The Alumni Association Meeting in the Chinese Embassy ( M.L.)

This Saturday I was invited to attend the Shandong University Singapore Alumni Association Foundation Meeting that was held in the Chinese Embassy.
Before I went, I was sure that we would be strictly questioned and searched at the entrance I was a bit worried because my visa was not in my hand at the moment. But the real thing was that when I got to the entrance of the embassy and told the receptionist what I was up to, he just let me in with a word of welcome, no questioning or searching that I had expected.
After we had settled down in a meeting room, I looked around to see that the attendees were of all ages from young people in their early 20s to people in their 60s. After they introduced themselves, I learnt that their occupations differ from lab researchers to business chairmen, but most them work in the academic fields such as in A Star and in Ministry of Education. Most of those who haven't worked yet are doing their Master Degree or Doctor Degree, and there were only a few undergraduates, and I'm the only one that is still doing bridging course.
Despite the age differences, the conversations I had with many of them were very enjoyable, they told me that the abilities that the society lays most significance on are a cross-subject view and the ablility to ride the waves. They also emphasized that preparing early is of vital importance for seizing opportunities in the future by providing their own cases as examples.
Then the meeting began. Since this was the first time that the association was in function after it was registered, the most important thing to do was to elect the committee of the association. We recommend several candidates who we thought was qualified. Then we voted to elect the chairman of the community, the honorary chairman, the chief secretary, the organization secretary, the treasurer and other members of the association community.
Then time for refreshment came, we went down to the ground hall to have some nice desserts and fruits. While eating, we moved around, joined a group of people, had a lovely conversation, and then walked to join another group to talk. I met many people who gave some directions for choosing my major or imformation of the situation of employment of certain careers. Such chances are not what I can take for granted and I tried to get answers to all my doubts about my future academic and career issues.
After the refreshment we went back to the meeting room to listen to the report on the development and current situation of our former university Shandong University. I got to know something that I didn't know, such as the history of the several branch schools of Shandong University and the interesting anecdotes about our former headmaster Zhan Tao.
Some of the attendees got so excited that that they began to talk regardless of the report. And before long the report turned into an exciting discussion about the old days each of us spent in our alma mater. Everyone got very emotional and an old professor who had been in Shandong University for 20 years before coming to Singapore even got so sentimental that he couldn’t keep his tears when he talked about the view from the window of his dormitory, his roommates, the library that he usually stayed in until midnight, the path that he paved on every dusk…Though the days I spent at Shandong was decades after his, I just felt that the emotion was the same. There was a moment that I reached desperately into the past.
When everyone calmed down a little, we started to discuss about how we could help each other and what we could do for the association. Then we went to the Chinese national flag and had a group photo taken with a banner which read:Shandong University Singapore Alumni Association held in our hands. After that, we were dismissed and I went back to Eton Hall.
It was a wonderful day, and I plan to participate in the activities to be held on the Mid-autumn Festival by the association. But that's a bit too far, first I'll finish my bridging course.