Graduation

Wow.... It's finally here. My once in a while check-up as well as the time of my graduation. Damn I'm so surprised and overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time. It feels so surreal. The three years just like snapped by?? When? Where? HOW? 

It genuinely feels like it was just yesterday when I was excited and anxious to stay in a PG, on my own, in a new space. I did not know what was in store for me and how it would impact me. I very vividly remember sitting with my mom watching Gilmore Girls before college started, crying when Rory got into Yale and relating with the butterflies she got when she saw the place, knowing that this college did the same to me. Maybe it was just meant to be, fate intended for me to come here (it was also because I'd gotten admission early in a couple of colleges but liked this place more than enough to not apply to more places). The people, the place, the environment, it all just grew on me over the years. I learnt many lessons here, met people, broke some hearts, got my heart broken (mainly friends lol), got over it, grew from situations, learnt how and when to talk things through and when to silently leave. I feel so weird thinking there is a chance I won't be coming back next semester. It feels like I am, but I really don't know, let's see. Anyway, it still won't be the same experience as this one. 

I feel truly grateful for everyone I met in these years, regardless of whether or not I still talk to them or have the same bond with as before. I learnt some really important lessons from everyone and am glad for however long my journey with them has been. Truly insightful really, helped me grow. Even though there are a few instances I would like to change if I could turn back time, meet more and better people (only a few of them, the rest of you, I love you so much), branch out more socially so that I could experience the city more, I feel that overall, I would honestly do this again the way I did the first time. 

As I sit in my PG room in my third year, about to end this undergraduate journey, I find myself rewatching Gilmore Girls, the scenes hit different, and I realise how much I've grown. I realise that I am not the same person I was three years ago. Of course, there's still a long way for me to go and experience more things, but I still feel amazed by how far I've gotten. 

No matter how much I complained, cried, panicked and overthought about situations, people and things, I would not have it any other way. I made friends, lots of them, and through so many unconventional ways in the most unexpected places. I participated in events, met celebrities (Rob being my biggest flex even though I met a few more like Vikrant Massey, Siddhanth Chaturvedi etc etc), was on stage with Ritviz, met some of my found family in the place where the last two magical moments happened, made really close friends, found my comfort zone.

I realise that when I look back, I will remember the happier parts of this journey. Laughing with my friends on the red benches, bunking classes with them, getting madly happy when we all were unintentionally twinning, sitting on the floor right outside class all throughout the first year, eating on the campus eateries and going out during longer breaks as well as exploring the city together, chilling with my first roommate and gossiping with her, making up really easily after fights and just dropping by her room every time I miss her and going out to dinners with her.

 Third year, moving out of the old room and moving in with another friend who has become a huge part of my comfort bubble, having food with her and one more friend almost every other day where we share the most amazing laughs, drop the most insane lores and discover crazy connections every time we are in the room. We truly are a chaotic bunch and my cure after a long day. I love cooking for you guys btw <3 

I shall remember making friends with my master's people, being adopted into an insanely weird but comforting friend group. Being able to rely on these silly bunch of strangers literally 3 days into meeting them was the best decision of my life. Even if we are not able to meet or talk as frequently anymore (they started working TT), I know for a fact that if I need them, they'll come to be there with me, and I'd do the same for them. I still miss the "hum PG ke neeche hain jaldi aa chai peene" calls so much.

 The friends that I became close to especially in my second and third year, the ones who I literally would choose over the others every time, you guys have poured so much love and kindness towards me, and I appreciate your existence every day. :) 

The friends I have made while attending events, random excursions, fandom chatrooms, I had amazing times with you bonding over shared interests. 

To my really mature working friends, I am thankful for you taking me in your little groups and lives and making me a part of it. I admire you guys so much and love hanging out with you. Hanging out with you makes me happier every time and makes my day brighter. 

Anyway, I could ramble about my friends for ages, and it would still be less. I just wanted to thank everyone who has come into my life and impacted me and helped me shape myself in the last 3 years in Bangalore. I feel like my parents have been the biggest supporters through it all and have witnessed the most of my journey despite being like far away and honestly, I love them the most in this world. 

As I leave this place, I wish for more time here with the people I met and saying goodbye gets harder by the day. I've been so used to seeing these people daily so meeting them for potentially the last time (if I don't come back), is so hard to process and imagine and I will miss you guys immensely. 

As for the university itself, it challenged me in the best ways possible. With the back-to-back overwhelming number of assignments and exams, I feel like I was constantly being tested to my breaking point but turns out I was stronger than my expectations. I think this university would be an integral part of my life. It weirdly made me more relaxed about my deadlines to the point where I know that even if they are looming right above my head, I'll still be able to finish them efficiently and accurately. It taught me how to deal with group projects (Damn they are genuinely much more complicated now than what they used to be in school), as well as individual projects. I have met some truly amazing professors who have impacted my life in unimaginable ways and made me love subjects that I was not that fond of. They made me open to newer boundaries in academics and have also been kind enough to take out time to talk to me when they felt that I needed someone to talk to. 

I also realise that a lot of my current habits are an amalgamation of all the people I have met and loved at some point in my undergraduate journey which is something that I shall always cherish and hopefully carry with me wherever I go.