As a kid, I did not want to be a part of the school. I thought I would be free and there would be no one to pester me with the dos and don’ts. But as I prepare to bow out of the college, I now wish I could go back and cherish the moments of glory all over again.

My first encounter with the classroom is vividly fresh as though it all happened yesterday. On the first day of the school, I was asked to follow my brother who was then studying in class six. I was so terrified in the beginning that I was choked and tears flowed down my cheeks as though I was severed from everyone near and dear to me. The teacher noticed my predicament and even gave some toffees to calm me down.

As the world before me gradually opened up and my fears gave way to the new circle of friends, games and merrymaking, there was no looking back. I had already acclimatised to the daily grind. The passage from nursery to class ten was not that extraordinary. Passing the SLC exams made us feel like invincible tigers, on top of the world and no one would dare to call us phuche again.

The school had us divided into two different groups. But that did not dissuade us from uniting after the bell into one big messy gang which had all the elements of fun, seriousness, prank, truant and all that was good and bad. Nevertheless, there were lessons to learn and memories to cherish. Then came the campus and it was no more than a meeting point with few good accomplishments to write home about. So we bunked classes and had parties. But that did not last forever. Everyone began to change and we are now immersed in thoughts about a secure future.

Classmates, I thought, weren’t the overwhelming subjects of my memories until I now face the final exit. But all that has changed and now in my final year, I feel that things will never be the same again. I will have to be a more responsible citizen. I will have to like and do everything that I previously thought was boring.

I plan to go abroad for further studies and maybe when I come back most of my friends will have settled. I will no longer be able to drop at their houses at will. But I guess this is life and I have but nothing else than to expect a wonderful future.