The Last Time

The day I had been dreading the whole week finally arrived. Friday, my last day in Women and Leadership, my last day at Brown, and my last day with my awesome squad, was sadly here.  

I woke up early in the morning to pack my luggage and practice one last time for my action plan presentation. I had my last breakfast at the Ratty with my dear friends Ishani, Sachi, Lauren, Sara, Fern, and my ILC cohort. We all then headed to class together, for the very last time. 

Once everyone settled down, Tina spoke. She spoke about how there are terrible events happening every single day all around the world and we are all going back to that reality. But this time, we are going back not as spectators, but as advocates of social justice. Within the first thirty seconds of her speech, tears came to my eyes. As she mentioned the Orlando shootings, police brutality against Alton Sterling, and bombings and deaths in Baghdad, Turkey, and other parts of the Middle East, more tears came. Her spiel made me realize that there is so much wrong which needs to be fixed and that fixing can only be done by everyone's efforts. 

The beautiful bond between us Women and Leadership Brownies.

After the tears came, they didn't end. We all took a bazillion photos. We did an activity in which we tied strings on each other's wrists and gave an affirmation. We thanked each other. For some reason, I couldn't stop my emotions from overflowing especially when I confronted Tina, Christine, Ishani, Sara, Sachi, Fern, and Lauren. Everyone I talked to made me feel very special and inspired me to bring change in society. After affirmations and tears, we all settled down and watched videos of inspiring women such as Beyonce and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 

My AMAZING Women and Leadership class!!! I love all of them! 

A selfie with two incredible women. From left to right: my amazing professor, Tina; my awesome TA, Christine; and me.

With the bubbly Fern. 

With the most caring, kindest Sara.

With the artsy Aimee.

With the bluntest Sachi.

With the most organized Lauren. 

With the stylist Ananya. 

After class ended, I stayed for a couple of minutes to talk to Tina about college and how I should tackle my upcoming senior year. It was very calming to talk to Tina about these topics as she is also a first generation student from an immigrant, working class family. 

The famous speech by Chimamanda of Why We Should All Be Feminists and the talk with Tina overwhelmed me. I spent a good chunk of my lunch walking around Brown and thinking about where I stand today as a woman. 

I had my last lunch with my buddies at the V-Dub and then walked to Macmillan Hall for a goodbye session. Kisa introduced all the TAs and professors of the leadership institute. Although I might be biased, I believe that the Women and Leadership students were the loudest while cheering for our class and our TA and professor, Christine and Tina. Here is a picture slideshow the TAs created. It's amazing, check it out: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2_7TeUjcylBZmxLYXNPam14SFk/view

We all then separated into our action plan groups. My group was very small, it only had six students and two parents. In a small conference room, we presented our action plans. I was very happy with my presentation. Everyone had amazing ideas! I was fascinated by the ideas of all my peers. My favorite action plan consisted of creating balls for sports such as cricket, soccer, and tennis which, when played, would generate energy for electricity. The idea is brilliant and I hope it becomes a success! 

Once we finished presenting our action plans, we headed back to the Macmillan hall to say goodbyes to everyone. We all hugged and took hundreds of pictures. 

Meet Ishani, my soulmate.

Hugging the two sweetest people ever!

I rushed back to my dorm to take my luggage and depart. The departure was very saddening. I cried, gave hugs, and said goodbyes to all my friends: Ishani, Sara, Sachi, Fern, and Lauren. I left with a heavy heart. I hope I will meet them again in the future!