Unibersidad ng Pilipinas

Allow me to write an ode to my most favorite university! It's not that I've attended many universities, so don't take my word as fact. I've only studied in two (one here & another in a foreign country) and I could say that ours could really compete with those abroad.

I can still remember being a freshman, basking in the glory of the Oblation and the AS Steps.

On my first day in college I could not be more excited to see life, in its depth and breadth, unfold right before me. I initially thought college was like a huge bowl where many ingredients mix, and that you'd come out of it as a yummy muffin or a pretty blueberry cheesecake.

I was not wrong! (Sorry for the double negative.) To add to the baking analogy, I think studying in UP allowed my baking bowl to be filled with more 'exotic' ingredients. By exotic, I don't mean frogs or cats (which we both dissected), but that instead of having 'chocolate chips', we have 'decadent chocolate chips with drippings'. That just means in my own point of view, studying here allowed me to have very enriching experiences. And I am glad to have maximized college like that.

I met so many awesome people: some were eccentric, others were geeks, many had quirks, but most are brilliant. People excelled in their own fields; or some, in multiple fields.

Teachers in this university have so much passion in their craft, and I think this is what fuels most students to study harder than they normally would. I would consider them heroes since they chose to stick around and serve despite and in spite of the lack of swell compensation. And you could say that they are not sticking around just because this is the only job they could get. Huge companies would hire them, yet they stuck around with us, students who often rant (with heart) about deadlines and requirements. Besides our parents, I think we also owe it to them to give a good future to this country.

I admit that I am not the most nationalistic or patriotic of sorts. I have strong feelings about certain issues, but I am not really the radical type to outwardly express them. However, being educated in a national state university instilled in me a sense of responsibility to Filipinos, 90 million of whom I barely know. I do not want to disappoint the taxpayers who spent so much so that I could get an excellent education. Pessimists could try and discourage us but I believe that UP students are not the kind to be shaken. Idealism that belongs to an Iskolar ng Bayan will go a long way because he can back it up.

Besides all these, I will miss the breath of fresh air the campus offers. In a toxic metropolis like Manila, it is a breather to go to school everyday with trees and sunlight greeting you. You could always get your own tree and sit beside it and just hug it or whatever, so that makes studying in this school a notch more awesome.