"Aristotle improves on the theories of change of his predecessors. They said that if something is, then it is, and if it is not, then it is not. They concluded that, contrary to appearances, nothing can come to be, for that would involve it coming to be something from nothing, which cannot happen. Aristotle's improvement is to add the concept of a subject underlying change and the idea that that subject has potentiality for change. Aristotle says that change is the actualizing of a potentiality of the subject. That actualization is the composition of the form of the thing that comes to be with the subject of change. Another way to speak of change is to say that F comes to be F from what is not-F" said professor Ali.
"Professor, I have a question" said a girl.
"Go ahead and ask" said the professor.
"Ever since the start of this course, you've been giving us lectures about various topics but you said nothing about what we are supposed to do to pass this course!" Said the girl.
"That's right, we want to know what exactly we are going to do?" Said another girl.
"I thought the dean made it clear in the opening ceremony, that's why I haven't bothered to repeat it" said the professor.
"He said that we need to save someone and the only way to pass this course is to get an A from the person we saved" replied the girl.
"But how exactly are we supposed to do that? And is it physical rescue or emotional rescue that we are expected to be giving?" The girl added.
The professor smiled and said "Oh, I see"
"I guess I was too thrilled to start giving this course that I forgot to give you more information about the course.
In this course, I'm your mentor, the one you come to ask for advice when you have trouble helping your patient.
The subject I talk about is supposed to inspire you to find answers.
The rescue could be either physical or emotional.
And you can choose anyone, even your mother or sibling as long as you help them with their issue.
And don't even try to fake an A by paying someone or getting them to sign a paper for you even though you didn't do anything.
We have our ways, if it's a fake A we will easily find out.
Any other questions?
"How much time do we have?"
"Don't worry you have till the end of this semester"
"So back to our topic.
Change is to make (someone or something) different; alter or modify.
A lot of times we fear change. We fear that question: "what will happen when?"
And I'd like to discuss how the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) made change. Of course he made change in so many ways, but what are some of the things that we can discuss in the time that we have?"
"How did the Prophet (pbuh) spark this civilization that, in one hundred years, spread from the coasts of West Africa to China, in such a short amount of time? How did that happen so quickly? How was the Prophet (pbuh) able to change a very rough society, a tribal society in the middle of the desert, with very few resources? Most people could not read or write. He himself could not read or write. How did the Prophet (pbuh) make change with such huge obstacles and challenges." Professor Ali finished his lecture.
After class ended Nora and Battol went to the cafeteria to have lunch and meet Maha.
"What am I going to do!
I can barely survive myself how am I supposed to save someone!" Exclaimed Battol.
Nora sighed and said
"Calm down.
You still have time, it's only been 2 weeks since we started this course"
"I need to find someone so I could start working with them before the end of the semester.
You already found someone it's not fair."
Said Battol with a pout.
"Hi girls.
Thanks for waiting for me.
You seem upset, what's wrong?"
Asked Maha.
"Maha can you please help me find someone to save?"
Pleaded Battol.
Maha smiled warmly and said
"I only know a few people here, and I got nothing to offer, I'm neither strong nor wise
But I promise you to do my best and find you someone"
"For real!
Thank you so much, you're my savior!" Said Battol as she jumped up and hugged Maha.
Maha giggled and said "Don't mention it"
"We need to go now, our next class is about to begin" Said Nora as she got up.
Battol picked up her bag and folled her, she waved at Maha and said.
"See you later Maha"
"See you"
"Good morning Bonjour, ohayo, Sabah Alhkier
How are you today my precious students?"
Professor Warda loudly said as she walked in the class.
"Before we begin I wanna tell you about a hilarious accident that happened to me this morning, I was in the cafeteria ordering my morning coffee, black extra cream with no sugar when I turned to leave the barista told me that I had not paid for it, I got mad at him and told him that I surely paid, oh you don't mess with me before I have my morning coffee, literally without that magical drink I would be a total monster
In the end, I found out that he was right and I forgot to pay, it was so embarrassing I apologized to the poor guy"
While professor Warda was telling her story Battol asked Nora
"Are you good at Arabic Nora?"
Nora wishpered "yes, I'm It's my native language"
"Oh, that's good" said Battol
"Excuse me, stop talking in my class or I will make you do the penguin dance around the class" said professor Warda as she turned her attention to Battol and Nora.
"Sorry" said Battol shyly.
Nora already knows English and is a native speaker of Arabic, she knew little Spanish, the real challenge for her was Mandarin.
While Battol only knows little English and a few Arabic words and has zero knowledge of Spanish and Mandarin.
Said Nora while they were walking around campus, after the languages class they decided to walk around campus a bit and they talked about their families and where they came from.
"I thought your mother is Arab,it's a shock to know that you don't know Arabic" said Nora.
"My mother is Arab and my father is Malaysian, I grew up in Malaysia even at home I didn't speak Arabic because my mother was too busy to teach me"
Answered Battol.
"She had to work in the hospital, our town didn't have many doctors, she was a busy woman taking care of 3 kids and working" added Battol.
