All good things come to an end – A Final Goodbye

Well, to begin with, I must confess that I might have heard this age-old adage – all good things come to an end – a number of times in my three decades of life. Yet, each and every time, the realisation of this adage comes as a shock and leaves me all solemn and sad. I take this bitter truth with a pinch of salt and march ahead – with memories to cherish and fondly remember.

My association with the Digital Media team at the University of Southampton is one such event in my life which has left a long-lasting imprint on my impressionable mind. I must admit or rather confess that I have always loved reading, writing and expressing my mind. The interest in reading comes from a natural inclination towards imagination and an urge to be well-read and informed in this era of transformational awareness – lest I lag behind and blame it on my ignorance. My love for writing and penning down my thoughts is more to do with fondness for reminiscence and something to look back upon. The idea of expressing my thoughts comes from the liberty of free speech, a part of the democratic set up of the country I belong to. However, the self-immersion in the routine and mundane chores of life had rendered me too lethargic to write. Well, I continued to read and express my views but just kept ignoring my writing pursuits.

The advertisement of Life at Southampton blog, around this time last year, shook me from my state of inertia. The idea of sharing my rich experiences of life at Southampton was too lucrative for any form of inertia and thus, I found myself writing a piece as an entry.

I was glad to be called for an interview and felt that I had really not lost touch. Well, it was a first-of-its-kind of project being adopted by the University Communications team. The sole aim of the exercise was to apprise the readers of nuances of student life at University of Southampton and this was well explained to me during the interview. A blog site about students and narrated by students themselves was quite a novel approach of outreach. The first introductory meeting found me in the company of three fellow students from the University – teeming and beaming with life. We had an informal session of introduction led by our Editor followed by a photo session and I was really at ease and eagerly looking forward to this great initiative.

The blog site was launched in June last year amidst great aplomb and style and was well advertised in the campus during the Open Days and on social media sites. We had become stars overnight and I just loved it. I distinctly remember myself publicising the blog site with earnest during the Open Days.

Here are a few of my favourite photos:

With Dad in Geneva

Enjoying the sun

The final bus ride to uni

As time passed by, I realised that these blogs had become a part and parcel of my student life. I looked forward to narrating my experiences and seeing them on the site. It gave me a sense of immense freedom and enrichment. As I write my last blog post today, I feel nostalgic about this whole experience. I am grateful to the Digital Media team for having given me an opportunity to be an ambassador of the University and for taking me on board. It was indeed a real pleasure in the company of talented Robin, the vivacious Florence and the inspirational Jo. I am grateful to the readers for always giving me a patient hearing. As I said earlier, I shall cherish these memories forever. I am sure the flag of this great University shall always fly high. Cheers!

Signing off

Yours

Rohit