MIST DAY 1

DAY 1 – The Road to Happiness

The morning was cold, the sky still dark, but the energy was unusually high. The bare trees were sullen, and the air frosty, the roads empty, but the spirits flew. It was not the world around us, but it was us ourselves that shone, as it was the first day of MIST.

I made plans to carpool to White Oaks Secondary School, my high school, where we’d all be meeting up to get onto a bus and then to Toronto, where we would be taking part in one of the biggest interscholastic tournaments that come to mind. I dressed up in a suit, grabbed my artwork and got into the car, ready for what faced us at the end of the road.

MIST is an interscholastic tournament where students come with their special skills, talents, and knowledge of all different kinds (writing, speaking, debating, filming, yelling, crafting, drawing, cooking, programming, etc) and compete to come out on top. I was competing for the finals in 2D Art, and had just spend the night finishing it up.

MIST was being held in Toronto, at the University of Toronto. The bus ride there was tame, the guys and I all sat back and played cards, while the girls did their own thing. BUT after we arrived, we got down, and started our chant. Walking into the building, screaming at the top of our lungs:

“….WHITE….OAKS………..WHITE OAKS!” 

 We were lead upstairs into a large white room, where we all took our seats and were given wristbands for entree back onto the grounds after leaving as well as MIST IDs so that we were identifiable. Following that, I followed one of the coaches (who happened to be an amazing person, SHOUT OUT TASNEEM) to one of the other buildings where me and another friend of mine submitted our entrees for our Arts Competitions.

After all the submissions were done, we made our way to a large hall, where our school was residing, and began practising our chants, and just relaxing overall. Some people were practising for their competitions, so I decided to do the same while we waited for the MIST Orientation to start. Soon enough, other schools began filing in and within moments, we were locked in a chant battle- each school competing against the other for who’s chant was louder than the others.

During the orientation, they talked about the etiquette and expectations they had for us, and for the most part it was all standard stuff. This was also when the roof nearly exploded because they finally announced the wifi password to everyone. After that, we had a few hours to do whatever we wanted and so we were let out early.

We were starving, none of us had eaten breakfast since we all had to arrive at WOSS originally at 6:30 in the morning. So what did we do? We went out. It was me and two of my guy friends, and as we walked, we decided to make plans to go to the theatres as well. So, while the Brackets Orientations happened, we went to Tim Horton’s and ate. Then, we made our long 20 minute walk through Toronto and went to the Cineplex theaters to catch Deadpool. 

Once we got to the steps, my pocket buzzed and pulled out my phone, only to fine 6 missed calls and 4 different text messages, all asking about where I had disappeared to and why I wasn’t with them (Base MIST Squad).  I typed my response quickly and called them back. They were super upset that I was going to go watch Deadpool with the guys instead of enjoy MIST for what it was—the way I saw it, I had three hours before my competition, so what was the harm? Regardless, I yielded to their request since I’d seen Deadpool. The other two really wanted to see it (let’s call them Rosey and Meez). They’d never seen it, so I bought their tickets, and told them I was going back.

They were immediately concerned as well, and honestly so was I. The idea of walking through a city I didn’t know, for almost half an hour alone, to get to a place I didn’t know the location of wasn’t an appealing one. But this wasn’t the time to upset anyone. I didn’t want to ruin this for Rosey or Meez, and I didn’t want to let down my Base Squad, so I wrote down some directions and walked out of the theater, and made my way back alone.

On the way back, I continuously got texts from about 4 people a billion times worrying about me, but I managed to get back without getting lost. I curved around streets, and cut through some colleges, until I finally found a street that I recognised. As I started to get my hopes up again that ‘no I’m not going to get lost in the 6ix’ I saw a street musician playing his violin and gave him some change. I don’t know why I did it, I just appreciated the music I guess. Plus… I took a cool pic of the ROM.

When I finally got back, without getting lost once, I called my friends and regrouped with them. After that, we got back into the thick of what MIST really was. We prayed Duhr, and then watched some  Brothers’ Improv teams perform which were hilarious.

After busting my gut we rushed to the MIST Bowl Preliminary round, and cheered on our team. Shout out to Ahmad. Iman, Fatima, Mohammad, Aiman, and Omar who absolutely dominated, by several hundreds of points, winning first in every round, easily qualifying for the quarter finals that would be tomorrow.

And then it happened…The biggest chant battle I have ever witnessed in my life…(vid was too large guys, find it on my instagram @hamza.b2k)

Next up was my own 2D Art Presentation, and I was super happy with the way the presentation went. I got amazing feedback and was super confident in how I could make my art better. I’d only wanted to make the finals, and it seemed that I would and I was thrilled. Next year, I’d go for the gold. My judge was really into my aesthetic and asked me to message him in the future for tips on my artwork…I’ve made connections and wallahi that’s amazing, and it was such a blessing.

Following that epic achievement, Base Squad and I went out to buy dinner, but we ran out of time and I had to run back to perform again for the 2D Art Finals. I Still did okay for the last presentation, but it wasn’t as good as the first one. I knew I wouldn’t place top 3, but I still got amazing feedback and seriously learned from that whole experience.

Aside from that, I heard that debate was absolutely blazing. It sucks that I missed it, but for whoever didn’t…lucky you. And that was MIST day 1—an absolute blast. The Bus Ride home was incredible too. I was so tired and exhausted, but no matter how much I tried to sleep, I wasn’t able to. IT WAS LIT.