After everything we have done together as the first graduating class
- 41 minutes ago
- 7 min read
It has been nearly a month since Parami University’s first graduating class, the Class of 2026, came together in a moment that felt both like an ending and a beginning—marking the close of a shared chapter that had been years in the making. As they now step into their next chapter, Myat Moe Kywe looks back with quiet reflection on the conversations, sense of community, and defining moments that shaped not only her personal journey but also the cohort’s shared identity.
Through late-night discussions that stretched ideas further than the classroom, collaborative learning that often blurred the line between teaching and growing together, and the challenges of building something new side by side, she reflects on how these years became more than an academic experience. They became a process of becoming—shaping resilience in uncertainty, curiosity in complexity, and a deeper, steadier sense of purpose.
Read on for her reflection.
Flashback of mine found in ours
Rain tapped gently against my window on the morning after everything had finally slowed down.
For weeks, life had moved at an impossible pace—senior capstone presentations, commencement rehearsals, family visits, packing, farewells, and the quiet realization that a chapter was ending. Then, suddenly, there was nowhere left to rush.
The silence felt unfamiliar.
Over the past month, I had been carrying a strange collection of emotions. Some days, gratitude arrived first. Other days, anxiety. Excitement often gave way to unexpected sadness. There were moments when I could not even name what I was feeling.
People told me it was normal. Graduation does that to people, they said.
Maybe.
One thing I knew for sure was that I was not ready.
I was not ready to say goodbye to friends who had quietly become family. To the dorm rooms that witnessed countless late-night conversations about politics, assignments, heartbreaks, and impossible dreams. To professors who often raised challenging questions and advisors who cheered me up even when I doubted myself. I was not even ready to say goodbye to the early-morning classes taught by Professor David Golding, which I complained about every single week.
Rewinding to the first day at school
Parami entered my life at a time when I was craving education so badly that there was no easy path to it. Our Class of 2026 arrived from different corners of Myanmar, carrying different stories, but we shared one conviction: that we must continue our education against all odds, and it is the only thing we hold on to for the future, even though it was so blurred.
For me, education has always been deeply personal. I have always been fascinated by the idea of learning, writing, asking questions, listening to stories, and trying to understand why people think and act the way they do. I came to Parami hoping to continue my education. What I did not know was that I would also be challenged to rethink what education actually means.
The classroom that unsettled us and set us free
One of my earliest memories is the Learning and Thinking workshop Parami introduced for all students to help us prepare for academic life at Parami before official classes began. It was back in 2022, and I still remember feeling both excited and overwhelmed.
The readings were dense. The discussions were intense. The questions seemed to matter more than the answers. For the first time, I encountered a classroom where disagreement was not a problem to be avoided but an invitation to think more (critically, the world that I came to understand only after a meeting).
It was unsettling.
It was liberating.
And it was the moment I felt this was exactly the community I wanted to be part of.
Before Parami, much of my educational experience had been shaped by memorization, as it had been for most of my classmates. My school days were more about reproducing the correct answer and getting the highest marks in exams. At Parami, I discovered something entirely different. I learned that knowledge is not simply something we receive. It is something we wrestle with.
For the first time, I understood what critical thinking meant—not as an academic buzzword, but as a way of engaging with the world. I learned to question assumptions, examine evidence, recognize complexity, and become comfortable with uncertainty.
Moe Thiri Myat’s self-reflection captures this tension most students have. She shared, “She had this uncertain feeling about joining an online university for four years”.
She openly shared that she sometimes felt not enough, surrounded by many outstanding peers and folks when she first joined Parami. This is how rigorous the education at Parami could be despite being fully online.
Finding ourselves through the learning hub experience
Parami is more than an academic journey for me; I realize that some of the most important lessons I learned at Parami never appeared on a syllabus.
That took me to my core memory as a hub student living in learning hubs across Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos. Real learning happened while sharing meals, navigating our own differences, resolving conflicts, supporting one another through difficult times, and adapting to circumstances none of us could have predicted.
