Written in the Stars

Wednesday morning.

The sky is cloudy, and the temperatures a little cool. But unbearable sweat poured on some of our friends' pores. Still, we were excited and thrilled to see my friends picking up their graduation garb for today's practice.

Wednesday evening.

Rain poured from the night sky like a bunch of meatballs. We just braved the cramped conditions inside the parking lot of the Sports Center and we're so tired from a long day's worth of pre-graduation initiation. Still, we overcame the rain like we were soldiers in war, even if it meant risking our own clothes and our shoes.

Our graduation practice was just the first step towards educational emancipation. Graduation itself is the final step towards realizing a lifelong dream. That dream began three years and five months ago, as strangers in a different world. We bonded, and bonded, and bonded some more, till we became family. As the years wore on we became wiser, more experienced, and more creative. Every assignment, project, quiz, exam and lecture we overcame, till we reached the ultimate point of defending our thesis as a way to cap off our college lives. And we defended them bravely and with conviction, like some gladiator fighting a lion in a Colosseum. And once our professors signed, sealed, and delivered them, it was on for the final touches.

On this day, there were no tears flowed. Those tears come in on Saturday. But the feeling of graduation as being our last time together is sinking in. We just couldn't hide them as being our last get-together. Three or so years were like eternity for us. For us, it was a day of remembrance, nostalgia and triumph that we'll never forget.

Last June we witnessed some of our batchmates march on stage to officially close the door on their collegiate (and educational) lives. This Saturday, it will be our turn to march forward. We may leave behind some of our batchmates whose turn will still wait, but let's hope that one day you'll be one of us.

As Tinie Templah sings, "Oh, written in the stars a million miles away. A message to the main, oh. Seasons come and go, but I will never change. And I'm on my way." As we walk on stage, we'll be indeed, written in the stars.