An Open Letter from Graduating Seniors

This article was a contribution by five graduating seniors who have walked the talk and been through it all, Samantha Marie Dexter, Carmen Loi Su Wen, Low Yi Chean, Karyn Chew, and Seah Poh Yin as they are finishing their last days in INTI Subang.

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“Chaotic”. That’s the one word that comes to mind when thinking about INTI Subang. We had good times, bad times, weird times, horrific times, and everything in between. Looking back at it now from our final year pedestal, we can honestly say that we loved every moment of it. Now, sit back and read on as we plunge you into the rollercoaster of emotions we felt throughout these four amazing years at INTI Subang.

We go back to the beginning before we knew anyone or anything in the campus.

The car stops before the college gates and the building seems to loom over us, casting its shadow over us like some dark overlord waiting to put unsuspecting victims through adversities, sharpening and refining us till we exit with fortitude and a metaphorical blade that’s even stronger than vibranium to fight against whatever the world throws at us. But, there’s no time to be awed by this!

The first class awaits. We take the first step in, back straight and confidence in every step— Only to realize that we are extremely lost! It was like entering a maze!

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And so, the first day starts with a lot of exercises and being 20 minutes late to the first class, huffing and sweating as if we just ran a marathon. Well, that’s one way to make a first impression!

Then, of course, comes the assignments and the first ever groups we will ever work with. Oh, people will say that working in groups is an excellent learning tool and it is imperative for the working world. Honestly, though, sometimes it would be easier to just lie down on a bed of nails.

Why? Because of free riders! They smile at you, giving excuses all the while and at first you try to be tolerant, but soon that tolerance becomes more of a “I’ll punch your lights out if you don’t do your work”. However, this is something that everyone goes through, so we just had to try our best to be patient and not let our murderous intent leak out.

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The world seemed a little bleak after that. If group work was going to be like that for the next four years, then there better be a medal waiting for us at the end. We sigh, sob, and get ready for one heck of a battle. Just as we were thinking that we met the people who would become some of our closest, most trusted friends. And suddenly, group work wasn’t so bad anymore, not when you have a shoulder to lean on and people you trust to have your back!

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Plus, it helps that there’s someone to listen to you as you complain about lack of sleep and how much you really despise studying.

Of course, with friends comes the age-old pastime of gossiping like aunties just about every day which made college a lot more fun than it would have been! We talked about the hardest subjects and the scariest lecturers; the weirdest events and the craziest experiences; people we liked and people we hated; whether the class was on or if it was, hopefully, canceled.

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It was a lot of fun. In fact, it was amazing. It almost made INTI Subang feel like home, though it’s still painful to wake up early in the morning and drive an hour to reach it.  

The next few years flew by fast. There were a lot of college trips. There was this one Taiping trip where we had the opportunity to cycle around a park. It was an interesting experience, especially when someone almost fell into the pond! Everyone around the pool area laughed, of course. She laughed too thought it was embarrassing and a little bit scary. Another trip we loved was going to animal shelters to take care of the doggies. It was messy, tiring, and a little scary when dealing with the more aggressive animals, but these are experiences we will always remember when we think back to INTI Subang.

Well, as great as it would be to just talk about the good times, the reality isn’t that kind. There were bad times too. Days where things just go wrong—you wake up late, you forget an assignment, you get a bad grade, your lecturer scolds you, and the worst one is when a friend suddenly stops being a friend and you’re just left with questions, anger, frustration, and a bone-deep sadness that you will never forget. And no matter how much you try, sometimes there’s just no going back and you just have to move on. It becomes a heck of an important life lesson.

Photo by Aliyah Jamous on Unsplash

So, that was basically INTI Subang in a nutshell. When we leave, we will remember our lecturers, our friends, even our enemies fondly though sometimes we want to flip all the tables when we think about them. There were both good and bad times, but the good definitely outweighs the bad, especially when your friends are suffering with you!

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