Memories from my undergraduate days
Sep 23rd, 2007 by shihjern
Yesterday night, Jason, my best friend at university and roommate of three years, left after spending a week visiting me in the US. We had so much fun together in New York and Las Vegas. I was really sad to wave goodbye as he walked through the security checkpoint at JFK Airport.
Sentimental as I am, I never found it easy to be separated from my close friends. A few years ago, I would have felt miserable for weeks at such an event. However, I think I have now grown accustomed to this way of life that I have chosen. I have moved around quite a bit in the past six years – from home in Malaysia to London, from London to Cambridge, MA and from Cambridge, MA to New York.
I can still remember the very first day I arrived at Connaught Hall in London to begin my degree studies at UCL. I looked super geeky then, with a dreadful pair of glasses and my hair parted right in the middle. But those were great days. Alas, how I miss them: nights of covert cooking with Jason (mi goreng with 39p Princess sausages, lap cheong rice), meditation over whether to spend 3.50 pounds to buy that coveted sliced duck chow fun with black bean sauce at the Chinese takeaway nearby (on the not infrequent nights when the Connaught Hall kitchen decided to serve fish and chips with bones or some other dismal main course), endless supplies of custard cream (from the now defunct Safeway), the occasional walk to Chinatown for supper in the middle of winter, starting essays on the implications of an EU directive or a recent House of Lords decision at 2am after hours of random chats with hall mates, iron-fisted negotiation with the UCL Union Finance Office (Mary remains the greatest!) to restructure the finances of the Union Debating Society (I am sure I spent more time dealing with Union bureaucracy than actually debating; note: the Inner Temple I.V. must be commended for their very excellent meals and interesting debating motions!) and answering questions from various law students at Connaught Hall who took turns knocking on my door towards Easter.
Time has certainly flown past ever so swiftly. But if I were to spend all my time reminiscing about the past, I would be engulfed in nostalgia forever. After all the moving around, I think I have now learnt to let go and move on. Transitions will always be difficult, but the cherished memories will always help cushion them.
On a totally separate point, I have been assigned to the Credit/Finance Group for my third and final rotation as a junior associate at my firm. Although the outlook on the US (and global) credit market is somewhat gloomy at this point, I hope that this will still be a great experience. Tomorrow I return to work after my vacation. Here we go again.
2 Responses to “Memories from my undergraduate days”
How is the rotation going given the current credit conditions?
You remind me of the China Town in KL. With all the food and cheap merchandise.