At the end of the semester,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxebqUFhh0v
when the books were closed,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDNVqIwNDj
and the codes had settled into the silence of completion,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvjC7VH6Mo7
we were handed something new —140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aF2ZuD24b
a task beyond classrooms and labs.
They called it the CSP —140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjs5MaSdcc
Community Service Project.
It was meant to connect us with the world outside —140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJurjKG4py
to give back, maybe.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISxOvVz5oL
But for me, it felt more like a pause,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp1aC6APyaI
a breath before the next rush.
I didn’t choose my team.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLg29PdEJ8
Or maybe, the team chose me.
It was me,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiSzpSPXea
Merry and Bettie — two girls from my class140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuh5BRIMODw
who shared more smiles than words with me,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡctpoNGbBW1
and Harry, my friend —140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpCnGmAvyb2
more chaos than calm, but a comfort all the same.
We were a team.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtu1eEWQprF
Somewhat random, but real.
Our project was rooted in Rajahmundry.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Saofm8pHm
A place far from our usual walls,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZtYxMsvIN6
where we were to explore farming,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHB4XJDhUnt
to understand flowers, roots, and the earth itself.
It was poetic, in a way.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCmKphDs3l
After all, hadn’t this year been about blooming too?
But there she was again.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OW4AeMgVO
Forevermore.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DEVJ5tFHy
And she had her own project, her own path.
With Ren, of course.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGYzqPNo3J
And that girl I met during the festival.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsSP6aeApk
A few others I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter.
They were a team.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XogoHF9hl
Separate.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DRoN642Xz
Like two parallel poems written in the same language,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi03X04OzAx
but never on the same page.
We left the city on the same day,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFOymIDvYs
as if chasing the same sunrise from two different windows.
She took the bus.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDN1Prc6WWc
I rode a bike.
Same roads, different rhythms.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmpPylrTNg5
That was how it had always been, wasn’t it?
May ended in sweat and soil,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERjr2xmYJQ
laughter echoing in quiet villages,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIUkYJBtfY
us pretending to be farmers, observers, volunteers.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHrBr5G734
Somewhere in between the heat and haze,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjhtySvISC
we completed what was asked of us.
But more than the project,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OQCW0PyHl
it was the people.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlLgvMtPomj
The little moments.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS8EtSUcCY5
The jokes, the long walks back from fields.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXudClunIn
Not everything has to be profound.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmriYzwtzsV
Sometimes, simplicity leaves the deepest roots.
And then,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPNcrCBNakL
came the results.
By late July,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0xH37qu50
we were handed the truth of our first year.
CGPA: 8.88
Better than I expected.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BALTSBP8B
Worse than I pretended I didn’t care.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8OzulsUrT
It was a number, yes.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBSR8PKDkB
But also a weight lifted.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ro7gWhFUL
A reminder that despite everything —140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK1LyU50IgW
I survived, I coded, I lived.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8AriNk9y94
And maybe even bloomed a little.
The second year wasn’t knocking.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hfBUX6kqR
It was already breaking in.
A whole new chapter —140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxceXNXeWlA
new faces, maybe some old ones too.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5QVx7lMS7
But more than anything,140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcJ5575Z2x
new choices.
And I...140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrSTn9sKvJi
was still carrying the echoes of a name I carved softly into my soul.140Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DIQP0DmOd
