Our alma mater is currently in its 150th year and we were lucky enough to be a part of the festivities in San Francisco this weekend. It's always fun for Jeff and I to attend these events together, since we met and fell in love in college. Furthermore, college is where we've made some of our lifelong friends - much moreso than graduate school, for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, our close college friends are not the types to attend alumni events so we typically network during these events, rather than catch up and reminisce with old friends.
However, this event was much more about celebrating than networking. It made me feel so blessed to have accumulated some awesome college memories with great friends at a renowned institution. It also made me a little sad to know that phase in my life is definitively over. Oh, to be 22 years old and still have my whole life ahead of me! It makes me realize that it's a bit dangerous for me to fall down that rabbit hole because if I let my mind wander too much, I'll start thinking about the "what ifs". What if I had gone down a different path? What if I had made different decisions? How would that have impacted my life today? Would I have more friends? Would I have accomplished more in my career?
Occasionally, I need to remind myself that such lines of thought are meaningless, unproductive, and downright ungrateful. I believe in the trite but very true notion that everything to happen for a reason, so there is no need to dwell on regrets. Without the decisions of my past, I wouldn't be where I am today. And while I could be anywhere else, I wouldn't trade where I am now and who I get to be with for anything in the world. :)
Hi Emily,
ReplyDeleteIt has been a while. I can't remember when we last talked on our blogs. How nice it is to be able to feel so much for your alma mater. As our Singapore education is a little different from the west, I'm always confused if college is the same as high school/secondary school/junior college/polytechnics or university. When you mentioned 22 years old, I was wondering if that's your age now or when you were in college as I do not know the education timeline in the west.
I've got no affinity to my university at all and always discard emails and newsletters they send. I also dislike all the calls I get from current student asking me to sponsor their studies since I'm an alumni. Many a times, I wanted to scream at them that I sponsored myself through 80% of tuition fees by working part time during term breaks and giving tuition to kids almost every day.
Oh dear, I sound negative out there. I'm just very happy and envious to hear that you identity with your alma mater and that led me to think about my own.
Jo
Jo's Jumbled Jardinière