“Finally it’s time for us to know which student will awarded as the best student for this year.

The name has been in my hand and the best student for SPM 2016 is……”

“Sara wakes up! Your breakfast is ready”

I woke up and realised it was just a dream. I looked at my alarm clock and saw it is already
nine o’clock. Oh no, not again. I had promised to Amanda and Nur to study together. This is
the third time I am late. I took a bath and went down to the kitchen where my mother was
making breakfast for me. I wanted to rush out but my mother scolded me to me to eat breakfast
first. I briefly explained to my mother that I had actually promised to Nur and Amanda to meet
at the park at 8 o’clock but I just accidentally wake up late. To prevent her offence, my hand
grabbed a slice of bread and spread it with peanut butter and blueberry jam. Then, I kissed
my mom’s hand and quickly waved her goodbye. I took my blue bicycle and cycling towards
the park.

My name is Sara. I was a form five student who studied at a boarding school. Apart of that,
I also a head prefect in my school. Being in one of the well-known boarding school in Malaysia
making my live busy as ever. My school always been selected as the host for interstate and
even national level events. As a head prefect, it had become my duty to help the teachers in
organising some particular events. All these things forced me to divide myself between my
duties and my studies. Being a boarding school’s student really required me to be prepared
mentally and physically. Sometimes I needed to face pressure from my peers which really
make me exhausted.

From afar I saw Nur and Amanda were chatting and laughing at our favourite spot. Nur who
always being a happy-go-lucky person always fascinating me. She looks like she never had
any problem with her life. Amanda who sat opposite to her, wearing a lilac shirt today. She
always full of sarcasm but actually has a pure heart. We have been friends since primary
school. Although we all have different characters, we still can get along together. They always
give me moral supports when I faced problems.

“Sorry girls I’m late”, I started to join them and took a place next to Nur.

“It’s okay. Actually it still early. Wasn’t we supposed to meet tomorrow”, Amanda mocked me
while Nur seemed to laugh silently.
 I tried to defend myself as I stated that I had stayed up until 4 o’clock yesterday studied
Biology and been overslept. After that, Nur started to give her ‘little advice’ about how I need
to manage my time. She also suggested me to know the learning type that suitable for me so
it will could help me more. Without me realising it, I had accidentally yelled at them. I felt
annoyance when they do not understand me. They really do not know what I had been faced.
There were many things need to be settled when being a head prefect. I need to handle
students’ programmes, made many paperwork which I always had to redone, controlled
discipline as well as attending classes. Although they have not been in my shoes, they actually
cannot make my problems looks simpler.

Suddenly they just kept quiet. I realised that I might be overboard this time. Then, Amanda
abruptly expressed her feelings. She thought that I just assume that their life is easier than
mine and I really don’t know what had happened to them in all this time. This is also when she
told me about her life. She said even her mom do not care about her life. Her mother who is a
successful businesswoman, never had time for her. Being a single mother who had been left
by her husband make her mother a cold hearted person. Meanwhile Nur also had her own
problem. She had been bullied in her school which caused her faced some mental disorder.
Her case got worse and she needed to be referred to the psychiatry. I am seriously do not
know about all this things as I am in the boarding school. I just got the chances to meet them
only during the school holiday. I started to feel guilty for my act. “I’m sorry”, I said after a few
moments had passed. Then I started to reach their shoulder and give a hug. We cried and
shared about what we had through. I eventually realised that sometimes as a normal human
being, we need to shared our feeling to other peoples so that we will able to peace our mind.

Actually before this, there was a time that I decided to resign from being a prefect. That
was when I got my trial results. When I look at my results, I realise that I actually cannot cope
with all the duties as a prefect and a student. My mother also shocked when saw my results
as I was usually among the best students in my batch. However my discipline teacher, Miss
Nina opposed this decision. She thought that I just take a short cut and run away from the
problem. She also said that I have such great potential in myself. I also have been a great
leader for the other prefects. After been motivated by Ms Nina, I realised that I am the one
who responsible for my own destiny. I cannot blame other things for it and must manage my
time carefully and efficiently. I started to change my routine and made a daily schedule to
organise my life. Many teachers saw the changes in me. They always helped me to stay focus
and still believing me even though I even not believed in myself.
 The road to success always comes through hard work, determination and sacrifice. Nothing
worth having comes easy. Throughout my senior year I realised that the most crucial things in
life is our endurance in facing challenges. Everyone faces challenges in life. It is a matter of
how you learn to overcome them and use them as your advantage. Being a head prefect gave
me many lessons of life. Leadership is about taking responsibility and not making excuses.
While you read this, I might be on my plane to United Kingdom to further my studies as I have
been fully funded by Yayasan Khazanah. My position as a head prefect during my senior year
seems to be an advantages for me compared to other applicants. Now I understand why Miss
Nina insisted me to never let go my position as it will be beneficial to my future.