Why I love UP

I wanted to be a journalist because I wanted to be "as close as possible to the heart of the world." But before I was even able to fulfill that dream, UP already gave me the opportunity to find my way to the heart of the world by letting me see things not as they were, but by showing me how things should be.

First, UP's diverse populace and culture made me see that Catholicism was not the only religion there is. Having spent my entire gradeschool and highschool in a highly-Catholic institution, I never really bothered to see other forms of faith like Islam or Buddhism, among others. However, my first day in the University was truly an eye-opener. The invocation had to give way to at least seven religions and that was the first time I ever witnessed a muslim ritual, or to even hear a prayer by the Iglesia ni Cristo.

I eventually had college friends and diverse--really diverse--my 'groups' of friends were. I had 'filthy rich' friends who drove cars to school and spoke english on normal conversations; I had friends who lived in poverty-stricken provinces, those who went to class in their 20-peso worth rubber slippers; I had buddies who weren't used to being greeted on their birthday because their religion prohibited that; and I even had friends who openly talked about sex when I was still a naive, innocent freshman.

And all of them allowed me to interact with people of great intellect and showed me a part of the world I never knew existed.

Then there were teachers, most of them cruel but nonetheless excellent. Instructors or professors who belonged to the ruthless race told me I never did enough, although I knew I stayed up all night, munching apple (that fruit has caffeine and it helped me stay awake), understanding a 20-page reading that has a size 11 font. And for all those sleepless, tiring nights, all I needed was at least a 3.0 mark in my class card. Oh that heaven-sent number.

It was an unforgettable experience too to learn a lesson while inside a dilapidated room in an almost-Century old building or under the fertility tree. Lucky me, I was under one of the improved colleges (College of Development Communication) that I was also able to go to an air-conditioned classroom.

But as they always said, learning wasn't confined to the classroom.

The school paper I joined (UPLB Perspective), my DevCom subjects and other courses I took in UPLB gave me chance to see how poor the country was (is?) and that how I was supposed to help. I went to places and found out that there's more to life than just all these theories and facts. I realized that UP wanted me to understand the best and the worst of this ungodly world, and to be bold enough to go against the tide if need be.

In those short four years I stayed in UPLB, I saw who I really was and what I had to be. I unearthed the priceless treasures of the mind and of the heart, and I found lasting friendships and even met there my lifelong partner.

If there was any gift I could give UP for its centennial anniversary, then it would be this promise: To keep in my mind, heart and soul that what I am today, I owe to those who paid their taxes, to those who had to shed blood and even lives to give the freedom I have been fortunate to have until today; and to those who unwaveringly served the country in any way possible.

Thank you, UP. I hope to do you proud someday.