Hana Umayrah

There have been numerous life-changing incidents in my little lifetime. Every new experience has been the first experience at some point. Each incident, for better or worse, altered the course of my life. But, the most transformative experience was when my youngest sister, Hana Umayrah comforted me.

My beloved sister, Hana Umayrah is a 4 year old preschooler. She is a wonderful kid. Playful, jubilant, quick witted with a hint of cheekiness. I truly believe I’m her favourite sister as we have quite a bond. During my free time, she would ask me to read books with her. Story books with morals in the ending. My mother specifically chose to introduce her with those kinds of story books in the hope that she can learn the values of compassion, respect, integrity, and responsibility in an easy and fun way.

So, the story began when I was during my “week 12”. Piling assignments, dreadful feelings and back to back dateline submission. I felt really lonely. Hours of doing work in front of the laptop, and also feeling overwhelmed and stressed out. I was at the verge of giving up, until my little sister came into my room with a book in her hand. Before she could even say anything, I told her that I was busy and asked her to leave me alone. Instead of leaving me, she came to me and hugged me. I was speechless with her sudden hug, and I felt bad for her. I didn’t even spend time with her that day.

“ Hana, are you okay?”

“The crow didn’t give up, so you can’t give up too”, she replied.

She looked at me with her almond shaped eyes, full of innocence and gave me the book in her hands. It was the storybook of “The Thirsty Crow”. I was very touched by her act. A part of me couldn’t still believe what had happened.

This just shows that we tend to forget about even the simplest matters in life when we are confronted with a minor inconvenience. I should have known better to not feel discouraged over small things, yet a 4-year-old had convinced me from the story that i read to her every other day.

The lesson teaches us that in the face of adversity, one should never give up. You will quickly find a solution to all of your difficulties if you work hard enough. However, if you give up, you will automatically miss out on the best opportunities.

Written by:

Nurin Afiqah binti Abdul Aziz