When you ask me to .........

      

An open letter to Dear AUI-S!

By Afan Osman Halabja    

Having heard the same stories over and over and over and being really tired of reading the same essays, almost all EWPLI instructors banned the students from writing about The American University of Iraq-Suliamani. Whenever it happened to the students to write about our most significant moments in our lives, abruptly we would write about our first days at AUI-S. The most repetitive reasons were, "AUI-S is the best university in the country to choose," "AUI-S applies the best education system," "Students at the other universities are like slaves, but we feel free here, "AUI-S is an international university," and so on! The instructors saw the same writing every semester, so some of them would not accept those essays anymore.

The enthusiasm and the hope for the university have created a real educational environment at the campus which the newcomers were amazed rapidly. That is all because AUI-S always asked us to do the best.  When they asked me to study hard, I did not just study hard, but I also encouraged all my
 mates to do so.

Dear AUI-S, when you ask me not to cheat, I will prepare myself to make everybody hate cheating. I will have plans to ban the cheating at the university, and I will work harder than you do for that. It is us who obey and practice all your new policies. When you ask me not to plagiarize, I will have articles telling the students such a scandal to plagiarize. It is us who help the university how to ban it. Yes, we will keep the good job, and we never regret. When you ask me to work hard, I will work harder than you expect. Whatever you have asked me, I have done for you. This is my promise not just for one day but forever.

But my dear AUI-S, if you ask me to pay hundreds of dollars to have a book or to live at a dorm, how can I follow your orders? Don't you know that I have to go and find a job to pay that money? Do you want me to study hard, to do my best at AUI-S, to develop the university, to make it famous, to have activities inside the university, or you want me to work for money? Which one? Just be the judge. How can a student study to get 3 points per semester and work at the same time? Do you think that living at a dorm, far from everybody is so easy and funny that we should pay for it? Why won't you come and listen to hundreds of sad stories out there at the dorms from the students coming from the distant cities instead of asking hundreds of dollars?!. Psychologically the new policy will have bad and penitent impact on the university guys.

Dear university, if you can't give us a book, so how can you ask us to study hard?  You don't give us a book freely, so how can you ask us to volunteer ourselves to develop our best university.

No, this time you are not right, so we are not supposed to follow you. This time you need us to help you when you make such a decision. Dear AUI-S, be informed you are located in Kurdistan, Iraq. You absolutely know about the situation here, so you don't have to be very strict to ask that amount of money. We are sorry because we can't pay the money.