Naing Min Khant, my fellow hub student, shares, “The Learning Hub has been instrumental in my online university journey. It provides a space where we can grow, form meaningful friendships, support each other through the heavy moments, and rise together.
Hub life taught me that curiosity is not limited to books and classrooms. I learned a lot from how different we are in our ways of thinking, addressing problems, and communicating our thoughts and feelings.
One practice that has stayed with me is our reflection sessions. Every so often, friends would sit together and honestly share what they appreciated about one another, what had been difficult, and how they had experienced living together. Those conversations were sometimes uncomfortable, but they taught us how to communicate with empathy, accept criticism, and understand ourselves through others' eyes.
Pone Nyet Aung reflects, “Some of my most meaningful memories from residential life were the late-night reflection sessions with my roommates and friends. Sitting together and sharing our thoughts, stories, and experiences helped me discover parts of myself that I had never noticed before. Hearing how others saw me made me reflect on who I am, what I value, and how much I have grown.
It could be simple, but what I learned is why these honest conversations are important for understanding ourselves as we learn to live with others. That is an important life skill Parami taught me outside of the classroom.
From these learning hub experiences, another keyword that defines my Parami journey is responsibility. Learning carries a responsibility. The more we understood the realities around us, the harder it became to remain passive observers.
Learning carries responsibility
Thinking about responsibility, I learned a lot about peer learning outside the classroom.
In the middle of so much uncertainty, I saw my peers showing up not just for themselves, but for the communities they loved and the futures they believed were still possible. There was something quietly powerful about that. Parami felt like a free space for a lot of us to experiment with our ideas, to start something with our friends, and to give ourselves a little bit of hope to do something for the community we want to see. That is where our professors, the Parami network, and access to opportunities made resources available to us, enabling us to turn our ideas into action.
Eaint Thet Hmu reflects, “One of the core values at Parami, Compassionate Service, stays with me, and that is what inspires me to look out beyond myself and initiate PyitTineHtaung with my peers at Parami to give a little something we can do for my community. I plan to carry this sense of responsibility that Parmai nurtured in me as I end this chapter and move on to the next.
What Parami means to me: A testing ground to find our potential
Thinking of how I would describe Parami, it is more than just a university to me. It is like a net where I felt safe learning to fly on a bumpy road, with no clear path ahead. Sometimes, I pause to look around at those who are also flying so hard, and it inspires me to continue my journey. And when I felt tired of flying, there were my professors and supportive mentors cheering me on, saying I could fly even higher. Parami is where I learned to spread my wings. It was worth flying.
And perhaps the most beautiful part of the journey was discovering that I was never flying alone.
I met many caring people who always showed up in every possible way. One of the best memories is having academic advisors who were not just there to support your academic life but to encourage you, cheer you up, and listen to your challenges, concerns, and excitement.
And the people who were always behind the scenes also made the whole journey at Parami possible. Figuring out an online university as the very first batch could not have been possible without the support of backstage teams from student affairs to Ed-tech to finance and everything. It does not mean it was all perfect. But I felt that everyone was sincere in their efforts and strong in their commitment to supporting us.
For our class, graduation is not an individual milestone. As Parami's first graduating batch, we experienced many firsts together and grew alongside the institution. That shared history is something no certificate can fully capture.
Dr. Kyaw Moe Tun, President of Parami University, resonates with what this moment means and shares, "It has been a very rewarding journey to witness the first batch of students graduating with Bachelor's degrees and to celebrate their intellectual and personal growth. I am humbled by the fact that our students showed bravery and determination to complete their studies against all odds, and I couldn't be prouder of their achievements."
Wandering my mind to relive these memories could take days. So, I am going to stop here with my sharing. As a final word, if someone asked me about my journey at Parami, I would not immediately think about courses, grades, or assignments.
I think about people.
I think about conversations that stretched late into the night.
I think about friendships that cross differences.
I think about a community that insisted on hope even when hope felt difficult.
And perhaps that is what I will carry with me most. Not just what I learned. But who we became while learning.