Dating : A Reflection, Part I: The 5 Rooms

She arrived early. Seeing as her company had not arrived just yet, she walked towards the first room.

She sang a cheerful greeting as she bounced into the First Room. Her cheerful greeting was returned back by his look of surprise. She started talking animatedly — asking about the new arrangement of his teaching schedule, thanking him for his patience throughout their back and forth over her curriculum vitae, and for his belief in her despite her defiant denial of her worth. Having to rush off to meet her company, she gave a quick goodbye, and was smiling as she shut the door.

Her friend lightly rapped his knuckles on the familiar white door, winked, and walked off — leaving her no choice but to enter the second room before preparing herself.

The Second Room was familiar — not only with the lovely person presiding in it, but the board of colorful wishes and similarly held-close-to-her-own-heart quotes. She greeted her with a big smile and plopped down on the chair in front of her. She was greeted back by tired eyes, but accompanied with a returned smile. She started filling her in about her new job, queried on how the society was doing, and generally showing her concern of her health. She was questioned on her choice of university, to which she responded with a systematic ranking (that took too many sleepless nights and plenty of scribbles to come up with). She smiled as she was hugged — to which she hugged back tighter, promising to keep in touch. She was suddenly shoved with university pamphlets, to which she laughed and accepted them before walking out — gratefully saving herself from an emotional see you again.

She found herself walking through the familiar dimly lit corridors, remembering the many times she ran through them to get her work done. She hesitantly peeped into one of the offices — sighed as the person she was looking for wasn’t in, and continued walking. She peeped into two more offices, puzzled that they weren’t in. She took a deep breath, remembering there was another room to go to.

The Third Room did not house a familiar environment, but there sat the man who saw through to her true self even before she could present her persona. She found her nerves leaving, as she grinned at him. His face turned to one of mild surprise as his glasses fell down his nose. “Come in come in,” he grinned back. She quickly sat down in front of his desk, her eyes noticing the countless stack of scribbled papers with red ink slashed across the words. ‘You’ve come to visit me in my torture,’he laughed heartily. She smiled and handed him the gift she was popping by each person’s office to give. They talked for a while, and having to meet yet another company — she asked to excuse herself. He joked about her class, asked her to keep in touch — to which she smiled. He had given her opportunities to prove herself, and the feeling of deja vu overcame her when she sat talking to him, recalling their countless of conversations.

She left the third room, her mind running over their conversation as she waited for her next company.

After settling part of her agenda, she rushed off to an impromptu meeting. She was out of breath when she plopped down on one of the wooden benches. She was greeted with a laugh, and they delved right into their conversation. Exchanging stories of leadership, sympathizing with the countless of paperwork, the stress and yet the love for it all — accompanied with her usual self-deprecating jokes of course. “Thank you for spending your time to talk to me. It’s hard to find someone who can understand this-,” the person started. “-Other than the person who went through it herself too, right?,” she laughed and responded with a hug and the assurance of being around if there were any hiccups.

She walked off to her next stop: the Fourth Room. She was greeted by one — who greeted her in shock, and the other who smiled as though she knew of her surprise visit. She stood as she talked with them, initially the topic surrounding what she was going to do next. It soon developed into life lessons, to which she laughed and absorbed everything they said to her — just as she had always done during the previous times she’s come to them for advice. ‘Ego can destroy the way a person chooses to write their story, remember that. Don’t fall to your ego,’she was told. She was enchanted, her mind going over everything they had said. She felt herself smile more when she saw their reactions to her gifts — despite the gift being small in comparison to all of their tough love and guidance. ‘Did you get an A on my paper?,’she was questioned by them both, to which she laughed and sheepishly answered otherwise. With another promise to keep in touch, she waved — (seemingly after promising an allegiance to help the society she left behind) and closed the door.

She looked at her watch and was taken aback by the time, not realizing how fast time goes. “One last place”, she grinned to herself before rapping on the door sharply.

The Fifth Room. Now, she didn’t spend as many times in this room per say, but she’s had a lot of guidance by this particular man. This man continuously encouraged her on her journey through law school, and introduced the world of the what-used-to-be-foreign: moot. She patiently waited as he ushered her in, apologizing that he had to attend to a student’s paper. After he was done, he offered her a seat, asking her how she was. She updated him on her endeavors, and her choices for her future university. She noticed his tired eyes: worried, but at the same time her heart swelled with gratitude, knowing that the passion he had in training her and others up was still very much on fire for the future batches to come. She gave her gift, to which he smiled at the memory behind it. She quietly excused herself, with a final plea for him to take care of his health — and left.

Her mind swirled with thoughts as she went to get her bag. As she walked away from the 5 rooms, she looked back once more.

Vowing to herself that although she could never be able to pay any of them back for the love and guidance they had given her and many others, she vowed to make them proud.

And she hopes she had, and will continue to.