SHE became part of President’s College when her daughter scored a spot there in 1991. Naturally, she joined the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and in 1993, she won the ‘Parent of the Year’ award.

Fast-forward to a decade later, in 2003, Nazmoon Badal joined the college again- this time as an employee. She was only supposed to stay for just a year, but perhaps she felt a higher calling and stayed there until now.

“I met some wonderful people,” Badal recalled. “It was just exciting.”

Exciting might just be the word to describe the 15 long years she spent at the college as a house warden/parent and eventually her current position as the Administrator for the school’s house service.

More than half of the students at the college live on campus and persons like Badal are the ones who are responsible for taking care of the students during their stay there.

“Being a house parent is a challenging task,” she stated. “You’re not only the parent, you’re the nurse, you’re the CID.” Despite this, however, being a house parent is one of most fulfilling things one can do, according to Badal, because you get to nurture scores of children at once.

“Each child has a story to tell and to be a successful houseparent, you have to build a relationship with the children,” she said.

Being a house parent demands that you go beyond managerial duties. It requires you to take an active role in the affairs of the students and for Badal, this can be anything from dancing or modelling at their concerts/ shows, chaperoning them on out-of-country trips or testing malfunctioning swings.

At all times, she noted, “We try to keep it as a home away from home.”

You might even say that Badal has invested herself into the school so much so that it is her own home. It’s not an eight-to-five job, she says, it requires you to be there 24 hours a day.

But, in a few short months- in May- she will depart the institution she has invested so much of herself into because the time has come for her to retire. With tears threatening to spill as she spoke, she remarked, “I have so many memories to take back with me.”

Some of these may be bitter, but a great majority of them are fond memories and if she could redo the time spent at President’s College, she would do it again and again.

“The best part is to deal with the children and know that they’re excelling,” she affirmed. “Satisfaction is knowing that you’ve nurtured them, that they’re disciplined and they excel at the school level and all-round.”

Her advice to any person placed in a position that requires you to nurture impressionable minds is to “give it your all.”

And especially for house parents (even more for someone who may be desirous of filling her position), she said, “This job is very easy if you understand the children. Rules are important or else there would be lawlessness, but sometimes you must flex.”

As she prepares to leave, she remains grateful to all the persons who she would have encountered along her journey- each student, teacher and even parent.

“This is my home for the last 15 years, and leaving it now… I’ll definitely miss it,” she said.