"Wow, such hard-working women, so you got your intelligence from her"
Said Nora.
"I guess"
Battol sat alone near the fountain, she needed some time alone to reflect on herself and think about her current situation.
She isn't good at any sport that's why she chose chess, yet she isn't making any progress in chess.
she had no idea how to learn 4 languages in a short period, and she certainly can't imagine herself saving someone.
"What am I going to do!" Battol yelled out.
"Maybe I should call mom and convince her that I can't make it here"
"I'm sure she would feel sorry for me and convince my dad that I need to go back home"
Battol called her mom to convince her to help her go home and drop out of this college.
"Hello"
"Hi, mom"
"My baby how are you?"
"Are you eating well? How is your college?"
"Is it too cold for you? Do you have enough clothes?"
"I'm ok mom, I'm eating well, the food is great here and it's warm and nice"
"Oh, alhamdulillah, but still be careful and take care of yourself, don't eat junk food, and don't eat sweets too much"
"I know mom I'm not a child"
"There is something that I want to tell you"
"Go ahead dear, I'm sorry if I treat you like a child it's just that I'm not used to not seeing my baby for weeks"
"I couldn't sleep at night the first couple of nights thinking that you might be enjoying your new college life so much that you forget to call your mom"
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore.
I want to tell you that I want to drop out.
I can't do this anymore.
I can't tell you the details but my courses are too much for me"
"But sweetie you were the top student in your high school, I'm sure you can handle it"
"Don't give up yet, I know it's challenging to study in one of the most prestigious institutions and compete against the geniuses.
But I know my girl is a hard worker,that's why I'm sure you can do it"
"You don't understand mom, it's not about being smart, there are many skills that I lack.
Many things that I can't do, there is no book or material for me to memorize"
"Well, why don't you think about it this way.
If you work hard and pass this semester you will prove to yourself and everyone that you can improve your skills when you set your mind to it"
" if you work hard and fail then at least you did your best till the very end, if you drop out now you might regret it your whole life.
You will keep thinking that you didn't give yourself a chance and wasted your potential.
Don't give up yet sweetie, I'm sure you will learn many things in your journey and it will be very beneficial for you"
"I knew it!"
"I called to convince you yet you convinced me.
I can never win against you mom"
"It's because I'm Your mom and I know your potential.
You're my little genus, don't give up"
"Alright, I won't.
I promise you that I will do my best till the very end"
"That's my girl.
I need to go now, sweetie, take care of yourself"
"Eat healthy, sleep well and stay warm.
Cover yourself at night and don't leave the window open"
"I know mom"
"Bye sweetie mama loves you"
After the call ended Battol walked back to her room in the dorm.
"Battol, have you seen the group chat of the science course?" Asked Nora.
"No"
"A lot of them Are going to write their paper on biology!"
"That's odd"
"Do you think they heard that it is the professor's favorite subject?"
"Maybe"
"In that case, it's going to be suspicious if all of us wrote about the same subject" said Nora.
"Why don't we just ask the upperclassmen and they told us about his favorite subject it happens all the time, it's not cheating" said Battol.
"Indeed, but, what if he gave us lower grades for repeating the same subject"said Nora.
"I think you have a point, so what should we do?" Asked Battol.
"The best thing to do is to write about another subject" said Nora.
On the other side of campus, Maha was having a meeting with her group.
"That Mustafa I'm going to kill him!"
Yelled Ahlam.
"I can't believe he found out about the only piece of information our team managed to keep a secret to help our juniors" said Manal with a pout.
"Not only that but instead of keeping it a secret to help his junior benefit from it he leaked the information to everyone" said Ahlam.
"He is such a savage guy, isn't he?" Said Maha.
"Yeah, if only I can find a way to get back on him,
"But sadly that fox never leaves a trail"
Said Ahlam with a sigh.
"Calm down, Ahlam" said Manal.
"We still have time, we will find other ways to help Nora and Battol"
"But, what if another team notice Nora and start helping her!" Said Manal in panic.
"So far we failed to give her any advantages and we have not offered her much" she added.
"Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on them and so far they don't seem to be friendly with any other upperclassmen" Manal assured her.
"I managed to get close to them and I'm positive they view me as a friend"
"That's a relief" said Ahlam.
Then she turned to Manal and said
"Enough worrying Manal, we must get over this and search for other ways to help them"
"We have no time to waste complaining and weeping" she added.
"You're right" said Manal.
"Oh Yeah, I have something for them"said Ahlam as she pulled out a small bag from her purse.
"This Herb is called Za'atar, my grandma used to give me this herb for breakfast saying it is good for our brain,give it to Nora and Battol as a gift, tell them to eat it for breakfast before exams"
"I brought something too!" Said Manal
"This is Jedah, it is a herb that helps with stomach ache and headach" she said as she handed it to Maha.
"My mom gives me this herb all the time whenever I feel weak, it works like magic every single time" said Manal with a smile.
"Good job girls, I will give it to them as soon as I can" said Maha with a smile.