An Open Letter to Bentley University
Dear Bentley,
This May 19th, 2018, I will have graduated from your walls, your stairs, your brick buildings, your vibrant autumns and your bitter winters.
I won’t lie and say my time with you has been without a challenge or that you’re completely perfect. In fact, I’ve found plenty wrong with the college education system and became frustrated by its rigidity. Yet, I remain eternally grateful for the seven semesters you have given me. Thank you for being the home to some of the best memories of my life.
Thank you for the South Asian Student Association, without which I would not have formed some of the most steadfast friendships in my life. SASA not only gave me a chance to share my vision, my voice and my leadership, it gave me a family. I’ve found mentors and role models who I still look up to. I’ve found friends who I know will go on to do incredible things in college and beyond. SASA helped me share the color of my culture with the rest of campus, and I’m incredibly honored to have been on the executive board as Webmaster (twice), Senior Advisor and Vice President.
Thank you for the Multicultural Center and for the MOSAIC Experience (formerly known as ALANA). I met one of my best friends in the whole wide world on my first day of school thanks to ALANA. The program lets first-year students of color move in early and participate in several diversity and professional workshops and events. Going through the program as a freshman, I felt immediately at home on campus. The program was so impactful to my Bentley experience, I felt the need to pay the positivity forward, becoming a Leader as an upperclassman to help first year students of color adjust to school just like I did. This year’s program was especially dear to me. Through it, I’ve met and bonded with some of the most incredible people — friends that I can call family.
Thank you for the Computer Information Systems Sandbox and the technology on campus. When I was deciding where to go to school, it was the CIS program and the school’s technology focus that ultimately convinced me that Bentley was the school for me. It’s been a pleasure being a tutor at the Sandbox, our collaborative technology space on campus. Not only was I able to help people with their work which is rewarding in itself, I was able to strengthen my programming skills — getting paid while doing it. The Sandbox team is a super talented bunch, and I know that everyone who works there will be off to do amazing things in the future.
Thank you for the professors who often inspired me to integrate my classwork in my real life. Through their hard work and dedication to me as a student, I was able to learn about Java, Python, Android Apps, Global Strategy, Marketing, Management, Operations, Creative Writing, Effective Speaking, Cyberpsychology and so much more.
Finally, thank you for the friendships. There are no words to describe how I feel about those who I’ve grown with, side by side, and those who have been a part of my journey in any way, big or small. Whether I’ve known them from the first few days of college or from a single meaningful conversation, they’ve made me better. It still hasn’t hit me that I won’t be waking up every morning to some ridiculous quip from roommates I consider to be my brothers and that I won’t be launching into a day where I see all the people I’ve grown so accustomed to. When it does hit me, I might be sad, but hopefully I’ll be excited — because friendships like these never die.
Bentley University, I’m grateful for you. I’ll miss your comfortable Spring evenings. And music blaring from common rooms, easy knocks on a friend’s door, late night walks, running trails, parties, dance practices, binge watching that lasts till sunrise, spontaneous IHOP runs, “code hams,” Harvard Square shenanigans, samosa slinging, student org events, pickup football, coup-ing, Russo’s and LaCava, views from Adamian, endless nights in Koum, even the rush to classes in the mornings. For all your imperfections, you’ve kept a smile on my face for four years.
From here lies the rest of the world and the rest of my life. I’m so excited to jump in, but I know I certainly wouldn’t have gotten this far without you.
Forever your student,
Saalik
