It was a cold January night, January 21st to be precise, after such a well-restful Christmas break from school, it was back to the same routine - classes were to begin again, homework and projects were to start knocking on doors, yup, school was in session again. To be honest, I reluctantly flew back to Springfield; I just didn't feel like doing it all over again. But everything changed when I met the new internationals, whom I learnt were just visiting for a semester. Everything changed because I finally met someone whom I could talk politics, business, and philosophy with, at social gatherings. I met another whom I could talk European pop-culture with, talk about traveling around Europe, while testing my geographical knowledge.
At first, I made sure that I didn't get too comfortable around them because I thought "why invest in friendships that will just end in a semester?" Unbeknown to me, meeting these new friends would save me from boring Friday nights, save me dinner payments, teach me something new about their culture, and most of all, sit with me until 3am and talk about everything we could think about. When I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING! It seemed as though the more time sped up, the closer everyone got to each other; I have to admit that sometimes I forgot that these new friends of mine were deemed to head back to their respective countries, at the end of Spring semester.
I made it a point not just to get to know the new international students, this semester, but also other students around campus. I believe in expanding one's network because the Michael you know today might be the Senator Michael you'll be thankful you knew. I'm very glad that i did make an effort to get to personally meet and know new people, this semester, because it opened up my eyes to the innate nature of each and everyone i talked with or spent time around. I learned that the "innocent-looking people" are not always or necessarily innocent, i learned that not everything i hear about someone describes that person, i learned that as our faces are different so are our life stories, i learned that some people who are more upfront and outspoken about everything are not so because they are full of hate, i learned that the derivative of (ln(x)) is equal to (1/x) - still in school mood, why?
The none-anticipated day has arrived, when everybody have to go their separate ways, in this journey of life. Sometimes, God makes different peoples' path intersect in order for them to learn from each other. I definitely learned from every single person I got the privilege to meet and know, this semester. Some lessons weren't always positive ones, but they had to be there to teach me that this world is made up of two people (those who subtract from you and those who add to you). Even though many of those who have added to my life this semester may not read this, even though our paths might never cross again, but I want you all to know that I am thankful to God for your lives. He knew what he was doing when he sent you guys my path. An intellectual man ones said, "true friendship withstands the test of distance and time." There are friendships that will remain forever and I'm proud to say that this semester was filled with them.
As we all continue on this journey called, Life, I want to leave us all with a quote from one of those friends who've added to my life, this semester, Yasmeen AlTamimi, "As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts. You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt. Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. You just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back." Good luck in life: Soong, Hilario, Christine, and Coralie.
It was a long goodbye, World :(
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