Visited my Alma Mater after 10 Years

Ten years. One decade.

A lifetime or a blink of an eye?

It feels like a long time when I think of the future. But if I look back, it's like I'm only looking at the day before yesterday. Things that haven't happened yet always feel far away because of the uncertainty and the not knowing. However, the already happened events are familiar, known, and are a part of us; they seem closer. That's just my theory.

I visited my alma mater after 10 years on my birthday a few days ago. Despite being philosophical 2 seconds ago, ironically, I can't figure out if 10 years feels like a long time or not.

I have been visiting Lahore since graduation almost every other year to meet relatives but never got around to visiting the university or felt the need to do so except for a quick visit to grab my degree in early 2015. I don't count it as a proper visit because it was a weird convocation where families weren't allowed due to some political issues at that time.

^{Convocation Day - 2015}

What happened this time?

I was unable to find some of my documents for years. It was unbelievable because I never lost important stuff. I'm that member of the family who takes care of all things important or could be important, like warranty cards, business cards, degrees, ID cards, or that one mysterious key.

How could I lose such important documents that I might need at any time in life?

Not long ago, I had an epiphany, that I submitted some of my original documents at the university to receive the transcript and degree. I was supposed to get back the documents along with the transcript, but due to some reason, I couldn't. The guy at the student section told me to come after 3-4 days. It's common in Pakistan to suffer at the hands of government institutes like this.

I had to catch the next flight back home and couldn't stay for another day. I requested a friend to receive it on my behalf. I can't remember what happened after that. Either they didn't entertain the friend or she couldn't go. No one remembers anything after 10 years.

Therefore, this time when I visited the city, I decided to go to the university myself. Even the roads that lead to the university brought me nostalgia. Not the warm kind. I have always had a love-hate relationship with that place. In the four years, I never really got used to the hostel life. It's very tough to get admission into a government institute because of low admission and tuition fees, so more people apply, resulting in fierce competition. It's equally tough to live in their hostels because, apparently, the government is poor. There is never enough budget.

I didn't opt for private hostels because living outside the university wouldn't be convenient because of the commute and security issues.

It was a different feeling entering the premises with my husband and kids for the first time. I was excited and nervous at the same time to show them around the hostel where I lived, the building where I used to attend lectures, the software engineering department, and the cafes that helped me survive because there was never anything edible cooked at the hostel mess. I couldn't take many pictures because I forgot to charge my phone that day, as mentioned the other day.

I don't know what's the current status but at that time it was a thing of honour to get admission in that university specially because the factory where my dad worked only used to hire UET graduates at that time because they were considered best of the best. Although that wasn't true, for my dad, it was a proud moment - her only daughter got admission into a prestigious university, purely on merit.

And yet I was (a tiny bit) nervous to show my family around because they had heard really good things about the university, and there I was showing them my hostel that was built in the 1970s, which nobody bothered to renovate afterward. Preserving the history, maybe? The Software Engineering department didn't look that bad from the outside, but it could be better. It was exactly the same as how I left it.

Despite some outdated buildings and poor hostel life, we had the best professors and fully equipped labs. For which, I'm truly grateful and have no regrets for not going elsewhere.

Oops... I am so immersed in my student life that I almost forgot to write about the purpose of this visit.

I visited the student section in the admin block and was quickly referred to a guy sitting behind a window hole. I gave him my details and requested him to find my documents. He was astonished that I came after 10 years for something so important. I couldn't tell him that I realized it too late where my documents could be. Anyway, he has again asked for some time to find my file from the store. If he finds it, he will give me a call. I'm not very optimistic, though, about the situation.

^{The Yummiest Banana Feast - used to get it for 40 rupees back then and now it's for 220 rupees.}

Before heading back, I took my family to a famous place called Annexe, true to its name. They had the worst outdoor setup, something like a dhaba but they served the best ice cream shakes in the world (possibly). After 10 years, they had the same orange plastic chairs and blue rusty iron tables, and above all, those smoothies still taste exactly the same. 😭