Doing the right thing (by Hani, 6.
4)
Alina was known as one of the brightest students in her class, a reputation she had
earned through her dedication and hard work in her studies. She was also well-known and
was considered one of the "popular" kids, getting along with the other students at her
school. She had a heart of gold, caring for her classmates and friends. Every day, after
school, she follows her carefully scheduled timetable without fail.
"Class, take out your handbook and copy what I wrote on the board,"
instructed Mdm Ri, the class Science and English teacher.
Upon hearing this, Alina immediately looked up just to see the dates of her
upcoming -End Of Year- exams. Confident she could ace both English and science, she had
figured not to write down the dates. Still, she decided to jot down the dates, just in case she
was uncertain of when the day of her exam was. By the time the bell had rang, the dates
had slipped through the cracks in her mind, completely forgetting about it.
Ring! Ring! The school bell echoed through the halls, telling everyone that it was the
end of the day. Once Alina had arrived home, she unpacked her bag and scrambled through
her handbook, checking for any assignments. Instead of assignments, her eyes landed on a
list of dates -her exams were just around the corner-
"Should I study for these subjects, or not?" the thought pacing through her mind as if
she was playing tug of war with herself. Eventually, she gave in and decided to study for
both English and Science although she had wanted to focus on Mother Tongue and Math,
the subjects she was weak in.
Time passed, it was now 7 pm it was now time for her to have her dinner before she
could do anything she wanted for thirty minutes before resuming back to her studies.
Finally, it was now 9 pm, it was her bedtime now and she dozed off to sleep
Time flew by, it was now the day of both her English and Science exams. She had
decided to review her notes for science as it was her first exam before English. Feeling
confident she was going to ace this exam; she walked into class with her head high.
When her exam started, her eyes widened when she saw the questions. "Wait, did I study
the wrong topics?" This thought crossed her mind when saw the first question. Determined
to still do well, she answered the questions from what she knew and what she had learnt in
class. Every few seconds, she would check the clock until…
"Pens and pencils down, class! Flip to the first page and pass it to the first person"
instructed the teacher in-charge.
Alina knew she was going to get low marks; she had gotten the topics mixed up
and didn't study for the right ones. She hung her head low, walking out of the classroom in
disappointment.
Hours passed, it was her English exam and fortunately, she found the exam easy.
The next week, Alina got back her science results. She had passed.
When her teacher, Mdm Ri was going through the answers, she realised that the
teacher had made a mistake and gave the wrong score. She knew the ball was in her court
and decided to do the right thing and tell her teacher about the error. Her heart pounded as
she approached Mdm Ri's desk, her mind was racing without doubt. Although she knew
that she would get low marks, she still decided to do the right thing and tell her teacher
about it. Luckily, she had still passed when her marks got lowered down. However, she did
not get the highest in the class like usual.
From that day onwards, Alina knew to be more attentive and careful to the topics
she studied, to not make the same mistake again.
