Non fiction

Hi, my name is Wael

I woke up, spent my time in the bathroom and got dressed. I packed my stuff for my engineering class. After that I had my breakfast. I love Tuesdays. Tuesdays I have only one lecture at 12 o’clock, so I can sleep longer and I don’t have to hurry. After breakfast I got ready. I said bye to Grandma. She replied and said that she is proud of me.

“Wael, don’t forget to ask some good questions!” she said as I was on my way.

She said it in Somali. Both of my parents are Somali immigrants. They’re working class. I was born here in England. And as their oldest son and the first of the family who has gone to university they always tell me that they are proud of me. And they keep telling it so I don’t forget that they spent their savings and took a loan to make this possible. And because I was only accepted by Hallam, we even moved to Sheffield. They didn’t want to spend money on student accommodation. Now everyone relies on me to get good marks and become a successful engineer. My father is working as a cab driver, ever since he has lived in England. For him it was easy to find a job. My mother used to work in a factory but now has to work as a cleaner for less money in Uni Students’ accommodation because she couldn’t find anything else here. Before I left our house I replied to my grandma in Somali:

“I always ask good questions grandma.”

But today I’m not going to ask any questions because yesterday was Monday. Mondays are the worst days. I have three lectures and then training. Yesterday I was so exhausted I forgot to prepare my stuff for today’s class.

And then there is my upcoming fight next week. I heard the guy was strong. He got eight wins, two losses and three K.O.s in his past ten fights. I am not scared. I am in good shape; good cardio, fast jab and my new favourite combo always worked out in sparring. So as you can see my priority at the moment is my boxing instead of my studies. The problem is that the end of the semester is coming closer and I have to hand in assessments and prepare for my exams. But I also have to work as dish washer in Aspalas on West Street. And even worse I have to do this on Wednesdays and Saturdays; in the evening. No Roar; No Corp; No Embrace; No Replica; No Pop Tarts. I’m not the guy who wants to party all the time, therefore I love boxing too much, but it is hard to be social when you are so busy. And then I often have to help my parents with the household. Sometimes I feel like the whole world lies on my shoulders. I do a thousand things but it still feels like I am not doing enough. I want to be good in everything but often I am just ok. This makes me feel tired and exhausted. Sometimes I’m just wasting my time due to a lack of motivation. I wonder how it’s going to be after the Uni.

Reflection

Everything in this story is fictional except the setting. I tried to put some impressions, feelings and situations I have experienced into this little story. I wanted it to be authentically something that someone could really tell you. Wael is a student I think I can identify with to a certain degree because he has some issues that I have and I think a lot of students probably do. For me it became interesting to think about what effect his situation is going to has on his future; if he is going to win his fight, how successful he will be as a student, if he is going to disappoint his family...

Michael Zaterini