Francis Bacon

"To spend so much time in studies is sloth." - Francis Bacon, 16th Century Philosopher.

I know that as a Muslim, I should not agree with the statement above. It is never 'too much' when it concerns my studies. A good Muslim during the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) spend a third of his night sleeping, a third praying, and another third studying. If that is too hard to practice, then the least that is required from us now is to gain as much knowledge possible as if we are going to live forever. So how does that quote applies to me?

I do understand, though, what Sir Francis Bacon meant when he said that. Hey, he was a philosopher, a scientist, and an author; how can he NOT spend too much time studying? I THINK what he meant by that sentence was studies without experiences is a weak scholar's excuse to living. And I think I'm guilty of that.

Believe it or not since he went back to his hometown three weeks ago, I have done nothing more than flipping the channel between Star World and E!. Yes, there are many other factors as of why I am stuck here doing not much. But then I realized...I am nothing when I'm not studying. I just miss it when the school semester starts because then I would have a reason to wake up in the morning. I would have a reason to not leave my room with books surrounding me during weekends. I love the adrenaline rush of finishing an assignment on time. And I do agree that these are symptoms of laziness. I am just too lazy to do anything else... True, knowledge does not only depend on teacher-student interaction in class. I can study at home by reading and watching Discovery... But the drive is not there when there are no deadlines to meet. *sigh*

The good side of it are of course plenty. With discipline and passion, a lot can be achieved. And that is my argument today.

When I was seventeen, I had a boyfriend. Oh, EVERYONE knows about us. We were famous! The top student is dating one of the 'bad boys' at school. He was known among the teachers for reasons way different than mine. And of course you can imagine the things people were saying. But the one thing that I'll remember forever are the different reactions we got from faculty members. Of course at first many of them were against this 'partnership' as they were 'concerned' over my studies. But as the year went on (by form five we've dated a year), some of the teachers, especially those who taught and knew me personally, started to have faith in me. Instead of the saying "you're too young to be in a relationship," some of them started to say "you should spend more time helping *** in his studies too." I was so happy by this time.

I'm not being riak, but I'm just saying that this is me. This is Syaza. As I had mentioned many times before, I had quite a number of down time whilst growing up. And believe it or not my way of coping with this brutal world is by drowning myself in books and books. Even when I first experienced 'freedom', I never fail to put aside time to study. OR, when I was in a relationship my studies were still top priority in my list... It had always been and always will be.

Believe me when I say the more you tell me I can't, the more driven I am to prove you wrong. I've always said to people never say never to my face for part of the purpose of me being on this earth is to accept every challenge thrown my way.

Once, at the start of my form five year, the counselor at my school came into our classroom to give a very boring and repetitive speech telling us to "make a timetable, don't go out, don't socialize, bla bla bla..." the usual stuff. And then before he left the class - oh I remember it till today - he turned, looked my way and said, "And you don't need to be in a relationship right now. It will definitely take your focus away from you studies." You can imagine how fired I was. But I swallowed and took it as a challenge. When I went back to my school months later to get my SPM result, this teacher/counselor did not even look my way, much less congratulate me. My principal asked me to come back a few days later to give a speech to my juniors and I made sure then that I said it loud and clear on the podium, "Almost all of you know me. And you should know how a lot of people have said I won't succeed under certain 'circumstances'. But you know what, I am living proof that the only believe that you need is from yourself and only that. If you think you can do it, then YOU CAN."

Dear PSD people, try stopping me if you dare.

-C-