Working in a team such as the college office can be very tricky sometimes - a group of 6 people, 6 different personalities, 6 varying mindsets, 6 conflicting outlooks and 6 clashing cultures! It was never as bad as it probably sounds now. And after working as a member of the college office team for an entire year, I can confidently say that it’s by far been the greatest learning experience of my life! Apart from gaining practical work experience and learning from my ‘co-workers’, (lol) I have managed to get to know some of the most awesome people in my life and make some of my closest friends. I remember the beginning of the Fall of 2008, five of us has just joined the team. We were mostly lost within what I like to call my second home now – the Mercator College Office. But thanks to Rahul’s patience and tolerance, and Sarah’s super-efficient working style, we managed to settle in soon. Be it sitting through endless discussion at college office meetings, working late into the night to clean up the college office after an event, crazily running out to get wet in the rain, or simply sitting together around the conference table, sipping on coffee and discussing the most random things, I will cherish every single moment and memory. There have been times when things have gotten chaotic, stressful and irritating. During every single occasion, one of these awesome people have leaned in, given us a hug, given us a hand and helped us pull through. For one semester, Misha, our pretending-to-be-so-grumpy facility student was also a part of our team. He will be graduating this year along with Sarah, Rahul and Ango. Despite not being on the team during the spring semester he helped out at events, kept a watch out for what needed to be fixed and just brightened up our days with his jokes by dropping by the college office occasionally. He is probably the best example of famous MCO quote “once a team member, always a team member”. Now be it, Sarah’s ability to pull the team together, Rahul’s (manager-like) skill to get work done from the rest of us ;), Misha’s talent of telling when someone is annoyed and cracking them up instantly or Ango’s knack of putting a smile on our faces in times of stress, these people have been the backbone of our team for the past year and we will miss their presence on the team sincerely. No matter what you will always be part of the team. Reminiscing the year, I am reminded of Vernissage ’09. To me, this event was a perfect display of team spirit. Despite Sammy’s absence, we managed to make the event a grand success (and that’s saying something!). And then there was the team building event three weeks back – I clearly picture Rahul hanging off his harness from the tree. ;) Now within 30 seconds, the entire team was standing under the tree watching him helplessly and giving him random instructions on how to climb back up. Even though we had a laugh at the end of the day, we were all frightened seeing him hang up there. (And he was hanging so calmly. Weirdo :D) Now the part I hate about working with a team like this is the goodbye part. We all know it is inevitable, but we all complain and cry about it and eventually accept it. Like Rahul said, “This is how change really happens. It is like a relay race. Our job really is just to do our part of the race, and then we pass it on, someone picks it up and keeps going”. The reigns of the team are being handed over to a new group – Pareezad, Billy, Alex and Mihaela. We are all hopeful and confident that the new team will do an awesome job in keeping up the spirit of the team, the spirit of the Mercator college office and Mercator College itself. We hope that they (we) will not just match the set expectations but surpass it and give in their (our) best to this community and make it an ‘awesomer’ place to live in! Rahul, Sarah, Ango, Misha – Cheesy as I may sound, I do not have words enough to translate my feelings right now. I hope, pray and wish you three all the best in the world. I want to thank you for everything little thing you have done for us, for your every little action that has brightened up our day, and for the marks you have left in our lives. Make sure you visit us very soon, we are waiting.

Swetha