A bad scare

I had a bad scare this morning.

I was trying to find my ex-employers' referential letters to see if I could try applying for the mid-career salary adjustment when I realised that my degree cert has gone missing.

A panic streak hit me. I searched frantically for the NIE folder which contained the cert. It was the only cert I didn't laminate and place inside the bulky NIE folder. I didn't want to spoil the 'beauty' of it. It's so precious to me that I don't want to risk creasing it if I take it out for any purpose.

Not on the bookshelf. Not in my 'important stuff' drawers. Not in any of the envelopes. Not in William's drawers or bookshelf. I kept tracing back to where I could have left it at: my mother's place? My sister and parents went to my convo, so I might have left it in one of the plastic bags which they jolly well brought home; my workplace? I might have taken it to school to laminate it. I remember myself laminating my transcript, although I don't really remember myself laminating the degree cert. I even remember I had to make some effort to remember to be humbler about my 'academic achievement' - it's a big deal to me but it's of no consequence to anybody else.

I thought very hard about it, and 'storeroom' came to my mind. I hate to go into the messy, disorganised, rackless storeroom. But I just tried anyway. Lo and behold! I saw the two NIE folders. The first one was empty - abit disappointed, but I quickly told myself I've already been disappointed by all the empty finds anyway. Yet another disappointment doesn't mean much. I opened the second one, and it's there!!! In its raw state, not laminated, just sitting quietly in the folder.

Silly me. I must have thought that the folders were empty and as usual, useless and bulky and so threw them together into the storeroom with my old notes. It's a good thing I didn't listen to William and throw the notes away. I would have thrown the degree cert out of the window as well. And I remember distinctively well that NIE has warned us against losing our cert as they do not provide any replacement for it.

It's a hard-earned cert. It means so much to me. It contains so much of my two years of memories, effort and hard work. And it is a significant milestone for me as I completed the course. More than just the qualification, I certainly don't want to lose all the sentiments that come along with this cert. Phew ...