Day 9: An all-nighter

Getting paid for staying up all night to read a book. BOOM freaking awesome.

An all-nighter is a quintessential and inevitable part of the student life experience at University. I somehow missed out on that. This doesn't mean I didn't procrastinate or leave things to the last minute because I almost always did but I think I valued sleep more and would always factor in at least a couple of hours of sleep before a major assignment was due. I couldn't remember the last time I stayed up all night doing something productive. I did have plenty of all-nighters of intense partying in Prague where we party rocked till the wee hours of the morning, a weekend where we came home before 5 in the morning was considered to be a FAIL (yes, we had some super stringent partying standards). Anyways, so when my mum mentioned there were some night shifts available at her workplace, I signed up instantly. This would not only help me do my "new thing" for the day but would also add to my Asia-travel fund, which at the moment is as minimal and depleted as the European Central Bank's lending reserves.

I think social workers are unsung heroes of our community. It is a noble profession which is often not given the support and recognition it deserves. My mum works at a residential facility for kids from challenging backgrounds who come for short-term programs to bring about a positive change in their social, behavioural, health etc related aspects. Majority of the children come from low socio-economic, low-decile schools and disturbed family backgrounds. These camps are a sanctuary, a cocoon of safety, a shield from nastiness, a launching pad for better and brighter futures for these kids. As a "night owl", I could not directly contribute to any of that but I had an opportunity to somehow contribute in a small way to the smooth functioning of this organization.

The main requirement for this night shift is to "stay awake". I don't really have a problem with staying up till late, in fact I'm always up till late at night, wasting time on the internet. So that wasn't hard and other than that you just have to regularly check on the dorms and see if the kids are ok. It was really not a tough job. Besides I got really engrossed in my book - Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (great piece of literary work, highly recommended especially if you want to get an insight into life in India before the early 80s). One page after another, one hour after another, one cup of coffee after another...all went by faster than I expected.

It was an interesting experience. Not only because I spent 8 hours in broadening my literary horizon (something I have NEVER done before) but also because I got to literally make sure that some of these troubled children sleep peacefully. There is a really interesting photo shoot by James Mollison titled "where children sleep" which beautifully captures children from diverse backgrounds and countries in their rooms or places where they sleep. It is eye-opening and moving as it shows such a stark contrast in realities. The children were all so alike yet so different. I could not help but think about it while I walked around in the dorms while I did one of the regular checks..these children were in a way so different from children I know or the child I used to be yet they are so alike while they were asleep. It may sound terribly cheesy, cliched and like a song by the Scorpions but staying up all night felt a lot more purposeful when I felt I had a duty to be a guardian for these children of tomorrow dreaming away in the wind of change... Cheesy I know but whatever helps you get through the day/night right? ;)

An all-nighter: Check.
A decent contribution to Singapore/Asia travel fund: Check