Tribute to my friends

It is a real pride to say that once you belonged to a special group. I'm talking about that group that parents fear it will be the one who forms you as who you are and it might be of a wrong influence.

I'm proud to have known a group of people that formed me as who I am now. I feel proud that I had great friends, different and yet each of them being my model, part of my personality. I call my group Filos. You probably call yours differently. But Filos is now more of a concept, a remainder of what once used to be us. For me Filos is not a formal name, a student association, nor has anything to do with the Department of Philosophy. Those were only circumstances. Filos is for me those friends that you remember all your life, and you tell to your children about, when they ask you about how you were when you were young.

I met Filos when I was only a prospective student. Filos has been everything I do and I believe in for the past three years. Three years is nothing in a lifetime, some would say, but for me these years were so intense and insightful! Filos is not a sum of those who formed it, Filos was a state of mind and our special way to look at the world.

The first thing I learned from Filos was that its existence is possible. It showed me that, if you're lucky enough, you don't have to run all over the world to find a couple of close friends. Filos offered me my close friends from the first shot. I am so grateful for that, just as one could be for stumbling upon stacks of bars of gold.

There are many other things that you taught me. I learned to be confident, to be wise. I learned to be diplomat whenever in between and to enjoy the moment whenever being on one side. I learned from Marian how it is to be smart and render others comfortable with it. I learned from Razvan how to be strong and rational, and yet sensitive and caring. I learned from Ami how great sensibility can be in harmony with seriousness and reliability. I learned from Cristi to sometimes just enjoy the moment and to appreciate the other, no matter how different. I learned from Kostea to be charming and witty and feel that anything can be done. I learned from Ana how to fight time and problems with style and elegance. I learned from Sabina how to dance as nothing else matters. I learned from Dan that humor can get you out of difficult situations. I learned from Irina that what you search for is right in front of you and you must take it.

Yes, my friends, you were so different. As Ami was telling me the other day, you were all strong personalities. And that may have sometimes tensed the situation, but made the whole experience delightful. I can still feel these strong personalities, when I talk to each of you. But they're not in the same room anymore. And they sometimes sound tired. We are all getting more serious, we don't make witty jokes anymore. We are not full-time philosophers anymore, because life is getting most of our energy.

If you feel that there is a regret in my voice, it's just a misunderstanding. It was known all along that this beautiful thing will eventually end, like all beautiful things do. I knew it also, and I tried to cherish every single moment in your company.
Hopefully we will meet in 10-20 years-time and philosophize just a little bit, for old times' sake.


I hope my story is your story too. I am grateful for what I had and I wish it to everyone. Because if you think you never had the choice, you just have what you have, I believe you're mistaken. Each of us has a bar of gold buried within and one should dig to find one's treasure.

Thank you.