A wise man once said " All of the top achievers I know are life-long learners. Looking for new skills, insights, and ideas. If they're not learning, they're not growing and not moving toward excellence."
Nora just arrived at her new college, she got accepted into the IT faculty and is starting a new chapter in her life.
She made her way toward the girl's dorm to put away her things in her room and get ready to attend the welcoming ceremony, She pumped into a girl and both of them dropped their belongings.
"Watch where you're going!" Yelled the girl.
Nora got up from the ground and offered the girl a hand and said "Sorry, but you pumped into me as well"
The girl took her hand, then they started collecting their things, the girl gasped at her Laptop and said
"Oh no, I hope my precious laptop it ok, It won't start, what am I going to do!"
Nora took a look at it then she took a small screw out of one of her bags and said "let me see it"
The girl handed the laptop to Nora, after a few minutes Nora was done fixing it, she handed it back to the girl and said "here, try again"
The girl tried again to start it, it worked well and there seemed to be no problem.
She smiled at Nora and said " Wow, it's as good as new!"
She put it back in her bag, then she turned to Nora and said "Thank you so much, let's start over, shall we?"
Nora smiled back and said "Sure, I'm Nora"
The girl shook Nora's Hand and said "Nice to meet you Nora, I'm Battol"
"So, What is your major?" Added Battol.
Nora replied " I got accepted into the IT Faculty, my major is computer science"
The girl's eyes widened as she said "Me too, what a coincidence!"
Battol started blabbering about when she received an email a few weeks ago from this institution and about how exhausting her flight was until another girl approached them and said "excuse me, I heard you saying that both of you got accepted into the IT faculty.
I'm a second-year student If you need anything just let me know"
Battol turned to the girl and said " oh, Hi!
Yes, that would be very nice of you, can you please show us the way to the girl's dorms?"
The girl took them to the girl's dorms and gave them a little tour around campus, after walking for so long Nora said
"Can you please show me the way to room 12, I'm tired of holding these heavy boxes!"
The girl smiled at Nora and said "sure, just follow me"
After maha showed them their rooms they left to the Auditorium to catch the opening
ceremony.
"Good, they have not started yet" said Maha when they arrived.
"Can we please sit in the front? I heard this colleague is very strict I want to pay attention to what the dean is going to say" said Battol.
"The second raw is empty, let's go before it gets full" replied Maha.
"Wow! this place is huge come close let's take a selfie" said Battol.
The opening ceremony started, it was the usual boring lecture about discipline, hard work, and the importance of education.
"I'm starting to regret attending the ceremony!"said Battol in boredom.
"Keep your voice down please and pay attention, the dean will speak after his assistant finish" said Maha.
"Wait, this is his assistant!" Asked Nora in shock.
"For real, I thought he was the dean, look how old he is!" Added Battol.
"He takes care of most of the work, he's been working here for a long time" Maha replied.
Then she pointed at a man and said "Look! here comes the dean"
Everyone started whispering to each other, the dean wasn't an old man like everyone thought, he seemed to be around fourty.
He stood next to his assistant and started his speech "Thank you so much, mister Ramzy for your wonderful speech, I'm sure the students paid attention to every word you said.
Anyway, unlike Mister Ramzy, I have not prepared a long speech, I Just want to wish you all the best of luck and I hope you make the most of this opportunity.
The students who were selected personally by our recruiting team are believed to be among the most gifted students in the world"
In this institution we only accept the best of the best, if you're here then it means that we knowledge your potentials and we are expecting impressive preformance from you.
Alright, now without any further delay, I'll reveal to you our study plane for this year."
Study plan? But I thought every major had their own study plan! Asked Battol.
"You see, In this university all freshmen go through the same courses, after they successfully pass the first year they start studying their majors in their second year. " Maha explained.
"This University aims to hone the student's fundamental skills and knowledge, we only accepted elite students here, and by the end of this year only the elite of the elite will continue to study here. " said the dean.
He carried on "Last year about 40% of the student successfully passed the freshmen exams.It was one of the highest percentages in the history of our university, we expect no less of this year's freshmen. Now without any further delay, I will reveal to you this year's study plan and courses, each course will have a special exam"
It is such a well-known college, how come no one ever told me about this? Asked Battol.
