Hackschool Project # 5:
Leena’s mysterious solution
Illustrations by: Abdul Rahim Ashraf
So far on Hackschool Project: The three siblings, Leena, Inaya and Jasir, each have an educational struggle of their own. Jasir, the youngest, participates in an educational reality TV competition, Student Super Star. Inaya, the middle child, repeats a year in order to score better on her O Levels. Leena, the eldest, after being dropped from college, doesn’t tell her parents and continues to go to campus regularly to use the library and computer lab. She still has to figure out what to do about her undergraduate studies-or does she?
“What kind of study session requires you to keep the laptop open at all times?” Inaya asked as she gathered up her school things in order to sit down with Leena for her first coaching session.
“The kind of session in which you will self-study and collect any questions you have until I am ready to answer them, and I use the time to multitask,” Leena answered without taking her eyes off the laptop screen.
“Multitask? What other task is so important that it can’t wait until our study session is over? You’re just slacking off,” Inaya said.
“Quite the opposite. I will be very busy. So busy, in fact, that I’ll need the laptop to myself even after our study time is over,” Leena said.
“That’s not fair!” Inaya said. “This laptop belongs to both of us. Now that I don’t have my phone, it’s my only link to the world.” She raised her hands in despair.
“Me keeping up with my work is more important than you keeping up with your social media feeds,” Leena said decisively.
“What kind of work could you possibly have, now that you don’t even attend college?” Inaya demanded.
Leena sighed. She pushed the laptop to one side and looked at Inaya properly. “I came up with a way to get a college education, but I need you to cooperate, since I’m responsible for teaching you after school now that you no longer go to the academy.”
“You what? You found a way?” Inaya stared at Leena in astonishment. “How could you possibly do that?”
“I applied to an online college,” Leena said. “I got accepted. Part of my fee is covered by financial aid. The rest I have to come up with on my own.”
“Uh, slow down, I don’t get it,” Inaya said. “I don’t understand at all.”
“What is there to understand?” Leena said. “The whole setup is virtual, but the education is real.”
“Yes, but when did this happen? How did you do it?” Inaya leaned towards Leena, burning with curiosity.
“Did you think I spent all my time in the college computer lab looking up cute cat pictures?” Leena shook her head at Inaya. “I spent only half of my time there doing that. The rest I spent in looking up ways to solve my problem.”
“All right,” Inaya said slowly. She frowned. “How will you pay for it? Did you get a scholarship?”
“Weren’t you listening?” Leena said impatiently. “I get part financial aid and the rest I pay myself.”
“Where are you going to get the rest of the money?” Inaya asked. “Forget about me. I don’t really save up my allowance. The little I do, goes into the bags and purses fund. You know, the funky stuff that Mama and Papa can’t be bothered to get for me because they say I already have so much.”
“Don’t be afraid of me touching your little funky fund.” Leena smiled. “I also qualified to teach English online. There’s this teaching English as a second language service that I signed up for. I’ll be marking essays and holding English speaking practice sessions. That’s why I need the laptop all the time. I have to take my online classes and then earn the money to pay for them.”
“I could never have guessed,” Inaya said. “That leaves the little problem of me and my O Levels. You’re supposed to help me study for them.”
“I am going to do that, don’t worry,” Leena said. “I’ll just be checking essays while you’re busy working. Then, when you have your questions and confusions saved up, I can take a look at them.”
“I’m not sure that’s the best way to do it,” Inaya said. “I feel you’re cheating me out of a full study session.”
“If we discuss this more, we’re going to lose today’s entire session to this subject,” Leena said. “Come on. Open your book. Let’s make the most of the time we have left.”
A few disastrous study sessions later, Leena and Inaya had to have the same conversation all over again.
“This isn’t working,” Inaya said. “I need you to hover over me while I work. I need your full attention.”
“I know,” Leena said miserably. “With pretending to attend college in the morning, actually attending online college in the evenings, teaching English online, and monitoring your studies, I’m all spent.”
“I know!” Inaya said suddenly. “You take your phone on campus when you sit out the eight hours you pretend you’re studying there. Why don’t you do some of your work and studies on it while you’re there?”
“No, that wouldn’t work,” Leena said, then she brightened up. “Unless...”
“Oh no.” Inaya extended her hands towards the laptop. “No. Not our laptop. You’re not taking that to campus with you.”
