Experiencing snow is very much akin to a toddler discovering a new toy. The novelty of it is magical; leaving behind a focused euphoria, ensuring the kid is not distracted by anything else. But like all things shiny, the promise of a wonderland dies and all the kid craves is the familiar scent of the old teddy bear and a mother’s embrace. A little while longer; and it’s tantrum stage demanding for the sun.
I had always thought that I would get to wear robes and “graduate” once college is over. Due to illogical inefficiencies, I get my degree about 10 months after officially graduating. Best not to discuss the significance of a sheet of paper, capiche? Nostalgia does creep in, causing me to dig into folders and look at those pictures – the ones which are the most crazy and embarrassing. It reminded me of one of my older posts. I was contemplating on the madness that ensued and how, now, it has become texts which basically contain something along the lines of “OMG, I need to /tell/ you something weekend/next Skype session.” I certainly am glad for technology that enables us to do this though.
Speaking of technology, I did get to see our graduation via webcast, during which, the Principal quoted the Last Lecture. And it reminded me of a few memorable lines from JKR’s commencement speech at Harvard (no, not the gay wizard joke!):
I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.
The entry into a New Year does not compel me to reflect on happiness/productivity graph over the last year; nor does it compel me to extrapolate the previously mention hypothetical graph into this year. Suffice to say, more books will be read. But, I do hope, there will be a change in Thought Catalog’s articles. I mean, some of them resonate quite well, articulating the things which you may be subconsciously trying to suppress. And there are wonderful thoughts hidden in those lines of text. But then, this advent of listicles is quite annoying. On the rare occasion of a well written article on TC, I enjoy reading them. While they do help in organizing content, I don’t quite like the idea of writing the article with the listicle as a structural element.
Happy New Year!
P.S. The Bay Area was every bit amazing.
Jumping Gene 
That’s sad to know. The best part about graduating is wearing the gown and walking on the stage in front of thousands of people. I hope they did not deprive you of that.
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Well they didn’t deprive us, per se. It just happened that robes, graduation et al., is ten months after the end of uni – during which I moved halfway across the world. That makes it difficult to attend.
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But why would they do that! (at least you have graduation, we are kicked out with cups of tea under a tent and terrible sandwiches from the college canteen). ALSO, so good to read your blog again! 😀
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Will you be getting your cup of tea soon?
Thank you!
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