12 years. That many years have gone by and yet, it just feels like yesterday that I was a part of this beloved institution. Waking up early in the morning, doing a bit of exercise, going to school, enjoying classes and returning back to the hostel with lots of stories to share and enjoy. 

“Things close to the heart are closer than they appear,” is the message that is imprinted on the side mirror of the vehicle I call ‘My Life.’ Always close, always near, never too far away. Home is where the heart is and mine shall always will be with Assembly of Christ School-a place that laid the foundation to help me becoming the person I am today.

They say that one cannot keep a track of time when spending time with their loved ones. And that exactly happened with me at the start of what remains a truly cherishable five-year-stay at my ‘second home.’ 

At the start, I missed my parents, my house and the surroundings I was familiar with. But I didn’t have any idea that God was actually at work and that He was writing a brilliant chapter in the story of my life. Never in a thousand years would I have imagined that these five years of my life is going to remain etched deeply in every fibre of my being. You see, ACS was not just a hostel-cum-school. It was a whole lot more, for me. 

School was the best part of the whole day. Attending classes, having fun during the break, playing pranks on my friends and brother (at times) and also managing the responsibilities of also being a prefect and ‘Discipline-in-charge’–woah! Seems a pretty overwhelming, but I’m not lying, I loved doing every bit of this each day. 

And who can forget the fun we had in the hostel? Having meals, watching movies on Saturday nights, together, celebrating birthdays and each others’ successes, supporting one another in their toughest times and being chided by the wardens and caretakers for any wrongdoing–I remember and enjoy it all as if it all happened just yesterday. 

Those late night gossips about the hottest topic going on in the school, deserve an honourable mention as well! 

My teachers never really let me feel the absence of my parents at the hostel. At first, not being able to see Ma and Baba and be in their care and protection was tough for me. But as days passed, I started to experience the love and affection of my beloved teachers, who treated me no differently than their own child. Guiding me, correcting me, checking on me if I was well-they never ever made me experience the physical absence of my parents and relatives. Even a brainwash won’t have me forget the contributions that they made in my growing up to becoming the person I am today. 

With each passing day in life, I can’t help but be Grateful to God for my experience at ACS. If it was up to me, I would do it all over again and never get bored.