This is a true story of mine, happened about 10 years ago, with a lovely pregnant lady.

That pregnant lady was my student. I was teaching Thermodynamics, a 2nd year course for engineering student.

2nd year, she got married, and pregnant too.

She was already in her 9th month of pregnancy when the semester began. She still came to class, I could obviously notice her.

One day she came to me, told me that she'd take a month of maternity leave.

She said she'd be back after a month & she didn't want to drop the course.

It was fine by me, wished her well, but I reminded her that when she came back, she'd have plenty to catch up. She had to work extra hard. Thermodynamics is a tough course too.

After exactly a month, she came back to class as a happy & healthy young mother. She had a baby boy :)

To be honest, I was a bit worried for her. Mid-term exam was close, and she missed a couple of chapters during her leave.

I offered if she wanted to have a separate test later for her. She refused as she wanted to sit for the test together with her classmates.

She began her hard work as soon as she returned. Thermodynamics wasn't her only course. Surely she had another 3-4 courses to work on too.

She never missed class, including extra classes & tutorials, sometimes at night. She frequently came for consultation too, almost every day.

I was amazed that her understanding of the course was far better than majority of her classmates, despite having missed a month of lectures & tutorials.

Long story short, she was one of the few (less than 3 in class of around 25 students) who got an A- for that course. Amazing!

I was truly happy for her. Prior to meeting her, I was not in support for someone to get married during their study, perhaps a bit worried it will affect their academic performance too.

She proved me wrong. She managed her time well as a student, a wife, and a young mother.

Later I knew that did well in other courses too, and succesfully graduated from engineering school with 3.2++ of CGPA. Impressive!

A few years later when I came back from my study leave, someone greeted me at a cafe.

"Sir, still remember me?"

I looked at her, for a few seconds I tried to dig deep into my memory to assess if she was there.

"Oh, I remember you. You were in my class back then, the pregnant lady, right?"

Sadly, I forgot her name

Guess what she was still doing there? Finishing up her MSc degree!

Not only that, she already had three kids She was probably around 27 years old at that time.

She told me too that she planned continue her study until she gets a PhD degree. I do believe she will.

She deserves my respect, so does her husband for supporting her all the way

I had the chance to meet & talk to her husband later. He's an ustaz, specialized in Quranic language. He told me that when he met her parents back then (when she was still a student), not only he promised them to take care of her, but also to support her to achieve her dreams.

Thanks to everyone for the positive quotes & replies. May the similar or better things be yours.

There are a lot of good & inspiring stories around us. We just have to open our eyes & hearts to see them. Surround ourselves with positive people & be more mindful towards others :)