The Key To Our Success

It was in the shape of a key, mounted on a small wooden block. It bore my name on the front. Red letters embossed on a gold plate, MELANIE NORONHA stared up at me. They called it the key to our success.

She came up to the podium and said there was little she could say to us that we didn't already know. All she had with her were a few words of wisdom her grandmother told her a few days before she was married, words she felt were apt for us as we stepped out of the doors of Symbiosis and into the real world.

She told us to be prepared for change, to adjust, to be open enough to accept a different way of life. She reminded us that there was no 'I' in team and that the right way is the only way. If there is an opportunity to do some good for someone else, do it. And children, always take care of your parents. They have given you so much.

We have come full circle from that Lighthouse Day, my first day at university. It guided the way to this day, where our faculty and management bid us farewell. Kiran Bedi spoke to us that day about the number of keys we have in our hands, opening doors to great opportunities.

I look back, feeling good that I used a lot of those keys. There are no regrets.

I stand now at the end of a long road, deciding which path to take to move ahead. I stand here, with this key in my hand. This key to my success. And I wonder which door it will open.