It’s been
more than a decade of passing out from school, but each and every memory of the
14 years spent in the convent is as fresh as if it was just yesterday when we
all said goodbyes to each other after writing our last board exam (ISE) and
promised to keep in touch through phone calls & emails (since social
networking was not such a range then). What was so special about that school,
why haven't we still moved on from our convent days??? Trust me I still don't
have answer to these questions, but all that I know is that even now after
getting married, changing various jobs and cities my closest pals are my school
friends. Today one phone call to my school friends who are located in various
cities makes me as enthusiastic as a 10th grade school girl, who laughs &
giggles over the most silliest of jokes & still enjoys stupid girls talk
and this works as the best de-stressor in the entire world.
St. Francis was not just a school for all of us, it was our home
where teachers were our parents who not only taught us through textbooks but
through the enriching experiences of their lives, they strived hard to make all
of us a bunch of self- dependant, confident & independent women that we're
today. And I'm so proud of the fact that even though we hail from a small town
called Jhansi, our attitude & perspective towards life is no less than
those who are born & raised in metros and big cities.
Today, while introspecting I was just pondering what has been the
greatest achievement of my life, or which was the moment when I had the
greatest sense of achievement....??? Couldn't think of any moments of my
professional life...(not that it wasn't great, but never felt so great after
achieving laurels or appreciation at the work front, just felt happy about
those and moved on ahead to achieve something bigger and better than
that).
When I talk about sense of achievement, all I can recall of are
the moments, when I would win a race for my house, win a dance competition for
the school, give a flawless dance performance on important occasions in school
(Needless to mention as to how badly I miss the school stage).
Moments like these which gave us the taste and flavour of achievements.
I can never forget the moment when we swore in as the office bearers in our
school, being the naughtiest of the whole lot; we never thought that our
teacher's would consider us responsible enough for such positions. But the day
when my best friends- Aditi swore in as the Head girl, Shivani (as the sports
captain), Priyanka & I (as the house Captains) we thought we had achieved
the greatest things in life. Today we still reminisce these moments and feel so
happy & proud about it.
St. Francis as an institution brought out the leaders in us,
instilled the confidence with which we lead our lives today.
This is just a snippet of the proud moments that we had in our
school days, if I start listing out all the amazing memories that would lead to
compiling a book and that too in volumes :-)
As St. Francis completes its glorious 100 years, I wish the school
many more of such glorious years. This school has transformed the lives of many
girls, given them a vision, goal & ambition in life, and made them the
uber-cool modern women of today.
