of college looming ahead, there will hardly be any time for graduates of the Beachonhouse School System’s Jubilee Campus to stop and slip into a reverie about the past. But at their graduation ceremony on Thursday, they hoped that they could cling on to the moment for the rest of their lives.
“Have you ever wished to hang on to one moment and live in that forever?” asked Hiba Fatima, a graduate who spoke on behalf of other students. “Whenever I will think about my days at school, I’ll go into a trance and start smiling.”
More than 200 O’ and A’ Level students of the Jubilee Campus, known to them as ‘JC’, attended the graduation ceremony at Bahria Auditorium. Former State Bank Governor Dr Ishrat Husain, who is now the Institute of Business Administration’s (IBA) dean and director, was the chief guest.
There was a lot that the students would miss: bunked classes, begging teachers for free periods, delicious fries that Saleem Bhai cooked up, the strict Islamiyat teacher whose sight would make students hastily tuck in their shirts and tidy their hair.
The students laughed out loud as Fatima recalled memorable incidents, such as the time they scared their geography teacher with a plastic lizard and sent her scrambling up to the second floor of the building in fear. But the general mood was not as lively and animated as one would expect at a large gathering of teenagers, perhaps because they realised what they were leaving behind.
The school’s principal, Shernaz Darrah, said that the ceremony was slightly delayed as results were announced on August 13 and a lot of A’ Level graduates had already left for universities aboard. Their parents, however, had come to receive the medals and certificates on their behalf.
Dr Husain was invited to the stage and the students, clad in black graduation robes with mortarboards jammed on their heads, gleefully walked to the stage to receive their medals and certificates.
Of the 149 O’ Level students who sat the exams in June this year, around half managed to achieve five or more As and A*s. The school awards gold medals to those people who are able to achieve eight As or more, and this time, 38 students qualified for the prize. The spotlight was, however, on Faseeh Ahmed, who scored 12 As and his two cousins, Sapna and Geeta Kumari, who had managed to score 11 As each.
There were 85 A’ Level graduates and around 53 percent of them scored at least one or more As. The top achievers were Ifrahim Ahmed Khan with six As and Kulsoom Sohail with five.
Thirteen of the A’ Level graduates are now pursuing degrees at IBA and seven at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. Around 10 students have joined leading medical colleges and an equal number have opted for engineering, with the majority heading to NED University of Engineering and Technology. A few will also pursue degrees in Media Sciences at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology. Around 18 students have secured admission in foreign institutes, with some of them winning hefty scholarships.
“The school’s O’ Level graduates will also bring laurels in their A’ Levels,” hoped Principal Darrah. “You will end up in different countries in pursuit of knowledge. But never forget that you owe much to your homeland,” she said. “The future of Pakistan is in your hands.”
Darrah told the students to never be afraid of making mistakes and embrace them as a part of life. “To be honest, I often act like a proverbial mother-in-law,” said Darrah to an amused audience. “But I’m thankful to you all for supporting me at each and every step.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 13th, 2012.
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