What are dreams for?
    Langston Hughes said: “Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

    When we were little kids, we believe in dreams and there was no reason for us to believe our dreams couldn’t come true, for we hadn’t yet developed fear, doubt and insecurity. But as we grew older, we began to lose our dreams. Fantasies no longer fly because they are weighted down by doubts, fear and paranoia. We no longer believe in dreams because we either became overly practical or highly irresponsible. Our practical side would say - “That’s impossible to do,” while our irresponsible nature would say – “Someone else would have to do it.”

    So how many dreams have we let die? How many projects did we start only to leave them unfinished? How many times did we say to ourselves, “I’m gonna do this,” but then didn’t work to make it so? How many times have we promised ourselves, “This time it’s going to be different,” and then went on to forget about it?

    Dreams help us put into an image that which our souls desire to do, that which we want to achieve. Dreams are hopes and wishes and they are full of purpose. They are there to inspire us, to broaden our horizon, to encourage us to strive and reach beyond our present goal. They give our forward movement a structure and focus. They are like invitations from God to spread our wings and fly to new heights. They act as signs and signals or guideposts along the paths to our destination. Had we no dreams, we’d quickly lose our desire to live. Pamela Vaull Starr advised: “Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” 

The CIM Class 1972 had a dream
    It started as a dream of the few of us of the CIM Class 1972, a dream of getting our classmates together, of re-connecting with each other to make us closer together the way we once used to be, in order to recapture the youthful enthusiasm and exuberance we once used to have, and to rekindle the belief that having the feeling of connectedness to each other, we’d no longer have to fumble and falter our way through our different tolerance and sensitivity, uncertain and hesitant of what to say, what jokes and stories to tell.

    So we pursued the dream and like a wild idea, it caught the excitement of the many, who soon realized that acceptance by each other is our want. Unconditional love is our due. We cherished our moments together and started to miss each other the moment we were to part. We felt loved because we gave love to each other freely. In some measure, at some time, we do reap what we sow.

    Love is not just a feeling or a word we say or write. Love is a truth filled with tolerance, respect, kindness and compassion. It is the sum total of the good human qualities that make us a person of character. It is the way we present ourselves to others or to the world – the face we put on, the behavior we show, the feelings we express – our very heart and soul. It's the vital part of our being. If we’re not made up of love, we’ll reflect this feeling to others and experience it within ourselves. Inside our chest will be a heart, but a heart that is heavy and cold and made of stone.

    After we had our first Class 1972 get-together, we soon knew deep within each of us that the gentle nature of love softens our calloused souls, opens a channel between us, and invites pleasant response that closes the distance. We also noticed that friendship that helps us develop mentally and emotionally to our full stature cannot grow, let alone bloom if we maintain distance instead of closeness, if we cultivate alienation rather than participation, and if we seek isolation and shy away from friendly contact rather than taking advantage of the opportunity of celebrating life and chatting together.

     It's with the involvement especially with our friends that we learn who we are. We are changed by our experiences. Every situation, every person, every feeling, every idea, every joke, has at least slightly different flavor each time we encounter it. Our awareness gives way to new understanding. It's an invitation to come alive.

The name is bond – friendship bond
    Having the bond of friendship established, many of us of the Class 1972 had another dream and we all decided to pursue it not because we are after of some glory, but because doing it is not just a good thing to do, it’s also a way of expressing love and sharing God's blessings. So together we contributed in establishing funds to make that dream come true – to let our colleagues and future colleagues in CIM know that we are aware of their struggles and that we’d do the best we can to help them.

    The CIM Class 1972 is proud to announce that it has recently donated five fast computers and two fast laser printers to CIM through Dr. Virginia Mesola, and extra funds for miscellaneous things that go along with them. Most if not all of us of the Class 1972 have been aware that in these day and age, technology is essential in learning that pretty soon into the future, students will have hard time learning without it, if they are not having a hard time yet. Because computers are as good only as the programs installed in them, our Class 1972 is also establishing online subscriptions for different medical journals for CIM, and will maintain these subscriptions indefinitely.

