[WARNING: This is twice as long as my ordinary post, so if you don't feel like reading it now, then SCREW YOU! **peace!]
WOW! I never thought of this moment that I would be writing an article about my first year in college. Wanna know why? Coz I was not sure, like anyone else, if I would be able to pull through. But well, here I am, savouring the summer’s bliss, lazily facing my laptop’s screen on a broad daylight and rummaging my mind’s reservoir of memories for some unforgettable events that defined my first year in college. Yep, you inferred it right: I just successfully finished the 25% (Or maybe 20%? Coz there are still those summer classes? Well, I’m not good with numbers) of this make-it-or-break-it game called college—a game we’d all agree as simply just a walk in the park... well, a Jurassic park that is!
Since I’ve already written a journal about the first semester (if you’ve been religiously reading my posts, then you’d know), I intend to include in this article only the memorable events of the last half of the school year. And note: this is going to be random.
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Victory. What else?
The second semester has really brought with it wide array of opportunities that helped highlight the untapped potentials and skills of ACA—skills and expertise that made victory in any competition an easy catch.
With their vintage black-and-white costumes and fatally killer smiles, ACA emerged champion in the PE Night’s Folk Dance Competition flaunting their graceful dancing prowess and synchronization (who wants to laugh? xD). ACA also showed dominance in the Political Science Debate Competition against block ACD which was truly thanks to the gift of gab of Leonard, Kenneth and Reynold. Dan Uriel was also recently proclaimed by JPIA as the Most Outstanding First Year Accountancy student, wherein Kenneth and Janelle settled in second and fifth place respectively. ACA also took the Little Theater by storm with their winning Sadulawit performance which starred Joan and Solomon. The said play was directed by ACA’s brilliant director, Reynold, while the Magis-inspired props that were used for the play were all conceptualized by no less than the always Magis-driven, Honeylynn.
Well, ACA sure is not a slowpoke in everything—even in politics. The landslide victory of Kathleen Rae for SBM Council 2nd Year Representative was a clear proof. However, beyond the victory, what’s important during the universitywide elections was that we were all able to exercise our right to suffrage in the very first year of our stay in college (yey! Ako ang simula ng pagbabago...).
Journey of formation
First Year Formation Program (FFP) is a requisite subject for, guess what, (do you really need to guess?) FIRST YEAR students!!! Yep. And during the 2nd sem, we also had our fair share of FFP experience.
First up, we had our pilgrimage (which slowly turned into an outing) at Guadalupe where we crossed five mountains, trekked a desert, surmounted two oceans and... (okay, I’m fibbing XD)... where we crossed a zigzagging river together with Ma’am Irish and two tour guides. Everyone was so psyched for the pilgrimage that some even bought those locally-made wooden sticks/crutches for three pesos each to aid them in crossing the waters. But there was this some outta-his-mind lad who really wasted all his energy making sure that his precious crutch would not get wet (hey Sol, if you happen to read this, I’m not referring to you! :P). I was honestly clueless of what his problem was. Well, anyway, the real fun kicked off when we were already heading back to our starting point. We did not hike anymore; instead, we buckled up for a crazy murky-water-rafting which got us all so soaked to the skin and haggard. Afterwards, some decided to plunge themselves into the river and play as hard as they could.
Part also of FFP was an activity called Social Exposure (SE). We were all encouraged to drench ourselves to the unfortunate and marginalized segment of society. Well, it’s kinda melodramatic but it was truly a fruitful activity. It made us all aware of how fortunate we are to be able to go to school, to still be able to eat three square meals a day, and to be free to do whatever we desire to do. [My reflection on my SE experience with a beggar was written in a post entitled A defining stroll at Divisoria]
In this subject, we also experienced our first Recollection which was conducted at Manresa. I personally didn’t find the activity memorable because... I don’t know. It was just an ordinary recollection. A lot of talks, plus the gloomy weather that day. But oh well, I still had fun.
I also won’t forget all the Prayer Sessions, Peer Workshops and Masses for Life that we had. Indeed, FFP did not just help us acclimatize with college life; it also helped us grow and experience the holistic formation which XU is all geared up for.
Reminiscing the uhm, uncategorized moments
How would you feel if your parents—or maybe your teachers—disown you? Yeah, I certainly know how that would feel. We’ve become immune to it. You see, our block during the 2nd sem was sort of living an orphan’s life after being handed to different Accounting teachers. No teacher seemed to care for us. No teacher seemed to want to adopt us. We were like a volleyball—tossed to any direction, grabbed and hit by different hands. Yeah, it was irritating. Not to mention, sad.
Next question: how do you read the word ‘cocoa’? Oops, lemme hear ya’ again. What?? Alright, I won’t tell you if that’s correct. But I tell you this: my experience with this word is one not really worth remembering. ‘Cocoa’ has really infuriated me in one of our English sessions. So uhm, you better get going now and search the answer yourself because Ma’am Jen—she’s someone who really values ‘time.’
Still remember Jabelle Labella? That was the textserye created by Solomon in the first semester. Well, the second sem featured a new one which was entitled "TEXT" (a textserye called TEXT, how does that sound? :P) where I got to play the role of Hark (blah blah blah and all!!). This thrilling mystery-packed textserye centered on Kebin (portrayed by Kevin) who enjoyed doing a little killing spree because he was afraid that his friends might reveal the ultimate secret of his life: that he was—try to guess again—gay.
Of etc’s, et al’s and blah-blah’s
There are still many significant things, persons and events I want to include in this piece like our mind-twisting experience with our you-provide-the-adjective (and very cool and humorous and unpredictable) Logic teacher, Mr. Ortiz, and his nosebleed-inducing, sometimes treacherous exams; the hasty completion of our term paper in Filipino; Fr. Jett’s farewell to XU; my whinings over the new ID-swiping system; turning 17 in the fierce jungle of college; the sometimes excessive (and I know, hurtful at times) taunts on Terence’s ‘oinky-ness’ (pardon the scarcity of term) and Solomon’s fishballheadedness; the MWF tribulation of waking up so early for the 7:30 class; Ate Arbie and the new ACA fam members; and et cetera, etc, et al, blah, blah, blah! But as they say, all good things must come to an end! So I guess it's adieu for now! This note is already getting too lengthy for more blah-blah's! XD
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Well, that’s basically it! Second sem is now over. First Year of college is now over. Being the newbie in school is finally over. But let’s face it: the game has barely just begun (for us first year students of course! And by the way, congratulations sa mga mu.graduate na!!). We just narrowly made it through the entrance of this park—this Jurassic park.
And personally, I’m scared of what’s waiting ahead of me. I might get lost or be eaten whole by a gigantic bloodthirsty dinosaur! I might get caught in the middle of a fierce battle between two hatchling dinosaurs! (oh this is getting us nowhere!) Or I might get trapped in a spider’s web or get sucked in a swamp full of snakes! Or maybe... maybe I’ll just have to simply SNAP OUT OF IT! I’m not gonna die there, you know. After all, mang-graduate pa ta sa Accountancy, right? =)
