Have you ever seen those moments in movies, so unreal yet so desirable, that you feel a slight hitch in your throat from longing while knowing they’ll never actually happen to you? I had such a moment.
It started badly. First, I burnt my new tang-colored blazer with the Air Bnb iron. Then the babysitter arrived late, which meant I spent some extra anxious minutes wondering if she’d be the murderous, lecherous, baby-sitter that horror movies assure us are the only kind available. And then our Uber driver took his time winding the car along the Battersea roads while we waited on the sidewalk outside. By the time I got into the car, I knew I was going to be late, I would miss the mini graduation ceremony that took place before the exhibition. Our little apartment was twenty-five non-traffic minutes away from the beautiful Camberwell entrance.
As I sat in the taxi, trying not to eat my lipgloss, my phone buzzed. It was my teacher (my amazing teacher) asking me if I was going to make it for the mini graduation. He’s angry at me! No, worse, he’s upset! Was my immediate thought. There goes the lipgloss. It tastes like liquid chewing gum.
Then another message a few minutes later. I’m trying to make it as fast as I can, I thought. I felt like crying! I wanted to be there for the graduation so badly my stomach was doing mean little somersaults.
When the Uber pulled up to the door of the college, I RAN in, heels and burnt blazer and all, in a flowy orange dress that made me look like a jug of Tang or the Sun depending on how complimentary you feel. And as I beeped my student card past the swinging gate I heard an announcement:
“And last, but not least, we have the Camberwell MA Fine Art digital, Community Art Award, which goes to Kehkashan Khalid.”
I felt as if my heart was going to burst along with my tear ducts. I remember waddling awkwardly over to the lady with the mic. There was a roaring in my ears and it took me a whole minute to understand that she wanted me to turn around for a picture. I think I made some funny faces at my teacher instead of saying thank you, which is what I wanted to say. And that was it. That was the most memorable moment of my life, and the end of my MA Fine Arts chapter.
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