When You Think You Have Dengue

Something disturbed me in my sleep. I felt a sudden urge to scratch a piece of skin on the inside of my left forearm. My mom always advices that one’s should not scratch one’s skin when feeling itchy. But rather rub it gently to avoid a scab. I figure that scratching with short nails will probably have a similar effect. So I ignored my mom’s advice, immediately regretting doing so (Story of my life). I felt a sting in the same place where the itch had originated from. Should not have scratched it!

My eyes still closed, but I could feel the sunlight from the window hitting my eyelids. I wanted to examine the self-inflicted wound with my eyes remaining shut to make it easier for me to have one last snooze before giving into the realization that, sleep time was over. Just then, I felt itch on my right thigh. Subscribing to that quote from a famous statesman, I chose to learn from history rather than repeat it. I rubbed over where it was itching. Palm of hand separated from thigh by a layer of cotton my pajamas.

At ease, once more, I pulled my blanket all the way up my neck and turned to one side in an attempt to salvage another half hour of sleep. At that very moment, almost in an intentional attempt to rob me of those 30 minutes of slumber my brain connected the dots.

Itch. Mosquito Bite. No. DO NOT THINK OF THE “D” WORD!

A horrible feeling entered my gut. Clearly I could not sleep anymore. I reached for the side table, tried to feel for my phone and knocked down a bottle of Mospel instead. Finally my eyes were forced open. Still lying down, I scanned for my phone and found it next to my pillow. 12:29 pm it said. The alarm was about to go off. I got up and headed to the bathroom.

For a few moments I totally forgot about the bites. As I sat down on the toilet seat, I devised a strategy for getting ready in time for Jumma Prayers. I had forty or so minutes. More than enough. Then I realized that since it was Friday, the university was reopening in a couple of days as the dengue holidays were coming to an end. This train of thoughts led me back to the bites.

I turned towards my left forearm. No red there. I felt for a wound, a bite, a scab, any inconsistency on my skin. Nothing! I looked on my right thigh. Nothing there either. I distinctly remembered feeling that sting from my own scratching. How can this be? Was that a dream? Out of question. I never “Woke up” from it. I was conscious since I felt the first bite. I rechecked the two areas. Same result.

Was that a hallucination then? I do not know how those work, but it was definitely up that street. So then I sat there, on the toilet seat, telling myself that I am not crazy and paranoid for the entire next half a minute. Then my phone beeped and the alarm went off. A new train of thought then invaded my mind.

Muhammad Jahanzeb Aamir: Affects of University Life.Entering a university ...

Muhammad Jahanzeb Aamir: Affects of University Life.
Entering a university ...: Affects of University Life. Entering a university is a very critical and alluring experience in student’s life, but at the same time it is ...

Affects of University Life.

Entering a university is a very critical and alluring experience in student’s life, but at the same time it is an experience that will modify their lifestyle and personality forever (Baack, 2006). A university may affect a student with its both positive and negative aspects. As stated by Alvina Wasim (Personal Communication, 10^th March, 2011), It depends on the university itself that how it affects a student, it also depends on the students that how they adopt the environment of the university and get influenced by it.

Initially, the most common effect of entering a university is that, once the students arrive at the whole new world, they start missing their old friends. There are multifarious reasons, they and their friends start splitting apart and leaving to study to other universities and cities, but feeling doleful because they miss them is inevitable.

Students also develop a responsible behavior to cope with the entire university environment. University forces them to be responsible because they are the only one who will care about them (Baack, 2006). During university studies, they are the in charge of their life and the important decisions that they make. Being a responsible person is essential for everyone in this world; without responsibility a person’s life can be confusion and never reach success, that’s why 25% of the students stated that university makes you responsible. (Appendix A, Question 11). Thus making a student responsible can be regarded as one of the main effect of a university.

As mentioned above, a student can be affected by both merits and demerits of a university. Firstly, taking merits in view, there are numerous merits of a university which can affect the students in a very positive way.  20% 0f the students stated that they have gained confidence due to university (Appendix A, Question 12). A university assists the student to become a lot more confident and outspoken individual due to plentiful reasons. 40% of the students mentioned that they have gained confidence due to exposure (Appendix A, Question 11). Students are exposed to outer world in the university which was hidden from them at first. When students are exposed to practical situations, they learn that these types of situations can arrive in their lives at any point of time, so it helps them to gain experience and ways to tackle with those newly experienced problems. It also helps them to restrain from such type of problems in future as later they would not make the same mistakes as they did when handling them at first instance. It makes students them confident on their experiences. It leads to another merit of a university making them practical as stated by 15% of the students (Appendix A, Question 11).

