On My Graduation

Well! We did it. We’ve officially graduated from Paro college of Education. Initially, I thought putting down four years of my life in few short paragraphs would be impossible but I went ahead and did it anyway.

Looking back, first year was my “lost cow era”, most of the time I had no clue what was going on. After every second session- which ends at 1pm, I had an uphill battle with the stairs leading to the mess.

Second year was the chronicles of “did new have an assignment due today?” we turned procrastination into an Olympic sport. Remember! Pulling an all-nighter to complete the scrap book and the picture books?  The ECCD field trip to Shari & Dotey, the forced mass cleanings that we attended out of fear of detentions and the circle of friends we had?

Third year was the practicum panic, not even two years’ worth of micro teaching and child theories prepare you for 34 tiny heads dissecting your life choices. “Miss, why can’t I do this?”, “Miss, why can’t I do that?”, “miss, are you married?” “Miss! Miss! MISSSS!”

There were days when I had glue on my hair or chalk dust everywhere but there was also a new found respect, for every teacher that ever lived. It was also the first time I realized, “I’m becoming who I dreamt to be.”

Then, came the final year. The first semester, everyone was busy sharing their TP anecdotes. This was also the semester where this place -Paro College of Education, stopped feeling like a campus and more like a home to me. The Island was our inside joke, our emotional pokto was a therapy zone, KD auntie’s fried rice and a daily visit to the college stationary during the breaks.

The very last semester, for me…it was a quite counting of the last. The last walk through the Library, the last meal in the college canteen – loud, chaotic place and how I loved complaining about the food there. The last time walking through the college gate and ashim Mon Maya greeting me with her lovely smile. The last class in that room, sitting face to face with my classmates knowing it was ending and trying to freeze time.

Graduation is beautiful, yes…but it is also a kind of grief, leaving this scared ground, these walls that held our growing pain, our joy and our becoming. It’s ok to be afraid; it’s ok if your heart aches a little today…mine does too but here’s what PCE taught me; endings are just love in disguise. The love we carry from friends who felt like family, Teachers who believed in us louder than our doubts and this wild, wonderful place that shaped us.

So, thank you to every friend who laughed with me, to the amazing faculty for giving us room to stand tall and PCE for this mess, magnificent, heart stretching gift of four years.

We leave today but we take with us; the sound of shared laughter, warmth of familiar faces and the courage we found in those tiny classrooms full of big dreams.

This isn’t goodbye, it’s a thank you. For every “first” that brought us here and the every “last” that taught us how deeply we mattered. Thank you PCE, you will forever be our home.

For the very last time, this is Sonam Yangki from 4PCA signing out.