I had one of the most stressful days in my life yesterday and for a person who dislikes anything to do with stress, I enjoyed every bit of it.
Yesterday happened to be the induction and oath taking ceremony of the medical students from my institution. It is usually a big and revered event with a lot of dignitaries in attendance. This ceremony had nothing to do with me directly, at least not yet, but I was made the personal assistant to one of the inductees. As a personal assistant, my day started when the inductee's day started.
First, we woke up quite early to go get her facial make-up done. This particular inductee usually goes bareface everywhere so getting a facial makeover was a surreal experience for her. Our first frustration for the day came when we arrived at the make-up artist's studio and she said she wasn't going to come because an emergency had arisen and she was currently at the hospital. Mixed feelings began to set in. I felt sad for the make-up artist and her predicament but frustrated because we had to be at the induction venue before 9am and this was us, hovering on the road by 7am with so much luggage, not knowing our next move.
Eventually, we called another make-up artist who said she had a client soon but she could fix us into her schedule somehow. Amidst the rush, the inductee had forgotten the wig she was to use for her ceremony so I had to return many kilometres back to get the wig for her while she hurried along to get the make-up done.
The second frustration set in when my network connection went haywire and I couldn't reach the celebrant via phone to know where exactly she was. With a wig in my hand and a rather heavy school bag I walked the streets of my city looking like a lost puppy. This was the second time in the space of one hour that I was looking lost on the street. After over thirty minutes of searching people's shops and asking people around for a makeup artist's studio, I eventually located the studio inside a fashion house! How would I have guessed that? My frustration seeped away however when I saw how ravishing the celebrant looked with her makeover. For minutes, all I did was smile at her because gosh she was beautiful!
By 9:30 am, we were all dressed up; she in a beautiful white suit with pants and I in a large ankara palazzo for ease of movement. After dressing up, we ordered a ride directly to the venue and guests were already seated. I found a comfy spot in the crowd because I was about to begin my second job–videography.
The celebration was amazing and the joy from proud parents, relatives and well wishers was contagious. I like how wild the crowd was, giving the well deserved paparazzi to the inductees who all looked amazing by the way. During the induction ceremony, I may have shed a tear or two because the moment was a really emotional and auspicious one.
After the induction came the picture session and I personally didn't feel like taking any pictures. However, I may have been captured once, twice or a thousand times. Is it just me or sometimes posing for tons of photos can be exhausting?
Next up was the after party and the inductee in question had two reception venues in two different and wide apart locations. From the ceremony, we headed to the first location where stories were shared, prayers were said, blessings and exciting opportunities were given, wine was sipped, food and gifts given and more pictures taken.
From there, we moved to the second venue where I was the host and this was where the proper stress began. A few guests were seated downstairs while the rest of the guests were seated upstairs. Having to serve every single one of them amidst the chaos initially felt like an impossible task but eventually, a few of my friends showed up and I got help. Again, the joy of having supportive friends is really unmatched. Running up, down and around a million times seemed easy because I got help and for that I was extremely grateful.
By 11pm, I walked out the last of the guests to where they could get a ride home and that is when it dawned on me that I hadn't eaten the whole day. Normally, I would gripe half way through the day if I haven't eaten but by 11pm, I had my first and last meal of the day. After which I took a proper shower, changed into a nightwear and opted to respond to a few text messages from some of the people I hosted.
It was indeed a day filled with great joy, laughter and excitement and I'm glad I was able to be an active part of it. Today, I'm off to my clinicals.
Images are mine and used with the model's permission.
That’s great I’m glad it was a day full of activity but ended up being a good one!