University life is a microcosm of how the real world interacts(Magill, 2011). 10% of the students stated that they have gained confidence due to interaction with other people and excess socialism (Appendix A, Question 11). Students in a university interact with a lot more people than before, which include their new friends, new instructors, people of opposite gender and so on. It is natural that an individual gains confidence when dealing with new people. They can easily feel this change when dealing with people outside university. So being social in a university plays a vital role in the confidence building of a university student.

Giving presentations, demonstrations and public speaking are one of the main activities in the university, which again builds up confidence in university students. 5% of the students said that they have been groomed by these activities and gained confidence. (Appendix A, Question 12). For instance, when students are given a first chance to present in front of a healthy crowd, it is natural that they would be nervous and afraid. If they are able to do it well and are encouraged, it helps them to build up confidence within themselves and exploit their abilities. First, they might not know that they can do it well, but now they know. In short, it would make them confident on their abilities and talents.

Competition is also felt in university life whether that be in academic or sports competition. No matter how you think about it, there will always be someone smarter than you when you enter university. Whether this person is your contemporary, senior or professor, you may learn to co-mingle with such people and learn how to work harmoniously or else be challenged on how to compete against this person in an honorable and scholastic manner. Nevertheless, to learn such life lessons in college is the true experience gained. Lessons that will help you transition into the workforce. (Magill, 2011)

Punctuality and regularity is one of the positive changes that university brings in a student. The new semester system of education in the universities has helped in this concern. Its structure or schedule is very tight since it comprises of mid-term exams and final exams. Students are required to be very regular otherwise they would face the consequences resulting due to attendance shortage. Missing a single session can cost students a deduction of 1% from their overall grade which can hinder their academic record. Students also have to be regular to sit in the final exams at the end of the semester, so it restrains a student from not being regular or punctual.

Many universities in Lahore have dressing limitations which forces students to dress within those boundaries. Most of the universities require them to wear a formal dress. Students also need to be dressed formally in a suit when activities like presentations, demonstrations and public speaking take place.  It enables students to present themselves in a more decent and sophisticated manner. 5% of the students stated that their dressing sense has improved due to their university. (Appendix A, Question 12). In short, university helps in polishing the dressing sense of a student.

University is therefore a complete package to become a practical and sophisticated human being. It teaches students those values and ethics which by far they have not even thought of. It makes them confident, regular, and decent and so on. The merits of university are numerous which leads to positive change in students which ultimately helps them to face the real world.

It is not necessary that students in a university are only affected in a positive way. There are plentiful demerits of a university that push them towards the negative side. This is mainly due to distractions prevailing at a university. When the students enter a university, a birth of an illusion takes place that they are free to do whatever they want and no one can say anything to them. This is as first they are mainly under the shadow of their parents and till then they have been doing what their parents wanted. This leads to the major demerit of a university that no one has a check on them. Many students take it as an advantage and indulge into ill habits such as smoking and bunking etc. This leads to another drawback of a university life that students start indulging into relationships which mainly have no future. According to Shehla Afareen (Personal communication, 4^th April 2011), opposite gender is the main distraction in a university. It can lead to a very dramatic change in them as most of these relationships do not have any future; students become a victim of tension or depression when they break up. So it ultimately leads to distractions from both ends, meaning that student will be distracted by both being in a relationship and breaking it up.

As mentioned earlier, many students think that excess socialism is an advantage for them as it makes them confident, but 25% of the students also believe that it is a demerit of a university. They are distracted by being social. Many activities and projects require students to be in groups. This socialism, according to many students is sometimes misleading due to black sheeps and vegetables in the group. It leads to cold wars between students which affects them negatively and push them away from their required objectives.

Tough schedule of a university is one of the main things at a university that leads to students being bored by the studies. As mentioned by Alvina Wasim (Personal communication, 10^th March, 2011), if it’s a university puts a student into a grind of education then students end up being bored by their studies but if it is a university where studies go hand in hand with other activities, students enjoy their university life. Mostly universities start at 8 in the morning and end till 6 in evening with almost three sessions a day. According to students it leaves them with no room for other activities and they end up being bored by their mundane routine. Many students start missing their sessions to perform those activities which affect their academic performance.

The life lessons of university life are varied yet important in all aspects. Learning to live on your own and with other people is an essential lesson indirectly taught in campus. Social interaction of this nature is important as one is taken from the comfort zone of living in a place all too unfamiliar. Learning to adapt and adjust to certain people and situations are crucial. This also means learning how to socialize (Magill, 2011). 

According to TaseerRaza Hassan (Personal communication, 10^th March. 2011), University life is pretty obvious and pretty simple, you just have to keep your head down and focus on your studies. Mainly the university helps in bringing a positive change in a student, when students graduate from the university, they are polished in terms of almost every aspect and now they can be regarded as sophisticated, mature and independent adults.