Next stage

Yesterday was our graduation, or the commencement of our careers as MBAs. For most of us, it was also the last time we would ever be students again -- for real this time. So even though it was the celebration of an achievement, to me it marked the unfortunate passing of a happy era.

Life has always been divided into small, neat chunks, including the last 2 here in business school. From birth, 2 years in the US, 1 year in Taiwan, 4 years in France, 2 years in Monterey Park, 2 years in New Jersey, 2 years at Orange Grove MS in Hacienda Heights, 4 years at Los Altos High, 4 years at UCLA, 2 years as a reporter in LA, 3 years in Baltimore, 2 years at Anderson.

Every time I've moved on, I have always regretted leaving behind the people I got used to seeing every day. And then gradually, precise memories become a blur, and then I struggle even to recall names. But the faces and the impressions always remain, woven into this great tapestry of a life I have been lucky to live.