Coming Home

Somebody forwarded this to me when I was in my sophomore year...

**
When you arrive at college, you know no one, you're in a strange place, and you
can't wait to go home and talk to the friends you left behind. But after a few
weeks, a few months even, you make new friends and eventually get to the point
where you don't want to go home because you don't want to miss a party on Friday
or going to the club on Saturday.

The next time you do go home, it
doesn't quite feel like home anymore. Your little brothers and sisters have
suddenly grown up and created a life that is better than spying on you. Nothing
seems the same anymore, no matter how much you try not to notice or think it's
not true.

When this reality hits, it's enormous, and the fact that no
one understands doesn't help. You find that old friends have moved on, and your
parents get on your nerves even more - they don't mean to, but they do. No one
understands what you have been through, or why you have changed. Only your
friends at school who go through it with you understand. And when you leave at
the end of the year, you leave behind those friends, and take all the memories
with you - the good, the bad and the ugly. It will hurt just as much to leave
your new friends at school as it did to leave your old friends at home.


Home will never seem the same, and you won't be able to bear the wait to
go back in the fall for more fun times, crazy moments and new friends. It
doesn't do much good to explain this to anyone back home, because no matter how
hard they try, they won't understand. Some won't even try. Family members don't
understand what you are thinking when you look around your house and notice that
nothing is the same. They may say you're imagining changes. The empty feeling
you get when you realize how much things have changed and how much you have
missed back home is hard to deal with.

But when you think about how much
you experienced in college and how you have become more independent, that empty
feeling will fade. You will be filled with memories of hanging out in your dorm
room watching movies with new friends, and that warm night you went for a walk
at 3 a.m. just to talk to a friend about a tough time. College things - the deep
conversations, the late-night parties, hours spent laughing at nothing, sad
moments when a friend is hurting - those are what will stand out the most in
your mind. In the end, you will realize that college is one of the your best
experiences.

by Heather C., Hillsborough, NC

i've been thinking about skipping the farewell - for those of you who don't know what it is, it's the LUMS equivalent of the "prom", without the dates - anyway...been thinking about missing it. last year was great, it ran on for too long, but things went well - and we threw a good after-party. this year, the party might not even happen. apparently planning isn't the 2007s forte, thus they don't have money to do anything other then a measly dinner and a title! since all i was looking forward to was the party, i might as well skip the whole shingding if there isn't one, go home, get some time with the parents, something i haven't done in a while.

even if i manage to forget the party fiasco, and do attend the dinner, all dressed up in a sari, with hair all perfect and dressed to the hilt, i'm going to get bored halfway through the 430 titles. yep, 430 people will be called on stage to recieve a title - something people may or may not have suggested for them, mostly its a randomly picked song. we suggested that we could skip the whole title thing this year, why does everyone have to walk on stage like there's a parade happening. but when the organizers (the 2007s) suggested it to the rest of my class, supposedly things were thrown at them...which is just stupid!

so there went my brilliant plan of just having a concert and dinner, now we have to sit through at least 7 hours of titles (1 minute per person (yeah right!) = 430 minutes or 7.something hours). thus, i'm thinking about skipping it - after all, it's not a life altering experience...most of us will end up pissed at each other for one thing or the other, the food wil not be eaten (who can eat in a sari?) and the only tangible thing that we'll get will be that one picture we get taken by the photographer at the photo booth (which i've heard they also don't have money for!).

but i know that skipping it will mean i will have to hear the question "but why?" atleast a million times (ok, maybe just a few hundred) between the event and graduation...i'll probably make history - no one misses their farewell - and end up becoming the outcast in the group...no pictures to share, no "d'you remember blah" conversations...

so...still undecided... :)

Raju...

For a creative writing class, we had to write about someone on the periphery of our lives - then we were told to alter it based on the feedback we got from the teacher/TA/class.

