Strength TogetHER 29 - Best and Worst Memories

My Best and Worst Memories 

Lokopakar in collaboration with NIRI (Nexus Institute for Research and Innovation) has started a project to complete Strength TogetHER sessions at 10 public schools in Nepal. Under that, on 22nd July, 2022 Lokopakar conducted its final session at Padmodaya Secondary School on the topic “My best and worst memories”.

Our first participant shared that her best memory at school was when she scored good marks in all subjects in her exam when she was in class 6. And, her worst was when she got lost while visiting her aunty’s house which was 5 to 10 minutes away from her home. She remembers staying home after that. 

Another participant shared that her best memory was when she got to watch movies everyday during lockdown with her family. While her worst memory was when she had to leave her mom at home to come to Kathmandu. She lives with her aunty and uncle right now. 

“I got scolded by my aunty and dad for getting  C+ grade in my first term exam, but this turned into one of my best memories as I got A+ in my final exams. I was extremely happy when I scored A+”, shared the participant. And, she shared that her father got into an accident and was admitted to the hospital for 12 days. She used to be extremely close with her father, and when she couldn’t meet her father she got sad. She states that this was the worst memory she has.

Another participant shared that she shares everything with her mother and father, and this is her best memory while being separated from her parents to come study in Kathmandu was her worst memory. 

“My best memory is traveling to my village Salyan with my family while the worst is returning from there after having fun”, shared another participant. 

Another participant shared a similar worst experience, i.e. when she has to return to Kathmandu after visiting her village. And, she shared that she always only passed her exams but once got 2nd position and that made her extremely happy. 

“I went to the village with my parents and my brother, and this is the best memory I have. While not being able to talk to my friends as the network was unavailable was my worst memory”, shared a participant. 

Another participant shared that, when she was in LKG grade, she with her family went to a big temple in Kailali. She was walking with her mother and her father was walking slightly ahead of them. She ran to catch up with her father but couldn’t find him, and when she looked back she couldn’t find her mother either. She shared that she was scared and it was her worst experience. While her best experience was getting 1st position in her exams in grade 2. 

Another participant shared that her best memory is when she went to her maternal uncle’s house, but the worst was the same day when she got scolded when a little baby fell down. She was blamed for it, and remembers it to be her worst memory. 

With participants sharing their stories, we talked more about why we discussed the topic “My best and worst memory”. The participants thought for a minute and shared that this is an important topic to talk about as it’s not everyday we talk about worst memories, and we are only habituated to talk about good memories and about good times. They added that this helps them remember to be grateful to all the experience and memories they have and it was meaningful to recall these. 

On the end note, the participants shared that the worst memories are what adds value to the good memories.