Prior to this year, I have skipped these events. I decided to go this year because this is most likely my last chance to attend such an event. I didn’t actually tell anyone that I was going. But I knew that some of them knew about it and were planning to attend. I expected some photo-taking.
When I went on the stage to receive the award, my team of ~20 stood up, hoisted billboards and shouted, creating quite a commotion. I wasn’t expecting it and was really quite pleasantly surprised.
Then my superior gave me a bunch of flowers (of types that I could not recognize). That’s another surprise. Many other colleagues also came up to shake my hand.
Some colleagues made me a nicely shaped laser-cut tree, reminding me of my days researching on manufacturing automation and geometric modelling, decades ago. In those days I thought that was most exciting. Little did I know what was to come.
There is also a nicely-shaped real-life bonsai tree. I will put it next to the one that I am trying to shape myself. I am hoping to shape it a little, without killing it.
Evidently many people were impressed by my colleagues’ enthusiasm. They are not the only group to make a commotion, but they are among the loudest.
Before I got seriously into service-learning, I wasn’t expecting to stay at the university for so long. Even now, 25 years does not seem so remarkable, although this is, by far, my longest job. But the last 10+ years of service-learning have given me a lot of opportunities to do challenging and meaningful things, make a lot of friends inside and outside of the university, go to a lot of exciting places, watch a lot of students grow up and change, link up my job with my faith, and discover a lot about myself.
Come to think of it, the 25 year award presents a reminder of the good time that I have had. I am very grateful, to my students, colleagues, collaborators, friends, family and ultimately, God.
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