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GOODBYES

28.06.2025

ISSUE 07

ISSUE #03

4 MIN READ

There's something different about graduating when you're old enough to understand what it means.

During high school graduation, everyone is too busy being excited about the present to worry about the future. You're still full of youthful optimism and brimming with energy. You think life will stay this way forever: that all your friends will remain in your life and nothing will change. And then you graduate, and some things change while others don't.

After finishing school, I immediately jumped into college where I was surrounded by equally clueless teenagers figuring out their new lives and trying to grow up. I was one of those unfortunate people who graduated during the pandemic. As a result, I never got my "gown and hat in the air" moment. I had joined a startup and was too busy with my new life as a designer to really process what was happening with college. The transition never hit me.

It's been exactly five years since I graduated from college, and now that I'm completing my master's, I'm fully aware that this might be the last time I see people I've grown to love so deeply.


There's something different about graduating when you're old enough to understand what it means.

During high school graduation, everyone is too busy being excited about the present to worry about the future. You're still full of youthful optimism and brimming with energy. You think life will stay this way forever: that all your friends will remain in your life and nothing will change. And then you graduate, and some things change while others don't.

After finishing school, I immediately jumped into college where I was surrounded by equally clueless teenagers figuring out their new lives and trying to grow up. I was one of those unfortunate people who graduated during the pandemic. As a result, I never got my "gown and hat in the air" moment. I had joined a startup and was too busy with my new life as a designer to really process what was happening with college. The transition never hit me.

It's been exactly five years since I graduated from college, and now that I'm completing my master's, I'm fully aware that this might be the last time I see people I've grown to love so deeply.


There's something different about graduating when you're old enough to understand what it means.

During high school graduation, everyone is too busy being excited about the present to worry about the future. You're still full of youthful optimism and brimming with energy. You think life will stay this way forever: that all your friends will remain in your life and nothing will change. And then you graduate, and some things change while others don't.

After finishing school, I immediately jumped into college where I was surrounded by equally clueless teenagers figuring out their new lives and trying to grow up. I was one of those unfortunate people who graduated during the pandemic. As a result, I never got my "gown and hat in the air" moment. I had joined a startup and was too busy with my new life as a designer to really process what was happening with college. The transition never hit me.

It's been exactly five years since I graduated from college, and now that I'm completing my master's, I'm fully aware that this might be the last time I see people I've grown to love so deeply.


There's something different about graduating when you're old enough to understand what it means.

During high school graduation, everyone is too busy being excited about the present to worry about the future. You're still full of youthful optimism and brimming with energy. You think life will stay this way forever: that all your friends will remain in your life and nothing will change. And then you graduate, and some things change while others don't.

After finishing school, I immediately jumped into college where I was surrounded by equally clueless teenagers figuring out their new lives and trying to grow up. I was one of those unfortunate people who graduated during the pandemic. As a result, I never got my "gown and hat in the air" moment. I had joined a startup and was too busy with my new life as a designer to really process what was happening with college. The transition never hit me.

It's been exactly five years since I graduated from college, and now that I'm completing my master's, I'm fully aware that this might be the last time I see people I've grown to love so deeply.


There's something different about graduating when you're old enough to understand what it means.

During high school graduation, everyone is too busy being excited about the present to worry about the future. You're still full of youthful optimism and brimming with energy. You think life will stay this way forever: that all your friends will remain in your life and nothing will change. And then you graduate, and some things change while others don't.

After finishing school, I immediately jumped into college where I was surrounded by equally clueless teenagers figuring out their new lives and trying to grow up. I was one of those unfortunate people who graduated during the pandemic. As a result, I never got my "gown and hat in the air" moment. I had joined a startup and was too busy with my new life as a designer to really process what was happening with college. The transition never hit me.

It's been exactly five years since I graduated from college, and now that I'm completing my master's, I'm fully aware that this might be the last time I see people I've grown to love so deeply.



At 26, having witnessed enough of life's patterns, I understand that life gets busy. Everyone has their own challenges to face, their own paths to walk. And because of this, people lose touch. It's neither good nor bad. It simply is what it is. Having seen this happen throughout school and undergrad, I'm anxious about what awaits.

This awareness sits heavy. Unlike those earlier transitions where I was either too young to grasp what goodbye meant or too distracted by pandemic chaos to process it properly, this farewell feels deliberate. Conscious.


~

I'm afraid I might not see my friends again. Juemin, Ruiheng, and Abby are moving back to China amid rising US-China tensions. Although I would love to visit China someday, I have no concrete plans for the foreseeable future. And it seems they don't plan to come to the US or India anytime soon either.

I hope this isn't our final goodbye. I'll try my best to see them again, but just in case I don't, let this essay serve as a reminder that I will never forget them. I will not forget Abby scolding me whenever I tried to leave the studio before sunset, or halfassing type design classes with Ruiheng. I will never forget all the time I bothered Juemin to teach me about screen-printing or the times I bothered her to sit with me when I was too overwhelmed with life and job hunting. These memories are etched into my heart.

There's a melancholy to being old enough to recognise endings as they happen. To feel the weight of goodbye when you understand it might actually mean goodbye.


But at the same time I know that friendships doesn't always need physical proximity to survive. Sometimes it lives in the spaces between messages, in the occasional video calls, in the photos we share of our evolving lives. Perhaps that's the beauty of modern goodbyes. They're rarely permanent.


To Juemin, Ruiheng, and Abby: Wherever you go, whatever you do, know that you have a friend across the ocean who is cheering for you. I will continue to manifest a trip to china in the near future so we can talk shit and drink milk tea in person soon.

I love the three of you so much. Until we meet again.
⚘

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© ITSIDDHARTH

STAY

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LOOP

NO SPAM. OCCASIONAL CERTIFIED GOOD STUFF.

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I would love to chat and hear what you thought about this little project so please don’t hesitate to say Hi.

© ITSIDDHARTH

STAY

IN

THE

LOOP

NO SPAM. OCCASIONAL CERTIFIED GOOD STUFF.

↑ SCROLL TO TOP

I would love to chat and hear what you thought about this little project so please don’t hesitate to say Hi.

© ITSIDDHARTH

STAY

IN

THE

LOOP

NO SPAM. OCCASIONAL CERTIFIED GOOD STUFF.

↑ SCROLL TO TOP

I would love to chat and hear what you thought about this little project so please don’t hesitate to say Hi.

© ITSIDDHARTH