Issue14 Dream, home, and pedestal

The idea of cultivating and instilling a sense of belonging to the university in each student is difficult enough let alone keeping it alive and burning throughout four years and into the real world. And in all honesty, when I first enrolled at the International School of Managements and Economics (ISME), I did not foresee a future where I identify myself with this particular school or NEU for that matter or have any kind of expectation of the shorts. But now, for me, NEU is one and many things: a dream, a home away from home and a pedestal.

Ever since I was a little boy, I saw people battling the university entrance exam like they were going to war and for a scrawny kid whose parents are below-average earners at that time, being able to get into a university is a one-way ticket to a secured future and when you add that with the prestige that NEU carries with its reputation, that future sure looks pretty enchanting. Unconsciously, I grew accustomed to the name NEU and soon before long, it became my dream and goal to study at NEU one day. And along the way, I found myself, a 10-year-old kid, telling people I was going to study business administration at NEU even though I was pretty sure I had not the faintest idea what the major entails. To tell the truth, up until now, sometimes I still have difficulties grasping the complex idea that is business administration. In retrospect, before NEU knew of me, I have known and dreamt of NEU.

Fortunately, my interest in both the university and the major have not wavered or diminished but stayed intact and even evolved into a kind of a passion and an career path. Yes, my childhood dream survived throughout the turbulence-ridden years of puberty and high school and the influences that any child is bound to be exposed to along the way to become an aspiration and part of my personal agenda. And somehow, in the end, with a dash of luck, a whole lot of determination and a little bit of coincidence, I became a NEU student and I was living my dream.

Or at least I thought I was. But I was so wrong for being a part of ISME is not just a dream come true or simply just something to be proud of for the rest of my life but also a journey to remember for many years to come. As luck would have it, I was incredibly fortunate to have found a home at this university and at ISME, where I feel so very blessed for having had the opportunity to work with amazing people who are remarkably passionate at what they do. As a matter of fact, being involved in a wide range of activities at ISME has not only brought me closer to other people but also closer to NEU. This is no longer the place where I go to everyday to enrich my intellect, but a sanctuary where I feel welcomed, needed and safe. Truthfully, being an ISME student, one does not always have the urge or the desire to connect to NEU at a larger level because one is so wrapped up in the revolving world at ISME, which is, though small, very happening. But, if you step outside of yourself and your own surrounding, like I was able to do, once in a while, you see yourself as part of a bigger picture, you feel the need to connect with more people and the need to challenge yourself. And once that is achieved, you attain this startling realization that you can have the best of both world, you can be an IBDer with many of the traits that ISME proudly instill in its students and at the same time, a NEUian to whom the whole campus is a haven whose every single tree, every corner is familiar. The walk from Building 6 to D2 Building is no longer tiresome, the parking, security and canteen staff no longer strangers, and the school song no longer an awkward melody but a song I sing proudly, albeit very much out of tune.

But of course, despite that homy and cozy feeling that NEU brings its own students, to outsiders, students of NEU are often put on pedestals and at the same time, held to a much higher standard. Maybe as a kid, I was right to spot the prestige that goes along with the name NEU, but I was obviously too naïve to perceive the lofty standards and requirements that society at large and people put on NEU students. And one thing I get out of this is that I get pushed harder, by others as well as myself, to always go the extra mile, to reach out beyond boundaries and limits. Because, there is never a time when we will be more honest, when our convictions will be stronger or when our motives will be more focused than they are right now. And, NEU, the pedestal, also raise us up higher, give us an extra advantage, help us reach our destination easier. So maybe being held to a higher standard, to be push a little harder, is not a bad thing after all. NEU gave us a platform, a jump start and the rest is in our hands. William Shakespeare once wrote:

There is a tide in the affairs of men.

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat,

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures.

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Issue11 Interview with Tom Asselberghs

Issue11 Interview with Tom Asselberghs