Posted in
Warwick
Everything is going in slow motion... The mad exam revision rush, the congregation arrangements (hey, where are you 'putting' your parents for graduation? Why are we referring to our parents like they are objects?!), the first proper house-hunting (to rent or to buy) for the coming year (now we pay income tax, council tax, NIC etc), the last minute Europe touring before some leaves UK for good... and before you know it, it's time to leave the place we now call home.
I still remember what the term 'home' means in our first year. No matter how much inconvenience it caused, we never fail to distinguish the place we STAY (ie: our current accommodation) and what we used to call HOME (the 6000 miles away paradise). Gradually, the distinction became less important, as the line blurred even in our own mind, and by the time we realised the perception changes we went through, we already started referring to what we used to think of as the temporarily place we stay, as HOME. And what of the 6000 miles away paradise? That is Home-home. Real home. Perhaps its the feeling of being united with the little family we gathered for ourselves away from our real ones. Whatever it is, this place bears a lot more meaning to us than it did when we first stepped onto the Warwick grounds.
It's a natural process in life. You go to a new place, you meet new people, and then after the common goals are accomplished, you leave. That is the way. What's saddening is perhaps the fact that most of the people you laugh, cry, struggle, sing, dance with, your path will never cross ever again in the future. We will now scatter all over Earth like tiny peasants. What's depressing is you are leaving the life of being a student you know so well, that you have perfected, stepping into a completely new world, and that there is no turning back from now, whether you like it or not. What's exciting is- it is a race of life from now. We came to university for different reasons, some to get a job in the highly competitive job market, some for an international experience, most to gain skills in preparation of taking over family empires, and a handful just for the sake of getting a degree. Whatever it was, we shared a common challenge, albeit a colourful one. Now, the clock starts ticking, and you have a limited time to get out of this maze of life, whichever direction you choose to, at the pace you desire.
It didn't matter who you were, we were all students; it didn't matter how rich your family was, we all shared the same chasing after the 12 or unibus experience. But now, armed with various degree of knowledge/qualification, depending on how you did over the last 3 years, we are now all thrown back out of 'The Bubble'- the term Warwick is well known for. This is a dedication to all my fellow leavers of 2010. Looking back at the photos over the last 3 years, it is visible how much we have grown. Together. It is now time. Time to pack up and run. Now, let's run, babies, run.
