Goodbye and Hello: From Schwarzman Scholars to Schwarzman Alumni.再见与再会：从学者到校友
This piece was originally published on Schwarzpost at graduation of class of 2017.
And so it is. We are at the end. Goodbye beckons and just looking back on our year brings back so much joy, tears and emotions. This was one hell of a ride and one that we all would miss. As we prepare to transition to alumni, a couple of final thoughts come to mind.
We will always have the good times and shared memories to look back on; 我们将永远拥有美好的时光和共同的记忆可回首
“In the end, all we have left are memories. Bits and pieces of time we’ve spent together. No matter how long that time was, it’ll never seem like enough.” - Anonymous
Many of us are already feeling the deep sense of longing for our time here and the heartfelt emotion of having to say goodbye to the year. And boy we are going to miss it so much. Going down the road, there will come times when we can’t fall asleep at 2am in the morning and the nostalgic us then will think back on all our memories here. We will pull out old pictures from our Instagrams, we will look through old messages on Wechat (#SSSS) and all the happiness, all the heartbreak, all the memories will come flowing back.
Because the memories that we hold will always be the testament of our good times we had together here and the mark of the stories that we have written together. As we go on from here, let’s find comfort in the fact that no one can take away those shared memories and we will always have the good times to look back upon. More importantly, these memories will also be fond reminders for us to be grateful and thankful of the time we had with each other and the chance it had given us to grow these friendships going forward.
We would need to be comfortable with solitude but also know that our community will always be there; 我们将要习惯孤独，但也请记得书院大家庭始终在那里
“The soul environs itself with friends, that it may enter into a grander self-acquaintance or solitude.” – Emerson
One of the biggest gift we had from this year is the strong community around us and living together in the college gives the comfort to know that everyone is just a “knock away”. Obviously there were still times when one feels lonely, but broadly speaking the depth of friendships we have built gave a sense of warmth in our college.
Yet as we go on to our next steps, it will definitely take getting use to no longer being in the college environment. Whether it’s in subsequent grad school or new work environment, it would be important to develop a capacity for solitude. This is crucial for often it’s in solitude that allows us to form a fuller understanding and awareness of ourselves that then further enriches to the depth of our friendships. But beyond that, let us remember that even though we are no longer in the college physically, our community will always live on and that we will always have each other for support.
It’s on us to stay in touch; 保持联系，取决于我们自己
“And that’s how it goes kids. The friends, neighbors, drinking buddies and partners in crime you love so much when you’re young, as the years go by, you just lose touch. You will be shocked kids, when you discover how easy it is in life to part ways with people forever. That’s why, when you find someone you want to keep around, you do something about it.” – Ted, HIMYM
As we would all know by now, it’s so easy to lose touch with people in our lives. As they say, “life gets busy” and little by little those close friends and buddies drop out of our radar. Here’s the thing, friendships just like relationships requires hard work to sustain and we owe it to ourselves to continue to build on those memories we have formed in our year here. Whether it’s meeting up in person for drinks or meals or having that skype call or just little snippets of texts (reminding each other of old jokes or old memories), it is going to take intentional effort to stay in touch with each other. As we start to become nostalgic, let’s channel that into a commitment to keep in touch with each other.
Most importantly, remember what our collective responsibility is; 最重要的是铭记我们共同的责任
Many of us wish the current moment will never end, but we have to remember that however great the college is, this will always be only a temporary phase for there is a wider world out there for us to return to. Sooner or later it will come time for us to serve and contribute in whatever little way we can and to fight for the convictions that we believe in. The school or this year is never intended to be the end point in itself because the end game was always to return to where we come from and to keep fighting the good fight. And so as we leave our wonderful college, let’s not forget what our collective responsibility is and to continue to work on the things we most believe in.
This is the beginning, not the end.; 这是开始，不是结束
“Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” – Casablanca
Finally, as has been said again and again- let this be just the beginning and not the end. Be it the beginning of our new chapter or the beginning of a lifelong friendship, let’s take heart in the fact that we have a lifetime ahead of us and let’s be excited as a new chapter unfolds.