“It’s the only way,” Leena said. “That way, everything works out. I get to fill those eight hours with work and studies well done, and you get my full attention for your study sessions.” When Inaya seemed hesitant, Leena added, “Don’t you want to work hard for those grades? What happened to the purpose behind taking a whole year off?”
“I suppose there is no choice,” Inaya finally said. “Be very, very careful with it, OK? It’s one of my most prized possessions.”
“Don’t worry,” Leena said. “It’s mine, too.”
Their parents expressed full confidence in Leena when she gathered them in the living room to tell them that the laptop would be accompanying her to college five days a week.
“After all, a busy college student needs her tools,” Papa said brightly. “You work too hard, Leena. I’ve seen you working on your college assignments well into the night. Pace yourself. Don’t exhaust yourself, all right?”
Leena nodded, feeling guilty about the fact that the assignments she worked on at night were usually the ones given to her to check by the English teaching service.
“Here’s our little man,” Mama said as Jasir walked in. “How was school, Jasir?”
“Awesome,” Jasir said excitedly. “I moved on to the next round!”
“Round...?” Mama looked confused.
“I think he is talking about that reality competition of his,” Papa said. “Right, Jasir?”
“Reality show, Papa,” Jasir said. “I’ve been selected to move on to the next challenge!”
“Really?” Inaya said with interest. “How did you qualify?”
“I didn’t, actually,” Jasir admitted. “I just avoided being among the contestants who were eliminated in this round.”
“Eliminated...?” Mama appeared concerned.
“That just means that they got sent home, Mama,” Jasir said. “Why don’t you watch the show when it comes on TV? They don’t allow a live audience, otherwise I would have asked you to come and watch it while it’s being recorded, but you could at least catch me on screen.”
“That channel is banned in this house,” Papa said with determination. “My own son starring on the channel makes no difference. It is a complete waste of brain cells to tune in to those shows. I’d rather watch paint dry.”
“When’s the final round, Jasir?” Leena asked. “Can we come watch that?”
“You can come to the awards ceremony, where they announce the winners,” Jasir said. “That’s a long way off, though. There’s this round, then the semi-finals, and then the finals. You can’t attend any of those.”
“I’m glad about that,” Mama said. “Otherwise people would wonder why your own family wasn’t there. We wouldn’t want people to assume things, even if it’s just a TV show.”
“So, you’re coming to the awards ceremony, then?” Jasir looked at his family expectantly.
“Only if you win,” Inaya said.
“You find out at the ceremony who’s won; it doesn’t work the other way around,” Jasir said.
“What reality show shenanigans have you been up to, then, Jasir?” Inaya asked.
“Ssh, not in front of the parents.” Jasir winked.
Mama shot up immediately. “If there’s those sorts of things going on, then I demand to know exactly what you’ve been doing.”
“Oh, it’s nothing like that.” Jasir looked bored. “We have classes and tests every day.” He perked up. “We had a Sports Day where one team had to participate normally and the other had to sabotage the whole event. Only, nobody was allowed to tell publicly which team they were assigned to. Things got pretty interesting.”
“My head is spinning just thinking about that.” Inaya blinked rapidly and shook her head.
“What, my dear boy, was the point of that Sports Day, then?” Papa asked.
Jasir immediately replied, “Leadership qualities, competitive spirit and a keen mind!”
“You’ve got the tagline on your fingertips.” Leena appeared amused.
“Obviously, it was to entertain whoever watches this stuff,” Inaya said.
“We’ve got a dedicated viewership,” Jasir said seriously. “I was one of the best players in that event. Guess who got the idea to weaken the rope they were using for the tug of war, so that when they tugged, it fell apart?”
“Dear me,” Mama said. “I hope nobody got hurt.”
“Not really,” Jasir said. “OK, maybe a little, but they’ve got this show covered on the legal side and everything.”
“Sometimes I want to reconsider my decision about allowing you to participate,” Papa said wearily, “but a chance at that college scholarship prize is too good to miss.”
Later, in the absence of their parents, Jasir said to his sisters, “Who wants a boring college scholarship when second place gets a laptop?”
“Second place gets a laptop, huh.” Inaya looked keenly at Leena. Leena’s eyes widened as if she had suddenly registered what that meant.
It seems that matters are working out for the three siblings so far. Whether they will continue to do so, however, is something you’ll find out in next month’s episode.