At the end of the semester,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSam09QB2K
when the books were closed,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzRPKXojQ1
and the codes had settled into the silence of completion,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOn0tybi3tp
we were handed something new —359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6WawIl1YV
a task beyond classrooms and labs.
They called it the CSP —359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfklR46wwlN
Community Service Project.
It was meant to connect us with the world outside —359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡux1JHRNyRi
to give back, maybe.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMipAchCLTR
But for me, it felt more like a pause,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbcK70TuxM
a breath before the next rush.
I didn’t choose my team.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQifFBk4xj
Or maybe, the team chose me.
It was me,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96K31NOFoS
Merry and Bettie — two girls from my class359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LLz0BDO26
who shared more smiles than words with me,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKlu7tk2WZ
and Harry, my friend —359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNdxFY3UIT
more chaos than calm, but a comfort all the same.
We were a team.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhHrLkjYlS
Somewhat random, but real.
Our project was rooted in Rajahmundry.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXLDYNzEIK
A place far from our usual walls,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaOpUmq5ds
where we were to explore farming,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvCSZVQhPUI
to understand flowers, roots, and the earth itself.
It was poetic, in a way.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntY3Kqz52a
After all, hadn’t this year been about blooming too?
But there she was again.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CrpOFYzFg
Forevermore.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIvmbEsQ9R
And she had her own project, her own path.
With Ren, of course.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8nj08WjWx
And that girl I met during the festival.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWHS0vUqB3
A few others I didn’t know, but it didn’t matter.
They were a team.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIiLjtdAqxB
Separate.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGwdnauepqS
Like two parallel poems written in the same language,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2kGvNTb4a
but never on the same page.
We left the city on the same day,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP1jFRSg9Jk
as if chasing the same sunrise from two different windows.
She took the bus.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62BbZZ96rS
I rode a bike.
Same roads, different rhythms.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhaXjWPG3d
That was how it had always been, wasn’t it?
May ended in sweat and soil,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBeFoD4IJAt
laughter echoing in quiet villages,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6OsMOPcIz
us pretending to be farmers, observers, volunteers.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MImdLlECR
Somewhere in between the heat and haze,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNEsAFMHk8y
we completed what was asked of us.
But more than the project,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTzA2Q2C3jd
it was the people.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAmgsQWr6Z
The little moments.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhcrjDy2MS
The jokes, the long walks back from fields.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9V3C7jIzZ
Not everything has to be profound.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOBSnVtW9W5
Sometimes, simplicity leaves the deepest roots.
And then,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTU6IH95fbF
came the results.
By late July,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdMcv2uqIj
we were handed the truth of our first year.
CGPA: 8.88
Better than I expected.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UVGnR27Cq
Worse than I pretended I didn’t care.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3YnQkyP1d
It was a number, yes.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQDj6x89OX
But also a weight lifted.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwO4eBvUipt
A reminder that despite everything —359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWp1kot0oC
I survived, I coded, I lived.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg513NPmTp2
And maybe even bloomed a little.
The second year wasn’t knocking.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhg0Ytz7oB
It was already breaking in.
A whole new chapter —359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWLCOgeJKe
new faces, maybe some old ones too.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTA2DcHnlLL
But more than anything,359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zMTyIxNlI
new choices.
And I...359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkKGCsEVfK
was still carrying the echoes of a name I carved softly into my soul.359Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9dwMflrxj
and then Add to home screen.