They whisper, as if it’s a well-worn horror story, the word: 

“College.” 

And you might gasp out: YES! (for all the parties, the forgiving schedule, the orgs, the boys, the opportunities). Or NO! (for the pressures, the burden, the heartache and late nights). But mostly you might say I DON’T KNOW? (because you don’t know anything, not really). 

But that was yesterday; look at me –here I am in college, and so far it seems as if I’ve answered in every single way (yes/no/idontknow). 

UP Manila is small and knowable and yet completely different and challenging. It stands as a university I could very well love. While I go only through two buildings (and a third, but only once a week), it seems as if I can never get tired of the same fixtures. 

Why? 

Because it’s not the place that I’m focusing on. It’s the people –the students, the professors, the cats. And so far, in the course of three or so proper school days, I have met those who will keep me on my toes for a very long time. 

Hello, UPM. 

A list of aspects I’d like to mention

Our Block, the first

The concept of meeting new people has never been easy to swallow and face. There is always the fear of awkward silences and tense movement. And contrary to my hopes, they did happen, somewhat. For the first few days, counting back from the enrollment, I’ve asked and been asked the same questions: What’s your name (I might not remember you, sorry)? Where are you from? Are you staying in a dorm?

And I answered: Jari (though it’s really not). Paranaque, though I stay in a dorm somewhere in Taft. 

And I heard: …well, a lot of answers, most of which I might not remember. 

But I am (and all of us, I suppose) gradually remembering people. I can recite the name of our block head and assistant and other assigned people (mostly males, which I’m kind of sad about; our lone female is a laugh trip “Justice Secretary” in Geo). I’ve made acquaintances and friends; people in my block are collectively welcoming. 

Yes, there are those who don’t exactly make the effort to establish superficial bonds with everyone, and there are those whose overly friendly behavior can be slightly off-putting; but on the whole I love them already. 

(Naturally. There are only eighty or so Bio Majors in our batch, so we’ll be stuck with each other for a while). 

We’ve had two block lunches so far, and while it’s not really effective, at least there’s the effort. We’ve had some “getting to know you” activities since we enrolled, but I’m afraid it’s not really helping me connect names with people. We also have an FB group, which isn’t very active yet, but I’m sure it will be. 

We might be in over our heads — Classes

Haha. Here we are with a very YES!/NO!/IDONTKNOW? aspect of my budding college life. 

I love studying. I love reading, I like making notes and I enjoy learning about anything and everything. But I can’t say that it’s easy. It’s either the instructors/professors speak too softly or too quickly, or my seating’s bad, or the subject is really more difficult than I can absorb without further study; the point is that it really is college material, and therefore harder. 

My subjects this sem seem to consist of exciting and lukewarm and horrifying (well, not really; just a bit) subjects. There’s BIO 21 lab and lec on General Botany (which is exciting in idea, but probably has a million boring and tedious parts), HISTO 1 (taught by a superhuman smart person, which is amazing and inspiring and slightly irritating), GEO 1 (sort of irrelevant to my life, but probably very relevant to us as humans and earthlings), COMM 1 (which is reading and writing; haha) and MATH 17 (apparently we’ll come close to death; woah!). There’s also Physical Fitness or some such. Ha. 

There are also a shuckton (whut) of books required. Two for Botany, one (or is it two?) for Math, one for Comm, two for Histo and one for Geo. The only thing missing is a book for Physical fitness. 

We can do this! 

I’m aiming for AT LEAST cum laude, but I’m still pretty unsure of how that’s going to happen. The average needed (if I’m not mistaken) is 1.75 (highest is 1). I can do this! 

Living the sweet (cup noodles) life

I’m staying at a dorm five minutes away from CAS building(s). It’s in front of PGH (smack dab) and my room’s pretty groovy. I feel like such a college person living the college life. I have one roommate, who’s taking Dev Stud. She’s also a freshman. 

We don’t even have a fridge yet. That will come later. Ha. Our room is also very small, positively tiny, but it will suffice. I hope to get to know my roommate more, since right now we’re very much in the testing the waters stage (I hope). I’ll post some pictures soon. :D 

While I do miss the comforts of home (strong internet connection, for one thing, and homely foods), I think I’ll survive. This is my ride for eight/twelve/fifteen years (yeah). 

NOTES 

Watch out! (in the sense that I should be writing more. Connected to my college life — I’m trying to set up a routine of fun-dinner-study-wash-sleep. I’m still in the fun stage. Also, sadly: I can’t exercise (YET) in my dorm, or outside/anywhere near it. Not yet. I will have to find a way to find a space big and comfortable enough to hold me when dancing my way to fitness. 

Also I’m dead tired. D: Walk a lot. Talk a lot. Think a lot.