    Our Class 1972 organization is established mainly as an organization of friendship. It is not designed, let alone intended as a way of separating ourselves from the whole CIM alumni association. It is intended solely for all of us in the Class 1972 to have all the time together for a certain number of days or a long weekend, simply to have fun, to share jokes and personal stories and to solidify the bond between us. Thus we have our get-together only every other year, because we don't want to be misconstrued that we are separating from ASOCIMAI.

“It’s only love … and that is all”
    Since we of the CIM Class 1972 choose love as our means of relating to others, we decided to have the CIM project as our expression of love and gratitude to life. Although the past is past and it's useless to dwell on it, it is sometimes helpful to cast a backward glance; it has a way of sharpening our gratitude. We can look back on our old life and be thankful for what we are now. If we live this long relatively healthy with a good job, then life has been good to us. J. Robert Maskin said: "One of life's gifts is that each of us, no matter how tired and downtrodden, finds reasons for thankfulness."

     The CIM project gives meaning to our Class 1972 organization; it gives it a sense of purpose. And it gives us members a sense of pride, of usefulness and of doing something of value, like a pulse of life that beats through everyone and everything, making us parts of the universe. Because it's human nature and desire to be counted, to be useful, or to be part of something worthwhile, this project has the likelihood of solidifying and strengthening the bond of friendship between us to hopefully last a lifetime.

    Suffice it to say, there are projects that a small class organization is able to accomplish simply, swiftly and finally that a bigger alumni association is not able to, not because the bigger organization doesn’t have the funds or the will to proceed, but because when a decision is made if it ever is on a certain idea or project, there is doubt, reluctance, or hesitation to carry it out, not to mention procrastination, because all too often there is a lack of trust and accountability that gives way to the lack of enthusiasm and cooperation, creating a vicious cycle.

    There is also an almost absolute total lack of support when something goes wrong, or even if it’s only someone’s perception and accusation that something is wrong. You are left alone to tackle the accusation on your own. There are even those who would rather admonish you than support you. It is as if all the good things you have done have all of a sudden become bad. It leaves you with an awful feeling of abandonment and helplessness. You wonder where the love is. It makes you think that perhaps it's what Jesus Christ felt when he was accused, about to be put on trial and sentenced to be crucified. He was abandoned like He was the devil.

    Indeed this is my personal experience and observation of ASOCIMAI. I believe that it's the almost complete lack of the essential human qualities and its inability to carry out a decision and keep its promises that have made our alumni association lose its significance. It has failed to maintain a sense of purpose and thus it is unable to provide the members with a sense of pride that is very important in maintaining enthusiasm. Further, where love is not given nor received, there is a barrier that would only become a source of tension and conflict. It makes me question why a barrier when it only complicates things and drains our energy when love is so much easier and simpler and it fills us with energy?

     But in our Class 1972 organization, there is always more than enough support, encouragement and reassurance no matter what happens, because that’s what friends are for. There are always those who are aware that in friendship, solutions to problems are seldom found in the head, for all too often they are found in the heart. Thus they don’t have to think; they give their support and love freely to a friend who is hurting or in distress by offering kind words.

     Friends understand that love gives a friend the courage to tackle one's trouble. When you know that friends are there to love and support you in times of setback and disappointment, just the knowledge itself gives you the courage and confidence to scale mountains, or to confront what's lying ahead. Is it not that the most important thing that Jesus Christ asked of every one of us is – to love one another? It's obvious that Jesus doesn't want us to base our actions on logic alone. He wants us to be carried away with love. Karl A. Menninger said: "Love cures people, the ones who receive love and the ones that give it, too." The love we feel toward others and the love we receive readily change our perceptions so that the same pictures that looked so dismal in past years can look full of promise, possibilities and even rich in the present. It's almost like magic.

    Well, Class 1972, we’ve done what we’ve decided to do. We’ve talked the walk and we’ve walked the talk. We’ve made our dreams come true. Our project accomplishment may not be much, but it’s significant because we did it and will continue to do it out of love. Now let’s sit back, relax and listen to Carol King’s song:

From the CIM Class 1972:

HAPPY VALENTINES TO ALL OF YOU!

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