It has been almost four years since I passed out of my university, but even now I hold the same excitement to go there, just like I had a few years ago, when for the very first time I stepped into it. I was nervous then and now. While passing out from the university, I left a part of myself there and carried a huge part of it with me. In these four years nothing has changed regarding my relationship with my alma mater. Though I moved on, I still have the same respect and adoration for my university and the people there. I might be miles away from it, but I treasure the lessons and the days spent there. Its position is irreplaceable in my life. In fact, I can call it as another home of mine and the people there as the members of my extended family.
To me, it is not less than a temple. It's a sacred space that vibrates with the energies of hundreds of students and teachers. Just like any other alumnus, I also love going back to my university and cherish those beautiful moments spent there. After four years, now, when I got the opportunity to visit my university I was over joyed at the same time hesitant to go. This hesitation was because my mind was preoccupied with so many misconceptions like," I haven't done anything great in life, then how could I go to the place that trained me to reach great heights in life", "may be I am not required by the institution anymore because there is nothing to be proud of about me", "I may not be one of the best children of that university(though I was not bad)" and so on. Also, I felt myself to be a total stranger to the university and that I no longer belong to it.
However, all my misconceptions were proved wrong when I was heartily welcomed and given the feeling that my home is waiting for me. It cannot be explained in words. It was only after I went there that I realized, an alma mater is not a place of criticism and judgement, but it warmly welcomes all its children anytime and every time, irrespective of their achievements and positions. I understood that my alma mater and me are incomplete without each other. I would have regretted myself badly, had I not attended the call of my university.
While strolling on the roads of my university, I realized that, as students, we all have tremendous amount of energy, zeal to reach great heights in life and we want to make the impossible things possible. As we pass out of the student phase all the energies deplete gradually, we tend to settle down for whatever is coming our way and see more of impossibilities. So, this is when we need to look back to our alma mater. It reminds us of our dreams, our capabilities and the promises that we made to ourselves as students. Visiting our alma mater once in a while also helps us to compare what kind of persons we were while young and how did we turn into after growing up, because while young we were comparatively pure from inside the heart, we were more humane than what we are in adulthood. Thus I found the answers to many questions and got energized all over again for my future endeavours. What can I owe to my university that has played a vital part in making me what I am today? I have nothing to give my alma mater, except for a promise that I will uphold the values imparted by it. Wherever I go, I will carry my alma mater with me and wherever I may be, I will come back to my alma mater to meet that part of myself which I had left with it.
© Written by Manaswini Pasumarthi
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