Daily Prompts: The Heat is On

Do you thrive under pressure or crumble at the thought of it?Does your best stuff surface as the deadline approaches or you need to iterate,day after day to achieve something you’re proud of? Tell us how you work best.

I do not have a specific pattern doing my work. Sometimes I work best under pressure such as deadlines, I feel scared of them, not being able to meet them, is my worst fear. It depends on the type of deadlines.

Once I was applying for a scholarship, there was a specific deadline or else my application would be rejected. I knew my application had to go through the Principal of the school where I was working, I knew he will slow down the process so my application reaches late and I’d be disqualified. I got in touch with the secretary who was handling the applications, I asked her if it was possible to send my application to meet the deadline, so if the school delays it, I’d still be considered . She told me it was perfectly all right that I am allowed  to send it. I sent my application and I was glad I took that route. My Principal was not in favor. He told me,”Why are you applying for this, we will send you after two years?”

I knew it wouldn’t happen, I believe in the phrase,”A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.”

I’m glad I did what I thought was the right thing to do. I am always glad I thought of sending my application earlier.I was awarded the scholarship which I wanted so badly. Sometimes it needs a bit of creativity to handle deadlines!

………………………………………….. 🙂

 

 

365 Writing Prompt: The road less traveled

Pinpoint a moment in your past where you had to make a big decision.Write about that other alternate life that could have unfolded.

When I was in Dhaka, Bangladesh, I saw an ad for a teaching job in Islamabad, Pakistan. I applied for the job,the headmistress of the school came to Dhaka to interview the applicants. There were six of us competing for that one job. I was called in first, the headmistress was a nice lady, she asked me about my experience,where I taught and how I learned to speak Urdu.

I told her I lived in Rawalpindi Pakistan, where my father worked. We left the city  after my father passed away.

I was immediately offered the job, though there were other applicants yet to be interviewed. I thought about the distance I’d have to travel from Comilla ,Bangladesh, to Islamabad Pakistan. I asked her if there was a hostel nearby where I could stay.

When the headmistress  told me the nearest place to stay was forty miles from the school, I was concerned, I wasn’t sure the distance from the hostel to the school would be convenient for me to travel everyday. I asked my sister, she told me it was a bad idea to take this job.

I declined the job and carried on with  my job in the school where I was already employed.

Had I taken that job the alternate life  that  could have unfolded for me would be frustration for accepting a job so far away from my original home, I’d probably dislike myself for taking a stupid decision. Eventually I know I’d quit the job and come home.

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