It’s sometimes hard to come to grips with the past. But this was evidently not the case for the 120 alumni from the classes of 2013 and 2014 who attended the SMU Interaction Night on 13th May 2016. Held at the SMU alumni café - Tonic X, the evening was filled with excited chatter and boisterous laughter as our recent graduates reconnected and rekindled old friendships with one another.
The fundamental belief, that bonds forged during student experiences in SMU are enduring, form the basis of the SMU Interaction Night series. This series was designed to facilitate meaningful interactions through a platform of collegial sharing while featuring different themes.
Organised specially for the graduates of 2013 and 2014, this Interaction Night aims to re-connect alumni before their fifth year of graduating from SMU. Director of SMU’s Office of Alumni Relations (OAR) Associate Professor Low Aik Meng welcomed the alumni, “There are tons of events that OAR organises to welcome you back to SMU. Tonight’s event is a prelude to your respective five year reunions in a couple of years. Come back to SMU and come back to your alumni café on campus here at Tonic X.”
Executive Committee member from the SMU Alumni Association (SMUAA) Cheryl Er (BAcc, 2014) then shared with the crowd the objectives and upcoming plans from the Association, “We encourage all of you to come back to Tonic X as we hope that this café will be a stepping stone to our 10-year plan to have an alumni guild house.”
Queues quickly lined the bar and buffet line. Deftly balancing their beer bottles and food plate, our alumni moved from group to group to catch up and reminisce the good old times. Three lucky winners walked away with lucky draw prizes at the end of the night. Some alumni were also identified to help plan the respective classes’ 5 year reunions.
“It is great to have such events to allow for interactions and networking. I believe that networking is essential everywhere you go. Our law alumni are making waves in the legal industry. Perhaps the next SMU Interaction Night can be organised specially for this group of alumni” suggested Pradeep Nair (LLM, 2013) (pictured above right). Also formerly from the SMU Kendo Club, Pradeep reminisced the time when he and his friends dressed up in their kendo uniforms and attended another OAR event – Photo Day. They made an outstanding appearance and created a lasting impression whilst the others were dressed in their graduation gowns. “That was fun times!” he recalled.
OAR looks forward to supporting these batches of alumni in their reunion plans and welcoming them back to SMU again.
For more photos from the event, click here.