A few weeks ago, I entertained the idea of giving my graduation speech. I thought that it may come in handy in case I get requested (more like forced) by my classmates to give a few words. Yes, an impromptu speech. So I imagined the scene: Me on stage, facing the graduating class, the parents, my teachers and the rest of the audience. I’m silent for a minute or two, moving my eyes slowly across the room as silence fills the space after some initial applause. Starting the speech is the problem.

I thought about starting with a controversial statement such as, “Degrees are useless!” But it was immediately scrapped knowing how much my parents value formal education. I then considered congratulating everyone and greeting everyone who came to grace the occasion, especially the parents. But then I thought, isn’t that boring? So I switched gears. I decided to start off by saying goodbye. In my imaginary speech, I made a public goodbye to my friends. I mentioned things I was going to miss: friends and anything that had made university life memorable. Forcing a smile while cracking some well placed insider jokes, it worked like magic. I saw tears trickling down the faces of the audience. Just then, the bus came and I snapped back to reality.

I’ve never liked endings. Saying goodbyes to friends brings me this sense of emptiness. I treasure the friendships that I have developed over the years so it’s natural that I dread that moment when it’s time to say goodbye. We’ll all be moving on with our lives, focusing on our careers and forming new relationships. Who knows, some might even marry and enter family life early. Others will return to their home countries while several of us may emigrate to other nations. As for me, time can only tell where I’ll end up.

Sure, we’ll all try to keep in contact with whatever means possible but it’ll never be the same again. Soon gone are the days of mindless chatters during lunch, last minute group study sessions and just plain chilling out with friends, whether it be playing pool in the game room or impromptu after class movie outings. I’m also going to miss group work and the ‘group meetings,’ where more often than not, the discussions quickly deviated from the subject matter at hand. We might not have been productive during those instances but the bonds formed during these moments are priceless.

Though I’ve lived in a house with other, I’ve never lived with a roommate, so I don’t have any roommate tales to share. But I did have housemates. And those were good times. I’m going to miss the laughs, the mindless conversations, cooking escapades and the movie marathons during those boring weekends. During those sleepless nights, I could always count on them for a quick midnight snack and then rattle on till the wee hours of the morning. Amusingly my housemates were not from my division. As such I got to learn a lot of interesting things about the other divisions. They were my ears to their respective divisions while I tried to do my part as their ear for my division. I also felt right at home in other flats where some of my course mates stayed. Until it was bedtime or unless they were out, they never really locked the door so I could just feel free to visit them. Their place was a hangout for food, to watch TV and I also had a good friend who gave me free internet access. Life was good. During exam periods, having study sessions with them reassured me to some extent that I’d do decently on the papers.

Though I will miss these moments, graduating will be a milestone for my parents. As their first experiment, they’ll be thrilled to see me graduate. They’ll be like ‘one down, two to go.’ My parents always believed that the best gift they can give their children is a good formal education and for that gift, I’m extremely thankful.

As I reflect at what I’ve written I’m now actually quite excited for my final year. Yup, it’s time to make it truly count for one last time.

Argee is a Halfway Contributor

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