Original:
His day probably starts close to dawn, a trip to the market, a bike ride to LUMS. By the time the rest of us wake up and get to the store - for breakfast, or an early lunch - he's midway through his day, though you couldn't tell that from the way he reacts on seeing each and everyone of his customers. Always a smile, a reference to the previous week or the latest serial on TV. In the five minutes that you are in front of him, you have his attention, even if he has a backlog of orders he has to get to.

You would think, in all this talking, that he would mention his life, but he doesn't. That's because during the day, he's one of the students, not a worker in LUMS who has to go back to a life where he can barely support his family, but someone who relates to the average person in front of him. And for the students, thats who he is, he's the happy guy at the counter and if that's what he has to limit himself to, he will.

But if you sit in the store and try and look deeper, you'll see the stubborn spirit in him, the one that tells him to not care about authority and do things his way, you'll see the wistful looks at the new watches and mobiles everyone's sporting nowadays, the side glance at that hot girl who just ordered a juice, the stolen berries he just popped into his mouth and thinks no one noticed.

If you dig deeper, you can see who he is, and forget his circumstances, and that he's behind the counter and not in front of it. He really is no different than everyone else in this place, he doesn't have to try.

Altered:
The day starts close to dawn, a trip to the market, a bike ride to LUMS. By the time the customers start walking into the store - for breakfast, or an early lunch - it's midway through the day, but the smile doesn't reflect that. "Every customer is special, everyone must be talked to", the mantra goes through his head, "Orders can be caught up with later. Who's that new kid walking in the door? Never seen him before! Salam boss, freshie ho?"

You would think, in all this talking, that he would mention his life, but he doesn't. That's because during the day, he's one of the students, not a worker in LUMS who has to go back to a life where he can barely support his family, but someone who relates to the average person in front of him. And for these students, that's who he is. The happy guy at the counter...

"Raju this, Raju that"...the litany never stops. But somethings make it worth the while. The students treating him like he's part of the gang. Being at the front line, watching it all happen. Joining in the revelry as the LUMS teams beat GIKI again. All this makes it worth it.

It's hard sometimes. Watching all the kids go about their life without a care. A four year education gauranteed by their parent's bank accounts. But if he tries hard enough, he can be just like them, share a few laughs with the popular kids, eat the same food they eat, feel like he belongs.

But there's stubborn spirit in him, the one that tells him to not care about authority and do things his way, there are wistful looks at the new watches and mobiles everyone's sporting nowadays, the side glance at that hot girl who just ordered a juice, the stolen berries no one notices.

Dig deeper, and the real him is right there. Forget that he's behind the counter and not in front of it. He really is no different than everyone else in this place, he doesn't have to try.

I liked the original better - anyway - we don't get graded on assignments during the course, so have no idea how I did...but me is liking this class :)

Overload...

Finally, the overload concert pics are online. cool looking team, no? The two lines of people at the back are mostly security and roadies, the most important people in the Music Society :P

what age do i act?

apparently, 16...

try it out for yourself :)

...

don't shoot the puppy

who makes these game?? having said that - it is a must to get to level 14! hilarious!

a softer world...

A Softer World

overload...

last night was another insanely crazy night for the lums music society. the concert, was amazing. i'm too tired to write too much about how it went, but i've heard from people who were there - i was at the gate - that it was great music...and great security - YAY!

the band "overload" is different from the rest as it has in it, pappu saeen, who is plays the dhol. this was my first time watching him perform, and even though i was only there for the last ten minutes or so, it was really really awesome. hehe..that seems like an understatement here. there's really no describing the music, it's just great. there's a post on metroblogging lahore is you want to know more about him.

a huge thanks to the newly recruited security team who had the most difficult first day possible...you guys were awesome!!

the pic i'm putting up, i found on salman suhail's pc, hope he doesn't mind :P

pappu saeen

MC Apartment

Hey - After having seens Kurt's random attempts at trying to figure out where the MC apartment is, I finally decided to take pity on everyone trying to guide him and post the picture up myself :P
*finally got the postcard, the office says thank you*