How I screwed up a national event

Assalamualaikum and hello all. :)

So, throughout my one year study in IIUM, I've been emcee-ing and quiz moderating some events. 

 Quiz Moderator for IIUM National Pharmacy Quiz.

I could say that this is hellish. The peak of doom. The worst of the worst. Here is how it goes.

So, I have passed the audition and become the quiz moderator together with Kak Nisah, Usher and Yusri. I got paired with Usher (we take turns to moderate the quiz and become the time keeper) and Kak Nisah with Yusri.

Everything went well during the practice sessions. And we have made our decisions. Usher's going to moderate two sessions of quarter finals and I'm going to moderate one session of semi finals. Is it fair? Yes it is as I've been bestowed with an important and arduous task of moderating the FINAL session of the NATIONAL Pharmacy Quiz, at the auditorium, in front of lots of people which included lecturers and students from FOURTEEN Pharmacy schools all over Malaysia! 

Well, I'm not really scared talking in public so I accepted the task merrily.

Then there was divine intervention.

In the morning of the quiz, I suddenly contracted high fever. I was feeling extremely cold. The lecture hall was effin cold because the air conditioner controller was not functioning. You either switch it on or off. No regulation of temperature. 

So for the Semi finals session I really had to force myself to smile as you see, 'HIGH FEVER!' My body was aching all over and I couldn't stood still. I felt like I was about to faint. Luckily not.

No, there are no other substitutes as Usher got to be the Time Keeper and I insisted on moderating the semi final quiz because I need a bit of practice before proceeding to the final session.

Besides, I was the only one who practiced a bit with the final session text ,which was only given to me the night before the event, full of scrawls of notes from the previous quiz moderator!It was an old text and  The format was changed and everything this year so it's not really my fault, is it?

So, I went ahead to moderate the final session and I could tell you, that it was a disaster, performed 'spectacularly' in front of my lecturers and hundreds of students in the auditorium.

Some of my lecturers were pitiful of me. Prof Noriah even said that it was not my fault because there were like, EIGHT participants on stage and the orders of answering the questions was a bit complex (for me as I got demam panas) so I mixed up the orders a couple of times *facepalm*.

The orders are like this : There are 2 teams, 8 participants. The old format: 2 teams, 6 participants. I was using the old text so you get what I mean. 

First session:

Participant A Team 1(could answer)

Participant A Team 2 (could answer)

Participant B Team 1 (")

Participant B Team 2 (")

Participant C Team 1(")

Participant C Team 2 (")

Participant D Team 1(")

Participant D Team 2 (")

Second session

Participant A Team 2

A Team 1

B Team 2

B Team 1

C Team 2

C Team 1

D Team 2

D Team 1

Third session

Team 1 again 

Team 2

Fourth session

Team 2

Team 1

See, complicated right? And no, they are not as genius as Einstein so they could not answer some questions and that further complicated matters.

1st Session

Participant A Team 1(Tak dapat jawab)

All Team 1 (tak dapat jawab)

Team 2 (tak dapat jawab)

Then YOU, the quiz moderator had to ask the judge 'What the heck is the answer then?'

Then back to Participant B Team 1 balik!!!

Judges would sometimes give obscure marks.For example, 

Judge: Bla bla bla? (question)

Student: Bla bla bla (answer)

Judge: It's not really correct

Me: So, is it partially correct or what? (oklah, ni informal)

Judge: It's partially correct

Me: (Pftttt) Okay, 5 marks to Team 1

All these had to be done by a single person on stage aka me! I was all alone on the stage, humiliated! The audience laughed when I said 'Sorry!'

The Programme Manager even glared at me during the quiz. 

When it was over, I had to wait for the participants to return to their seats.

And I was about to make a closing remarks + apologies. Guess what happened? 

' I profoundly apologize for' I talked to the microphone. Eh, why the heck did they SWITCH IT OFF???

And so, I yelled to the stupid microphone which did not amplify my voice.

'I PROFOUNDLY APOLOGISE FOR THE bla bla bla' it was a comical effect, really.

Then my dear lecturer passed me his microphone with a sympathetic look on his face.

Alas, 

It seems like the other committees were ignoring me after the quiz.  It was pathetic. I was so embarrassed.I screwed up a national event! 

Back home, I snuggled into my bed and cried. I cried when my mother called me. My fever got worse. I switched off the fan and lied on my bed in darkness, with the comforter covering my whole body. I couldn't really sleep, thinking of the massive blunders that I've committed.

I didn't go to class the next day (because I was really sick. I would never skipped class just to avoid humiliation and stuffs). I went to clinic and the doctor diagnosed me with high fever by just looking at my face. I couldn't even eat because I would end up vomiting. There was the taste of bile on my tongue so I felt the desire to vomit every time. It was really horrible. 

Syau came to my room at the afternoon to give me the week's timetable.

Prof Noriah then asked 'Eh, mana Sarah?'

'Sarah tak datang'

'Oh, sebab semalam eh?' (LOL)

Away she went, saying ' Memang agak memalukan UIA but we can't blame Sarah!'

And off she criticized the organizing committees, the emcees' texts everything. She said that I ought to have a partner by my side and such. And yes, I only got the final text on the night BEFORE the quiz. And that's an old text with old format. Pffttt.

The next day I came to class, she spotted me and asked 'Sarah dah okay?' LOL.

Okay so, here I am, survived to tell the tale of how I screwed up a national event. It is an extremely bitter memory, as it in a way, lowers down people's expectations towards you. They did not know (still do not know) that I was really sick at that time. They have no idea how was it like, to be on that stage, to be in my shoes. 

But of course, I believe that everything has its reasons. Allah has planned everything. I put my strongest faith towards Allah throughout that unfortunate duration. I cried out of embarrassment and pain and yet I believe that everything will be okay one day.

I also realize that you should not care too much about other people's opinions towards you and that only Allah's opinions matter. Allah knows what happened to you. It's hard to meet up to people's expectations because they only look at the results, not the efforts. But it's easy to please Allah because no matter how unpleasant the result is, he knows that you've done your best. He knows. 

And again, to those who did not know. I did not skip class because I was embarrassed and later on got sick AFTER the quiz. I got sick BEFORE the quiz and my fever got even worse AFTER the quiz. Thank you very much.