In Which Mithy Gets Her BA in English and Uses It

Dear Family, Friends and Others

I'm graduating tomorrow after 5 years of college. I've had 5 years of new beginnings. Of happiness and euphoria. Of loneliness, frustration, excitement, love lost and gained.. Of Bikes, and Cabs and Buses and my own two feet. I’ve spent the last five years figuring out how it works, and even though I still don’t know for certain, I can say, in as many words as this covers, that I am closer to knowing. The world is wider than it used to be, and for laying claim to that amount of admission I can verify myself as a peer within it. I've become a woman. When, individually, we look back at school, we seem to forget how hard it was, or dismiss it as something we did and will never have to do again. Here, I have the experiences I have taken on and they have molded me in the only way I would let them: by making mistakes and learning from them.

Tomorrow, I will put on a pretty dress and curl my hair, not because it matters in the long run, but because it matters then. I will stand up and know that, despite my insecurities and doubts, I am who I am, and that is all that I am. Now, though, I want to take a minute to thank everyone in my life for supporting me and standing by me through all of this. My family, all of them, have been by my through my toughest times and I can say, right now, that I never would have done any of this without them. They are my guiding light, my best friends, and the glue that holds me together. You were the ones who gave me a towel after I rode the five miles home from school in rain. You were the ones that held me and gave me the support and advice I didn’t know I needed yet. You were the ones that let me be who I was. Tomorrow, when I get up there, I will be thinking nothing but you and how much you mean to me. I want to thank my peers for showing me a little of how its done, My friends who didn't snide my quirks, My bosses, my collegues and everyone I love, because there are so many of you. Still also, I want to thank everyone who slighted me or broke my heart, who were unfair and mean. You were not many, but you were there. And you deserve the thank, because without those moments, how could I have become who I am? I look back at each place, each moment and environment and do my best not to take them for granted. My failures and my accomplishments are not buried but worn like lapel pins, each showing my gratitude for what they have provided. No matter how little I understand about myself, I know for certain that I understand more than when I began.

So here’s to wondering how it all started, and how I came to be here. Here’s to different jobs, and getting fired and breaking up and getting back together. Here’s to first times and spontaneity. Here’s to learning how to breathe, and how to be, and how to love, for real. Here’s to growing up and being not what people want you to be, but who you are.

Happy Graduation

Love, Mithy

To Make You Remember

Its like forgetting the words to your favorite song...