"This college has very strict rules when it comes to media, if you paid attention to mister Ramzy's speech, he said that students are not allowed to share information about their studies here or the methods of examination or take pictures in exams or post anything on social media about it.." explained Maha.
"he will tell us about this year's courses and their special exams now" Said Nora.
"First, All freshmen from all majors will study 4 languages, you are expected to be able to speak them all fluently by the end of the year.
not as fluently as native but to be able to communicate in these languages. The second course is sports.each of you will practice a sport plus the morning warm-up exercises.
you can't pass this course unless you win a medal in an international competition.You will get sponsors and contracts and you might get a chance to become a professional athlete if you shine in the competitions.winning a golden silver, or bronze medal is what it takes to pass this course."
After the dean revealed the first 2 courses the students showed their disappointment loudly while others simply left the Auditorium.
Battol wanted to leave as well but Maha told her to hear him out till the end.
The dean carried on with his speech and said "The main course is to save someone, you need to find someone who is in desperate need of your help and do your best to save them. The only way to pass this course is to get an A from the person you saved."
"What are we superheroes!" Battol exclaimed.
"No, we are the elite students of the world, the world's future leaders , ministers, doctors, lawyers teachers are all here" Maha calmly explained.
"Have you saved someone too Maha?" asked Nora.
"No, each year they change the courses according to what society needs" answered Maha.
"The fourth course is first aid and basic medical help training.The fifth course is science in genera. to pass this course you must write a paper on a scientific fact, and make an experiment or work on a project with your colleagues.The last course is not an obligatory one, it is to design an app a website, or even a social media account that provides free service for people.to pass this course you must get 5 stars rating from your followers or users.If you fail one of the obligatory courses you can take this course and it won't affect your GPA. But if you fail 2 courses you will be suspended, There are no make-up exams and you can't apply again for this colleague.That's all, I wish all of you the best of luck, Mister Ramzy will answer all of your questions and will hear your thought.for more details on your courses you can check your student portals on the university's website." The dean ended his speech.
"It was nice meeting you girls, this is not what I signed up for!" Battol exclaimed.
"Have patience, the ceremony is not over yet"Maha said.
"Quite! Please" said the old assistant.
"Each of you received a student ID this morning, through the code that is written on your ID you can access to your student portal, each student can check the details of his courses on his portal and get access to his student bank account"
"A student bank account?" asked Battol.
"You see, this colleague provides economic funds for students to complete their courses each student gets about 20k coins each year.
if you work on a project that requires more funds you can write a proposal to the university council, and if they approve your project they will give you extra cash" explained Maha.
"Such a smart way to motivate students" Nora commented.
"Excuse me mister I have a question."asked a girl.
"You are excused, what is your question? " Said the assistant.
"After we complete all the courses and pass the first year, will there be similar courses and challenges in our majors, or will the rest of our college life go smoothly?" The girl asked.
"I assure you these obligatory courses are held to strengthen your skills and knowledge, they are the blocks that will carry your career." Answered the old assistant.
"Sir, I have a question too" said Nora.
"Go ahead, young lady" the assistant said.
"Why can't failed students come back to this university again?" Asked Nora.
"Well, let's just say that this colleague is not very tolerant of failing" said the old assistant.
The students asked all kinds of questions, after the ceremony ended the three girls went to look around the campus.
"What am I going to do? I already posted so many pics of this colleague and bragged about it to my friend's face, if I quiet they will make fun of me!" Exclaimed Battol, she was very disappointed and shocked when she learned the truth about this place.
"Calm down I was nervous last year too, but have faith in yourself I'm sure you can do it" Maha assured her with a gentle smile.
"What about you Nora, do you want to carry on ?"asked Battol.
"I don't know yet" Nora simply said .
A girl approached the three girls and said "Hey girls, I think I saw you at the opening pceremony."
"Yes I remember you, you're the girl who asked him about the future of our colleague life here."said Battol.
"Nice to meet you what is your major?"Maha politely said.
"Fine arts.I heard that third-year girls are having a welcoming party on the roof, want to go check it out? "
The girl's thanked her and politely declined, they wanted to go to their room and rest.