Part 7
It was an eight-page questionnaire with 40 questions asking about my and my all the EXTENDED family members' activities and jobs before and after the revolution! It was directly seeking my opinions about the Islamic revolution and the local and international characters, politicians, and activists like Malcolm X and El Che Guevara! It was unbelievable!!! I had not even heard some of those names in my life! More questions were like "Who are the friends and enemies of the revolution" and if during my high school education I had joined any political activist groups! I was puzzled and couldn't figure out how these questions are related to Medical Science! BUT, I managed to answer all the questions the way that they liked as I was not really involved in ANY EXTRA-curricular after-school activities of that sort! The last question, however, was like a blow! I almost blacked out! I was asked to write the names and addresses of all the revolutionary guards and mullahs (Shia's clergies) in my family and extended family. Well, I had none! I had to leave this section blank! I was desperate! When I reached home, I started blaming my parents for why their brothers and sisters were neither a revolutionary guard nor a mullah! Anyway, I saw Ali after the examination. We were both happy about our performance, but I was worried about the last question. I asked Ali about that, and he told me that he wrote the names of two of his maternal uncles who happened to be a revolutionary guard and a clergy in a far city near the Caspian Sea coast! I tried to console myself that it cannot be a big deal as a good medical doctor should be knowledgable, not related to a revolutionary guard or mullah! Moreover, having a family relationship does not prove anything, does it?! The Teachers Training College (TTC) entrance exam held a week later did not have that questionnaire. I later learned why!!! I will tell you later! Ali and I took the exam together and were please as usual. Now, we had to just wait for the announcement of the results that was usually done in two powerful government-controlled daily newspapers in 4 months from that time. Days were dragging forward and these four months passed like four years to us. But, the day arrived and I rushed to the newsstand where hundreds of candidates were lined up to get their hands on the newspaper. Some Sitting on the ground and some leaning on the trees, they were looking for their names among thousands of names alphabetically arranged anxiously. It was a life-changing moment for everyone.
It was an eight-page questionnaire with 40 questions asking about my and my all the EXTENDED family members' activities and jobs before and after the revolution! It was directly seeking my opinions about the Islamic revolution and the local and international characters, politicians, and activists like Malcolm X and El Che Guevara! It was unbelievable!!! I had not even heard some of those names in my life! More questions were like "Who are the friends and enemies of the revolution" and if during my high school education I had joined any political activist groups! I was puzzled and couldn't figure out how these questions are related to Medical Science! BUT, I managed to answer all the questions the way that they liked as I was not really involved in ANY EXTRA-curricular after-school activities of that sort! The last question, however, was like a blow! I almost blacked out! I was asked to write the names and addresses of all the revolutionary guards and mullahs (Shia's clergies) in my family and extended family. Well, I had none! I had to leave this section blank! I was desperate! When I reached home, I started blaming my parents for why their brothers and sisters were neither a revolutionary guard nor a mullah! Anyway, I saw Ali after the examination. We were both happy about our performance, but I was worried about the last question. I asked Ali about that, and he told me that he wrote the names of two of his maternal uncles who happened to be a revolutionary guard and a clergy in a far city near the Caspian Sea coast! I tried to console myself that it cannot be a big deal as a good medical doctor should be knowledgable, not related to a revolutionary guard or mullah! Moreover, having a family relationship does not prove anything, does it?! The Teachers Training College (TTC) entrance exam held a week later did not have that questionnaire. I later learned why!!! I will tell you later! Ali and I took the exam together and were please as usual. Now, we had to just wait for the announcement of the results that was usually done in two powerful government-controlled daily newspapers in 4 months from that time. Days were dragging forward and these four months passed like four years to us. But, the day arrived and I rushed to the newsstand where hundreds of candidates were lined up to get their hands on the newspaper. Some Sitting on the ground and some leaning on the trees, they were looking for their names among thousands of names alphabetically arranged anxiously. It was a life-changing moment for everyone.
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