Alhamdulillah, the nightmare is over. After 23 weeks of suffering I'm finally a doctor. That makes it 7 1/2 years of studies and 3 professional exams. The 23 weeks was filled with depression, however it was made so much easier with the help of my wonderful wife. There are a bunch of people I wish to thank; my parents, siblings and extended family members, my wife's family, lecturers (especially Dr. Ng, Dr. Marzuki, Dr. Nik Fatnoon, Dr. Azarisman, Dr. Noraziana, Prof. Mokhtar, Dr. Bahyah, Dr. Roszaman, Dr. Suhaiza, Mr. Junaini, Prof. Azmi, Mr. Syukrimi, Mr. Amin, Mr. Azril, Mr. Kamarul, Dr. Wahab, Dr. Jamal and Dr. Samsul), fellow batchmates (esp. Dr. Nadia, Dr. Huud, Dr. Shidah, Dr. Nazhan, Dr. Marni, Dr. Azrul, Dr. Anip, Dr. Am, Dr. Nurah), Idhan and Ammar and the residents of Room 2.2. I'd like to list down more, and I apologize if I missed out some important names. The fact that you are reading this blog is a great enough support. THANK YOU. ARIGATO. TERIMA KASIH.
I have yet to understand the hikmah of this predicament. The objective of my remedial was to obtain more confidence and better prepare myself. However, I have not gained much, academically. 5 1/2 months is too long. The same objective can be attained by compressing it to 3 months. It would do much more good. 5 1/2 months does more bad than good. Confidence goes down and it will affect seniority later on. I still can't comprehend why it should take that long. It was mental torture counting down the days. Sometimes I would wake up not wanting to do anything. I feel like banging my head on the wall. Sometimes I feel like screaming! Fortunately I have my wife to comfort me. We talk every night. I look forward to every time I can go back to my wife. Sometimes every week, usually fortnightly. Our long distance is made a lot easier with the help of my parents. They made regular, sometimes daily trips between Ipoh and Taiping. Taking care of my wife while I'm away. I can never repay their sacrifices.
Half of our married life was spent away from each other. On 16th November, we celebrated our half year/6th monthly-versary. The proper celebration has been postponed to allow some planning of a romantic getaway. We managed to get tons of beautiful memories within these 6 months too.
"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" and "What doesn't kill, makes you stronger" are to words of wisdom that I live by. It keeps me going. (Rather than "What is common, is common" and "Undergrad,sure pass") I AM stronger now. My marriage IS stronger now. My wife and I has been through some of the worst times so far. InsyaAllah our love will prevail. Alhamdulillah...
Dr. Firdaus blogging for akmarfirdaus.blogspot.com
