posted this when i was just a freshman. now i'm about to graduate. i miss these people.
*a glimpse of my final paper in English – my memoir*
I twisted some things a bit to make the whole thing more exciting and interesting… HEHE…papampam. CHEERS to the BARX!!!
Change: A Key to Bringing Me Back to Life
It’s Friday once again, and another thrilling day lies ahead of me. As the clock strikes twelve and as the sun rises at its peak, the world outside the four corners of my room on the top floor, awaits the coming of a bunch of blithe spirits, who are held captive by mind-numbing lectures in class. But as soon as the resounding bell rings and fills the corridor with music signaling lunch break, a stampede of women is unleashed. From the first to the eighth room, they come out and rush downstairs to warm up for the most awaited event of the week ––— our “Friday noon patintero match”.
Such a spectacular event invades my thoughts and then, with a blink of an eye, I’m suddenly sucked back into the real world and it hits me… I am not in high school anymore. It may be Friday today but it would never be the same. The “thrilling” day I was picturing in my head is no longer fit for a college student like me, who’s now bound to marry the strenuous workload of a typical Atenean.
People always say that high school is the best part of a student’s life. You may not be as free as you are in college but then you are not as stressed either. In high school, you can still manage to juggle your studies, social life, family and other obligations, all at the same time. You still get to relax and enjoy every minute spent with friends and family despite the various requirements in school. Well, everything changes once you step into college – eyebags deepen, tension builds up and blood pressure rises. And in this highly competitive age, college becomes a savage masquerade. For me, school now feeds on stress, anxiety, and torment.
The event starts with the division of thirty young women into two groups – “kampihan”, that’s what we call it, just like what every kid, playing “tumbang preso” or “agawan base”, call it. Ten from each group will go up against each other, and the other five from both sides will be substitutes for the injured, wounded, and thirsty – a.k.a. bench-warmer, just like in basketball. While my friends and I are battling our hearts out, the rest of the department is seized by our bizarre behavior – young ladies running around like kids. They had an instant entertainment / game show to watch as they gobble their food. I must say, it’s a pretty intense game. Everyone is determined to outsmart, outrun and outplay the opponent. The heat of the sun is not a factor and neither is the sweat running down our backs. And it even gets tougher at times… limbs get scratched and school uniforms get ripped off. But it was all part of the glory of winning for only then can we savor the true joy of victory… all this trouble just to fulfill the glorious mission of getting back across the home base.
Four years in high school — it changed my life. It began a new epoch in my own history. It was a liberating experience, the way out of the pits. Being a part of a barkada of thirty extremely different young women, was the key to the highway! It all started when we were in first year. Somehow I got teamed up with the extroverts of our class. We were seven then, but the number eventually grew bigger. The various groups from other classes, including ours and our rival’s, soon merged into one. Thus, came the birth of a barefaced and high-spirited posse. Different species comprise this group— trendsetter, jologs, guru, athlete, crybaby, prankster, entertainer, actress, comedian, math genius, writer. Name it we have it and it’s not an exaggeration of some sort but a downright truth. Who would have thought that such different souls could actually survive each other?
There’s nothing but the mute movement of my teacher’s lips and my mind is unhinged by slow starvation. Indeed, a hungry stomach has no ears. I am nearly hypnotized by the clock’s hand as it moves around its face, as I try to keep “it” out of my mind. But deep inside I’m dying to get a mouthful of that glorious sisig – sizzling hot, with a flavorful aroma, topped with egg.
We made sure Friday was a day loaded with activities obviously because we wanted to loosen up and enjoy, but then that was not the sole purpose of the said event. Since we were/are in our teen age year, most of my friends were/are conscious of their figure (excluding me of course). They had to burn all the fats they’ve consumed during the first four days of the week when we spent our lunch breaks in the cafeteria, eating the famous calorific sizzling sisig. Just like the patintero match, eating sisig was a group activity for me and my friends. Our day didn’t seem complete unless we sat together and stuffed our face with that cholesterol-rich chow. I consider this as one of our intimate moments together as a group. We shared our experiences, jokes, problems and whatever it was that was happening in our personal life. These things have taught me a lot about life and how to deal with it. This was the time when we talked not just as friends but as a family. I have been blessed with such wonderful friends who’ve definitely made a huge impact in my life and helped me grow as a person. I have gained knowledge about the different point of views in life through the experiences shared by each one of us. It was as if everyone of us were teachers and students at the same time and this helped me broaden my way of thinking and my way of understanding things. Still, I must admit, I’m far from mastering the art of living life but I’m working on it.
5… 6… 7… 8… and then everyone sings, as five of my friends dance to the tune of “Can’t take my eyes off of you”. Mirabel, the tallest and thinnest among us, is lifted in the air by Tet and Cla, dancing as if she was Vilma Santos with the V.I.P. dancers…her arms sideways as the other two lift her by her armpit … they move around the quadrangle, performing dance numbers for the crowd, while Karren, who’s a great gymnast, does her own stunts.
Now I’m in college, and my whole world is changed utterly. Getting in The Ateneo seems to exude a bittersweet feeling. The great realm that I was so used to, now spins down the ringing grooves of change. I’ve got a new set of friends now, one that is not used to silly dancing, corny jokes, and other kid stuffs… a bit less exciting than what I had in high school but extremely intellectual and goal-oriented. Though I miss being with the radicals, I totally support this current phase I am going through. I don’t mind getting swept away by this change because it is exactly what I need – to get a lot more serious with my studies and to have more focus on what I really want to do/be in the future. I’ve chosen to make my own response to my own generation… a response adequate to my time, which is to grow up.
It’s amusing to know that our jokes and laugh trips, the sizzling sisig in the cafeteria, the dance numbers, plus the traditional patintero game have managed to unite us as a group. The crazy things we did highlighted most of my memories. Because of opening myself up to changes and because of my peers, I have managed to let myself discover the other side of me, the other part that was missing when I was younger. High school has been the nursery of my values as a young woman. It has taught me that we must not always take things seriously. There’s nothing wrong with going against the flow, having fun and doing what your heart desires as long you are not stepping on anybody and as long as you are able to fulfill your responsibilities. It also doesn’t matter what other people say or think, because what matters is that you know who you really are and that you feel good about it. Fearing change is absurd because it’ll just haunt you till it gets close enough to bite your head off. Bottom line: Change is inevitable… there’s a proper time for everything and we must know how and when to dance to the beat of life.
, we brought home the bacon. among the 20 teams from different countries, we won the 2nd place